Abstract
Asbestos textile workers processing chrysotile were exposed, in the past, to significant airborne levels of nickel, chromium, and manganese. Limited studies indicate that other metals were also involved. It is likely that the phenomenon shown in asbestos textile manufacturing is also true in other asbestos mining, milling, and processing operations. Sufficient evidence is presented in this study to indicate that the role of metals in the etiology of disease associated with asbestos inhalation should not be ignored. It is no longer tenable to look only for asbestos fibers or bodies in biological tissue and by their presence assume a cause and effect relationship with the disease.