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.