1. Occupational exposure to fluoro-edenite and prevalence of anti-nuclear autoantibodies.
- Author
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Rapisarda, Venerando, Loreto, Carla, Castorina, Sergio, Romano, Gaetano, Garozzo, Sebastiano Fabio, Musumeci, Andrea, Migliore, Marcello, Avola, Roberto, Cinà, Diana, Pomara, Cristoforo, and Ledda, Caterina
- Subjects
ASBESTOS ,AUTOANTIBODIES ,LUNGS ,LUNG tumors ,MESOTHELIOMA ,SURVIVAL ,OCCUPATIONAL hazards ,ENVIRONMENTAL exposure - Abstract
An environmental contamination due to an asbestiform mineral fiber, fluoro-edenite (FE), caused a significantly increased mortality rate for malignant mesothelioma in Biancavilla, Italy. Exposure to fluoro-edenite has been associated with inflammatory processes as an early response to inhaled fibers. The aim was to explore prevalence of anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANA) in a group of construction workers residing and working in the contaminated area. Prevalences for samples positive to ANA were 60% (n = 9) and 13% (n = 2), for exposed and nonexposed, respectively (p-value <0.05), the odds ratio was 9.75 (95% CI: 1.59-59.69). The significance of elevated ANAs in subjects exposed to fibers is unknown; additional studies may provide a better opportunity to establish a correlation between autoimmunity and environmental exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
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