Informations
Administratives
09.05.2001		N° 40-2001
COMMISSION, BRUXELLES
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NOTICE TO STAFF

CONTROL STUDY ON ASBESTOS IN THE BERLAYMONT


Brussels, 24th April 2001
D (2001) 11348


In May 1997, the results of a pilot study covering 100 people who had worked in the Berlaymont building between 1969 and 1991 were published in an administrative notice. The purpose of the study was to determine the incidence (frequency of occurrence) of radiological anomalies of the lungs and the pleura (the membranes covering the lungs) among the group that might be related to exposure to asbestos. The study, carried out by a team of epidemiologists from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven), confirmed the results of the screening campaign organised by the Medical Service since the end of 1995: although no malignant lesions were discovered, 13 out of the 100 people taking part in the study were found to have pleural plaques (9 definite cases and 4 possible), with a higher incidence among technical staff than among purely administrative personnel. These results, published in an administrative notice on 28 May 1997, were recently confirmed by a re-examination of the X-rays taken at the time.

It consequently seemed useful, if not essential, to compare the incidence of anomalies detected in this first study (in particular among administrative staff) with that of the same types of anomaly in a population not exposed to asbestos. This was the aim of the pilot study carried out between 1997 and the end of 1999 by the same research team at the K.U.Leuven led by Professor B. Nemery and covering 100 volunteers (including 26 European officials) who had never had known contact with asbestos. The Medical Service received the final results of this pilot study on 6 March 2001.

Pleural plaques: nature and significance

Plaques are a thickening, generally very slight, of the pleura. They are not usually visible on standard X-rays of the thorax and can be detected only by using very sensitive techniques (a combination of spiral and high resolution CAT scans).

Pleural plaques are generally regarded as indicators of past exposure to asbestos. The authors of the two studies point out that their impact on respiratory function is generally negligible and that they do not, in themselves, increase the risk of developing a malignant disease. In other words, the risk of developing bronchopulmonary cancer or pleural mesothelioma is linked to exposure to asbestos and not to pleural plaques: a person exposed to asbestos and exhibiting plaques has no higher risk of developing a malignant lesion than someone exposed to asbestos but not exhibiting plaques.

The principal aim of the authors of the study was to compare the incidence of endothoracic anomalies, and in particular pleural plaques, among office workers in the Berlaymont (purely administrative staff) and that of the same anomalies among 100 volunteers (the control group) without any known history of exposure to asbestos. The authors conclude that:
  • in neither group, was pulmonary fibrosis, diffuse thickening of the pleura, bronchopulmonary cancer or pleural mesothelioma discovered;

  • no statistically significant difference was found between the incidence of pleural plaques among administrative staff working in the Berlaymont and among the control group made up of a population not known to have been exposed to asbestos.

  • What kind of monitoring should be provided?

    • Since the long-term effects on health of a low level of exposure to asbestos fibres remain unclear, the authors of the study would like prospective epidemiological studies to be carried out for all groups that have worked in buildings treated with flocked asbestos.

    • As regards individual monitoring, it is impossible to fix a scientifically validated frequency for regular medical examinations for those previously exposed to asbestos, particularly as the X-ray doses delivered by high-resolution CAT scans (currently the only reliable method) are significant.

      However, the authors agree with the five-year frequency proposed by the Commission Medical Service in 1995.

    • Those concerned who have not yet undergone a medical examination are therefore reminded that the asbestos screening campaign launched in 1995 remains open (information can be obtained from the Medical Service: Mr José Sánchez Villa, telephone 299.33.18).

    • In addition, the Medical Service will write individually to all those screened in 1995/96 to propose that they repeat the respiratory assessment in the next few months.

Horst Reichenbach



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Auteur : Personnel et Administration
Editeur : Personnel et Administration
Direction C : Ateliers de reproduction
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