ABSTRACT
The main producer of crocidolite has always been South Africa, where it is reported production began as early as 1893, peaked in 1977 at about 201,000 tons and continued until about 1998. The association of asbestos exposure with lung cancer was first established in about 1947 by the annual report of the factory inspector, highlighting the incidence of lung cancer amongst asbestos workers. The asbestos textile industry in the UK at one stage was screening raw chrysotile asbestos for the presence of tremolite, because it was appreciated that tremolite as an amphibole would have more significant health effects. However, some light at the end of the tunnel was seen late in 2003. Two groups of researchers in Australia and USA, Robinson, Creaney, Lake, et al. Lancet 2003 had been able to detect a soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMR) in blood samples, possibly indicative of the early onset of mesothelioma.
