Letter to the Editor: “Comparing milled fiber, Quebec ore, and textile factory dust: Has another piece of the asbestos puzzle fallen into place?” by D. Wayne Berman

Abstract

We read with interest Dr. Berman’s article “Comparing milled fiber, Quebec ore, and textile factory dust: Has another piece of the asbestos puzzle fallen into place?” (Berman, 2010). We agree with Dr. Berman’s conclusion that sizes of airborne asbestos fibers encountered in asbestos textile mills are very different and might entirely explain the discrepancy in the findings between the studies of the textile workers and miners. However, we do not agree with Dr. Berman’s analyses of our transmission electron microscope (TEM) data for the Charleston, South Carolina, asbestos textile plant to support his conclusion that airborne fiber size distributions within a given indus trial sector (e.g., textiles, friction products, cement, etc.) vary little by operation. We believe this conclusion is not consistent with known effects of asbestos textile produc tion operations, is not supported by prior studies, and is not consistent with results of studies of asbestos textile