Table 1.
Main characteristics of the selected articles and exposure data (1980–2021).
| Author, year (country) | Type of study | N° of studies included in the analyses | Pathology | Type of fiber | Exposure measurea | Methodological quality AMSTARb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lash T et al., 1997 (USA) | Meta-analysis | 15 cohort studies | Lung cancer | Chrysotile | <100 to >400 f-y/ml; <1 to ≥1000 mppcf-y |
4 |
| Amphibole: crocidolite Amphibole: amosite Amphibole: tremolite |
<10 to >100 f-y/ml <6 to ≥250 f-y/ml; <1 month & ≥ 2 years exposure <25 to >500 f-y/ml |
|||||
| Mixed | <2.7 to ≥150 f-y/ml; <6 to ≥750 mppcf-y |
|||||
| Hodgson J et al., 2000 (UK) | Meta-analysis | 17 cohort studies | Lung cancer Mesothelioma | Chrysotile | 22 to 600 f/ml-y | 5 |
| Amphibole: crocidolite Amphibole: amosite |
16.4 to 120 f/ml-y 23.6 to 65 f/ml-y |
|||||
| Mixed | 13 to 750 f/ml-y | |||||
| Berry G et al., 2008 (Canada) | Overview | 2 meta-analysis (11 cohorts in common) | Lung cancer | Chrysotile | 25 f/ml-y | 4 |
| Amphibole: crocidolite Amphibole: amosite |
No exposure measures | |||||
| Mixed | No exposure measures | |||||
| Berman DW et al., 2008 (USA) | Meta-analysis | 15 cohort studies | Lung cancer Mesothelioma | Chrysotile | Length >10 μm; thickness <0.2; <0.4 and >0.2 μm. Not concentrations measures |
6 |
| Amphibole | Length >10 μm; thickness <0.2; <0.4 and >0.2 μm. No concentrations measures |
|||||
| Pierce JS et al., 2008 (USA) | Review | 14 cohort studies | Lung cancer Mesothelioma | Chrysotile | 1.4–2.7 to 1600–3200 f/ml-y | 6 |
| Gamble JF, 2008 (USA) | Review | 43 studies (cohorts and case-control) | Lung cancer Mesothelioma Gastric cancer Colon & rectum cancer | Chrysotile | 1 a 356 f/ml-y; <3 to >1000 mppcf-y | 5 |
| Amphibole: amosite | <6 to >250 f/ml-y | |||||
| Mixed | <10 and >10 years exposed | |||||
| Lenters V et al., 2011 (The Netherlands) | Meta-analysis | 19 studies (18 cohorts and 1 case-control) | Lung cancer | Chrysotile | 100 f-y/ml | 10 |
| Amphibole | 100 f-y/ml | |||||
| Mixed | 100 f-y/ml | |||||
| Van der Bij S et al., 2013 (The Netherlands) | Meta-analysis | 19 studies (17 cohorts and 2 case-control) | Lung cancer | Chrysotile | 4–40 f-y/ml | 8 |
| Amphibole | 4–40 f-y/ml | |||||
| Mixed | 4–40 f-y/ml | |||||
| Roggli V, 2015 (USA) | Review | 11 studies (3 case-control, 10 experimental in animals) | Lung cancer Mesothelioma Alveolitis Pulmonary fibrosis | Chrysotile | Length >5 μm. No concentrations measures |
4 |
| Amphibole: crocidolite | Length ≥8 and 10 μm No concentrations measures |
|||||
| Marsh G et al., 2017 (USA) | Review and Meta-analysis | 18 studies (4 ecologic, 10 case-control, 4 cohorts) | Pleural mesothelioma | Chrysotile | No exposure measures | 10 |
| Amphibole: crocidolite | 20 f/ml-y | |||||
| Mixed | 10–24.2 f/ml-y |
a
Exposure values from which the risk will be evaluated. The minimum and maximum range, if any, are detailed. Fiber per milliliter and year (f/ml-y); fibers per year and milliliter (f-y/ml); millions of particles per cubic foot per year (mppcf-y); micrometers (μm); The unit fiber-year milliliter (f-y/ml) and fibers milliliter-year (f/ml-y) are equivalent.
b
AMSTAR: assessment of multiple systematic reviews, is a tool to evaluate the methodological quality of the reviews. Result 1 to 11 shows worse and better quality respectively.