"October 2003" Includes bibliographical references.

Overview -- Background -- The mineralogy of asbestos -- Morphology of asbestos dusts -- Capabilities of analytical techniques used to monitor asbestos -- The structure and function of the human lung -- The asbestos literature -- Human epidemiology studies -- Human pathology studies -- Animal studies -- In vitro studies -- Supporting experimental studies -- Factors affecting respirability and deposition -- Factors affecting degradation, translocation, and clearance -- Factors governing cellular and tissue response -- Animal dose response studies -- Conclusions from an evaluation of supporting studies -- Epidemiology studies -- Approach for evaluating the epidemiology literature -- Lung cancer -- Mesothelioma -- Evaluation of asbestos exposure indices -- The optimal exposure index -- General conclusions from quantitative analysis of human epidemiology studies -- Discussion, conclusions, and recommendations -- Discussion and conclusions -- Recommendations for assessing asbestos-related risks -- Appendix A: Update of potency factors for lung cancer and mesothelioma -- Appendix B: report on the peer consultation workshop to discuss a proposed protocol to assess asbestos-related risk -- Appendix C: Compendium of model fits to animal inhalation data in support of the Berman et al. (1995) study and post-study work -- Appendix D: The variation in Kl values derived for chrysotile miners and chrysotile textile workers -- Appendix E: calculation of lifetime risks of dying of lung cancer or mesothelioma from asbestos exposure.