Silvestri Stefano, Di Benedetto Francesco, Raffaell Corrado, Veraldi Angela
Institute for Study and Prevention of Cancer Via delle Oblate 2, 50141 Florence, Italy.
Scand J Work Environ Health. 2016 Jan;42(1):80-5. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3542. Epub 2015 Dec 14.
DAS was an artificial clay which, once molded, hardened at room temperature. It was largely used as a toy between 1963 and 1975 in Italy, Netherlands, Germany, UK and Norway. This case report describes and reports the presence of asbestos in DAS.
We investigated the presence of asbestos in DAS using light and electron microscopy on samples of the original material. We searched administrative documents at the State Archive of Turin and conducted interviews with past employees on annual production, suppliers, and purchasers.
The analytical tests confirmed the presence of asbestos fibers in DAS: about 30% of its composition. The documents found at the State Archive confirmed the annual purchase of hundreds tons of raw asbestos from the Amiantifera di Balangero, the Italian asbestos mine. DAS was found to be used also within craftsmanship.
Asbestos fibers in DAS may have caused exposure to production workers and a variety of users, including artists, teachers, and children. Over 13 years, about 55 million packs of DAS were produced and sold. The number of users is difficult to estimate but may have been in the order of millions. In Italy, a specific question on the use of DAS has been included in a routinely used mesothelioma questionnaire. As DAS was exported to other countries, our findings suggest that mesothelioma patients should be asked about their past use of DAS, in particular individuals not reporting a clear past asbestos exposure. Additionally, this discovery shows the incompleteness of records on asbestos uses and suggests to test items, including toys, imported from countries where asbestos is not forbidden.
DAS是一种人造粘土，一旦成型，在室温下就会硬化。在1963年至1975年间，它在意大利、荷兰、德国、英国和挪威被大量用作玩具。本病例报告描述并报告了DAS中存在石棉的情况。
我们使用光学显微镜和电子显微镜对原始材料样本进行检测，以调查DAS中石棉的存在情况。我们在都灵国家档案馆查阅了行政文件，并就年产量、供应商和购买者问题采访了过去的员工。
分析测试证实DAS中存在石棉纤维，其含量约占其成分的30%。在国家档案馆找到的文件证实，每年从意大利石棉矿巴兰杰罗石棉矿购买数百吨原石棉。还发现DAS在手工业中也有使用。
DAS中的石棉纤维可能导致生产工人以及包括艺术家、教师和儿童在内的各类使用者接触石棉。在13年多的时间里，大约生产和销售了5500万包DAS。使用者数量难以估计，但可能达数百万之多。在意大利，一份常规使用的间皮瘤调查问卷中包含了一个关于DAS使用情况的特定问题。由于DAS出口到了其他国家，我们的研究结果表明，对于间皮瘤患者，应询问其过去是否使用过DAS，尤其是那些没有明确报告过去有石棉接触史的个体。此外，这一发现表明石棉使用记录并不完整，并建议对从不禁用石棉的国家进口的物品（包括玩具）进行检测。
