Bilateral pleural plaques in Corsica: a marker of non-occupational asbestos exposure

In north-east Corsica, asbestos outcrops are a source of environmental pollution, as assessed by airborne concentrations of chrysotile and tremolite that are significantly higher in the north-east than the north-west. For this reason we compared the frequencies of patients with asbestos pleural plaques in these 2 regions by checking the X-rays of 1721 patients born in north Corsica who had not undergone any occupational exposure to asbestos. The percentage of plaques was respectively 3.7% in the north-east, and 1.1% in the north-west (p less than 0.05). The relative risk of 3.3 demonstrates a strong relationship between environmental asbestos and the pleural plaques found in north-east Corsica.