The patient with asbestos exposure.

Attention to the hazards of asbestos has aroused concern among many healthy persons who have been exposed at some time to one of the world's most versatile materials. Present standards for exposure to asbestos, however, may not fully protect workers from asbestos-induced pulmonary malignancy. To evaluate the patient who has had some asbestos exposure, the physician should focus on the pulmonary system, take a thorough occupational history, conduct a physical examination and pulmonary function studies, and obtain chest films. In managing the patient with asbestosis, removal from further occupational exposure is advisable. For workers with only pleural changes, it is unclear whether removal from the work place is of any value.