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Assessment Of Autoimmune Responses Associated With Asbestos Exposure In Libby, Montana, Usa, Jean C. Pfau, J. J. Sentissi, G. Weller, Elizabeth Putnam

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Systemic autoimmune responses are associated with certain environmental exposures, including crystalline particles such as silica. Positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests have been reported in small cohorts exposed to asbestos, but many questions remain regarding the prevalence, pattern, and significance of autoantibodies associated with asbestos exposures. The population in Libby, Montana, provides a unique opportunity for such a study because of both occupational and environmental exposures that have occurred as a result of the mining of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite near the community. As part of a multifaceted assessment of the impact of asbestos exposures on this population, this study explored the possibility …