The latest statistic presented by the Cary, North Carolina-based, government journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) regarding mesothelioma cancer, which affects the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen, states that for every four to five cases reported worldwide, at least one case goes unreported. This is the first study to offer a global estimate of unreported mesothelioma cases. The collective experience of countries with available data on asbestos disease was used to generate the estimation.
Malignant mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by prolonged exposure to asbestos. People are generally exposed to asbestos by inhaling microscopic, carcinogenic fibers released whenever asbestos is disturbed. These fibers collect and fester in the lungs, explaining why the mesothelioma most commonly occurs in the lining of the lungs.
The EHP study used mesothelioma deaths as a proxy mesothelioma cases because mesothelioma patients usually die shortly after diagnosis and in many countries deathsto be more uniformly and accurately reported than diagnoses. The scientists studied the correlation between country-level asbestos use from 1920 to 1970 and mesothelioma deaths reported between 1994 and 2008. Out of the 56 countries included in the study, there were approximately 174,300 mesothelioma deaths from 1994-2008.
Cumulative asbestos use in 89 countries, from 1920 to 1970, totaled over 65 million metric tons. The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan were the leaders in production and exportation. They were also some of the first countries to adopt the ban on asbestos use in the 1980′s.
The study found that a country's cumulative use of asbestos in prior decades can reliably predict the number of recent mesothelioma deaths in the countries reporting mortality data. It is estimated that an additional 38,900 cases may have occurred in the 33 countries not providing mesothelioma data over the same 15-year period.
No comments:
Post a Comment