Statistics

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 125 million workers worldwide are exposed to asbestos on the job, which results in at least 90,000 deaths every year. Recent reports show that an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 new cases per year of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Although mesothlioma is relatively uncommon, projections show that its incidence is expected to rise over the next decade. Below is a list of industries with the largest number of employee deaths due to mesothelioma, along with the percentage of the total number of mesothelioma deaths in 1999, according to the National Center for Health Statistics:

• Construction – 14.2
• Non-paid workers, workers at home – 7.0
• Elementary and secondary school teachers – 3.7
• Industrial and miscellaneous chemicals – 3.5
• General government work – 2.4
• Agriculture – 1.9
• Nonspecific manufacturing 1.9
• Electric light and power – 1.9
• Railroads – 1.7
• Hospitals – 1.7
• Unreported industries – 4.3
• All other industries combined – 56

The high percentage of mesothelioma deaths among those who worked in “all other industries combined” shows that while there are very high-risk industries, such as construction, the majority of people who die from mesothelioma either work in smaller industries or industries not traditionally associated with asbestos exposure. School teachers, hospital workers and even homemakers are among this group exposed people.

The first diagnosis of mesothelioma on average occurs between 50-70 years of age. Mesothlioma affects men more often than women mostly dues to increased occupational exposure. The disease is also less common in African Americans than it is in white Americans.

As mesothelioma is a disease that is difficult to detect in its early stages, often the disease is advanced at its first diagnosis. Accordingly, the average survival period using current treatment protocols is a little over one year. When fortunate enough to find the cancer early and treat it aggressively, chances increase significantly of reaching the two year survival point. Approximately 20% or patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are able to achieve a five year survival rate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that asbestos deaths in the United States have skyrocketed since the late 1960s and will probably keep increasing through the next decade because of the past exposure to asbestos. According to CDC, 1,493 people died from asbestos in 2000, compared with 77 in 1968.

Asbestos Exposure and Malignant Mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer, and the most serious of all asbestos related diseases. Malignant mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by the inhalation of airborne asbestos particles. It is a “signature disease” of asbestos exposure because in the absence of asbestos exposure, mesothelioma is almost nonexistent. Malignant mesothelioma can develop up to 40 years after the initial asbestos exposure. The incidence of mesothelioma rises with the intensity and duration of asbestos exposure. Cases of mesothelioma among people with very little asbestos exposure have been documented. Many of those who are being diagnosed with mesothelioma today unknowingly experienced asbestos exposure many years ago.

The symptoms associated with the disease make it difficult for doctors to diagnose. Often, by the time that a proper diagnosis is made, the disease has progressed to a point where patients do not respond well to treatment therapy. Another unique factor associated with the disease is that there can be a long latency period, twenty to forty years, between the time an individual is exposed to asbestos and the actual manifestation of the disease in the form of malignant mesothelioma. Depending on the kind of tissue and organ involved in the cancer, there are several forms of this disease.

Exposed Populations

• Today, the populations most heavily exposed to asbestos are those in construction trades. Mechanics are also among the exposed population. In the past, pipe fitters, shipyard workers, military workers, automobile mechanics, and people in many other occupations were also exposed.

• Household members of asbestos workers could be exposed to asbestos dust on workers’ skin and clothing.

• People in homes and buildings with loose, crumbling, or disturbed asbestos materials could be exposed to asbestos.

Asbestos and Its Health Hazards, A Brief History

Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals mined for their useful properties such as thermal insulation, chemical and thermal stability, and high tensile strength. Asbestos is commonly used as an acoustic insulator, and in thermal insulation, fire proofing and other building materials. Many products in use today still contain asbestos.

Asbestos is made up of microscopic bundles of fibers that may become airborne when asbestos-containing materials are damaged or disturbed. When these fibers get into the air they may be inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause significant health problems.

Information about the health hazards of asbestos came to light over a century ago. In 1898, British factory inspectors recognized the asbestos exposure was a health risk for workers. More than 100 years ago, in 1906, a London physician found asbestos fibers in the lungs of a worker who died from pulmonary fibrosis—scarring in his lungs. And in 1912, scientists used animal studies to show that asbestos inhalation causes pulmonary fibrosis. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 1918 the “unusually high death rate” among asbestos workers.
By the 1920s, asbestosis was receiving increased attention from scientists. A series of papers appeared in British Medical Journal in 1924 on asbestosis—the disease named for the mineral that causes it. In 1930, two scientists, Drs. Merewether and Price, published a historic report on the asbestos textile industry and found a “definite occupational risk among asbestos workers as a class.” Highlights from the Merewether and Lewis report were republished in two prominent medical journals, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and Lancet, including the astounding finding that “80% of asbestos workers employed for 20 years or more develop asbestosis.”

In the 1930s, scientists began to connect asbestos and cancer. Numerous well-known medical journals published scientific studies that linked asbestos exposure to cancer. German physicians identified lung cancer as an occupational disease of asbestos workers in 1938. And by 1945 it was accepted by the medical and scientific communities “in all countries” that asbestos is a carcinogen (cancer causing). In 1955, scientists confirmed that there was a definite connection between asbestos exposure and the development of a form of lung cancer that later came to be known as mesothelioma.

Despite the growing evidence of health risks of asbestos exposure, manufacturers and companies continued its use in many of their projects. In many cases, these manufacturers were aware of the potential health risks of asbestos exposure but chose to ignore them. These same companies also ignored the availability of safer alternative materials like fiberglass that were being developed at the time Unfortunately, the victims were, for the most part, men of working families who had no knowledge of the potential health risks of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos-containing products are used for thermal insulation. Most insulation materials before the mid-1970s did contain some degree of asbestos. Countless products have, at one time or another, contained asbestos, including (but not limited to): thermal seals, insulating cement, asbestos cloth, asbestos cement pipe, pipe-covering, refractory and boiler insulation materials, packing materials, fireproofing spray, transite board, gaskets, insulating block, joint compound, duct insulation for heating, vinyl floor tile, ceiling tile, adhesives, mastics, coatings, roofing products, acoustical textures, insulated electrical wire and panels, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and brake and clutch assemblies.

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has stated that no other toxic substance has more clearly demonstrated lethal health effects on humans than asbestos has. From the years 1940 to 1970, approximately 27.5 million individuals had potential work-related asbestos exposure. It has been estimated that only the number of workers exposed as a consequence of asbestos brake and clutch work is approximately 900,000. In 1989, EPA issued a rule banning most asbestos-containing products. In 1991, however, this regulation was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. EPA was unable to persuade the Justice Department to appeal the ruling. Asbestos products continue to be manufactured and imported for use here.

While more than 30 countries have banned the use of asbestos, the U.S. government has not. However, four years after the introduction of the original bill, the U.S. Senate finally and unanimously passed a bill to ban asbestos, in 2007. The bill had faced opposition from the stone and mineral industries which had concerns about low levels (under 1%) of asbestos contamination of some of their materials. In order to overcome their opposition, compromises were made and the revised U.S. bill restricted the national prohibitions to materials with more than 1% asbestos. It is noteworthy that the figure of 1% has no health basis. Materials with well under 1% of asbestos can release high levels of airborne asbestos when used or disturbed.

Although manufacturers have removed the asbestos from many new products, asbestos may still be found at mines. Moreover, asbestos-containing building materials such as reinforced cements, could present a hazard during maintenance, construction, remodeling, rehabilitation, or demolition projects. Asbestos in manufactured products, such as electrical insulation, joint and packing compounds, automotive clutch and brake linings, and fireproof protective clothing and welding blankets, could present a hazard during activities that may cause a release of fibers.

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