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A long look at asbestos
Spotlight
A long look at asbestos
The Health Effects of Asbestos: An Evidence-based Approach Dorsett D Smith. CRC Press, 2015. Pp 381. £89.00. ISBN 13: 9781498728386
The Health Effects of Asbestos is an attempt to take a critical, evidence-based view of the bulk of the asbestos medical literature, including history of its use and its health effects. Smith is a pulmonologist with an extensive history of diagnosing, treating, and researching asbestosrelated illnesses, and he brings a critical eye to more than a century’s worth of literature on the subject of a very strange substance. Asbestos is a fascinating material. A generic term for a number of minerals that share similar characteristics: fibrous, strong, resistant to heat, fire and electrical damage, and cheap. Its use in manufacturing skyrocketed in the 19th century in an astounding number of applications. Because of both its heat absorption and fire-resistance, asbestos was used extensively in the steamships. It began to be reported that there might be negative health effects associated with asbestos exposure around the turn of the 20th century. While there were periodic looks at individual cases and calls for concern, the problem of asbestos exposure was not taken seriously until decades later. Smith’s book begins a discussion about limitations of what epidemiological studies can tell us about asbestos exposure. Despite the enormous amount of medical
literature produced every year, Smith tells us that “fewer than 15% of all articles published on a particular topic are useful for clinical practice”. The value of Smith’s volume is in bringing together an entire career’s worth of concentration on a subject, with the trained and critical eye that has given him, to sift through the enormous literature on the subject. The book is broken into brief chapters that deal with discreet subjects that build up an overall picture of the effects of asbestos on humans. From a description of the geology of asbestos creation, the types of asbestos particles that are responsible for mesothelioma, to the relative safety of different types of asbestos and exposures, the book covers a lot of ground. For a volume that ranges so widely, Smith takes an interdisciplinary approach that can move from densely technical to very readable. The book encompasses pathology and legal sections to build up a picture of the consequences of this fascinating material. For any volume taking such a broad look, the issue of varying quality would be an issue. But Smith takes a broad look at a narrow subject, and one with an extensive body of literature built up over the 20th century.
Aaron Van Dorn
Cover Story Breathing fire
Jayne Wilton
My investigation into recording the subtle dynamics of human breath has been influenced by the writing of Gaston Bachelard, particularly his book The Flame of a Candle, which explores the philosophical and poetic significance of fire to human existence. I used Bachelard’s concepts when working with patients at The Hospice of St Francis in Hertfordshire, UK, by photographing how the flame of a candle responded to a patient’s breath. The patients were keen to explore the effect of their breath on the candle flame. This led me to explore other ways with which to record the subtle yet poignant dynamics of breath using different lights. Through an intense period of testing and researching other ways in which light could respond to the movement of the
444
breath, I developed a fibre optic light source that moves in response to the breath. I used this light in a dark room along with photographic paper. When the light is affected by someone’s breath it exposes the photographic paper, creating an image of the light’s movement. The paper is then developed using photographic chemicals. The cover image shows the breath of a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease recorded in this way. The image is a snapshot of the breath at that moment in time and is not indicative of the pathological characteristics of the disease.
Jayne Wilton
www.thelancet.com/respiratory Vol 4 June 2016
A long look at asbestos
The Health Effects of Asbestos: An Evidence-based Approach Dorsett D Smith. CRC Press, 2015. Pp 381. £89.00. ISBN 13: 9781498728386
The Health Effects of Asbestos is an attempt to take a critical, evidence-based view of the bulk of the asbestos medical literature, including history of its use and its health effects. Smith is a pulmonologist with an extensive history of diagnosing, treating, and researching asbestosrelated illnesses, and he brings a critical eye to more than a century’s worth of literature on the subject of a very strange substance. Asbestos is a fascinating material. A generic term for a number of minerals that share similar characteristics: fibrous, strong, resistant to heat, fire and electrical damage, and cheap. Its use in manufacturing skyrocketed in the 19th century in an astounding number of applications. Because of both its heat absorption and fire-resistance, asbestos was used extensively in the steamships. It began to be reported that there might be negative health effects associated with asbestos exposure around the turn of the 20th century. While there were periodic looks at individual cases and calls for concern, the problem of asbestos exposure was not taken seriously until decades later. Smith’s book begins a discussion about limitations of what epidemiological studies can tell us about asbestos exposure. Despite the enormous amount of medical
literature produced every year, Smith tells us that “fewer than 15% of all articles published on a particular topic are useful for clinical practice”. The value of Smith’s volume is in bringing together an entire career’s worth of concentration on a subject, with the trained and critical eye that has given him, to sift through the enormous literature on the subject. The book is broken into brief chapters that deal with discreet subjects that build up an overall picture of the effects of asbestos on humans. From a description of the geology of asbestos creation, the types of asbestos particles that are responsible for mesothelioma, to the relative safety of different types of asbestos and exposures, the book covers a lot of ground. For a volume that ranges so widely, Smith takes an interdisciplinary approach that can move from densely technical to very readable. The book encompasses pathology and legal sections to build up a picture of the consequences of this fascinating material. For any volume taking such a broad look, the issue of varying quality would be an issue. But Smith takes a broad look at a narrow subject, and one with an extensive body of literature built up over the 20th century.
Aaron Van Dorn
Cover Story Breathing fire
Jayne Wilton
My investigation into recording the subtle dynamics of human breath has been influenced by the writing of Gaston Bachelard, particularly his book The Flame of a Candle, which explores the philosophical and poetic significance of fire to human existence. I used Bachelard’s concepts when working with patients at The Hospice of St Francis in Hertfordshire, UK, by photographing how the flame of a candle responded to a patient’s breath. The patients were keen to explore the effect of their breath on the candle flame. This led me to explore other ways with which to record the subtle yet poignant dynamics of breath using different lights. Through an intense period of testing and researching other ways in which light could respond to the movement of the
444
breath, I developed a fibre optic light source that moves in response to the breath. I used this light in a dark room along with photographic paper. When the light is affected by someone’s breath it exposes the photographic paper, creating an image of the light’s movement. The paper is then developed using photographic chemicals. The cover image shows the breath of a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease recorded in this way. The image is a snapshot of the breath at that moment in time and is not indicative of the pathological characteristics of the disease.
Jayne Wilton
www.thelancet.com/respiratory Vol 4 June 2016