About 1800 people in Great Britain die each year from mesothelioma and asbestos related lung cancer as a result of past exposure to asbestos. It affects over 2000 people every year in the United States (estimates vary) and over 15,000 worldwide. And is especially insidious because the main cause, asbestos, can have the effect of causing the cancer 30 or 40 years down the track. And yet despite what you might believe, asbestos is not actually banned in the United States. In 1989 Congress passed legislation to ban asbestos under the 1976 'Control of Substances Act'. But in 1991 the 5th Circuit Judge Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned this decision. The administration at the time chose not to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court. And as a result whilst new uses of asbestos were banned, existing uses of asbestos were not. This remains the case today. So it is still found in more than 3,000 products, including brake linings, engine gaskets and roof coatings, and is still present as insulation in older buildings.

( You can visit the following link to read more detailed information about what asbestos products are banned and those that are not at the US Governments Environmental Protection Agency website and here for another pdf which goes into detail on the area.)

Asbestos has been mined and used commercially since the late 1800s. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. The risk of asbestos-related disease increases with heavier exposure to asbestos and longer exposure time. However, some individuals with only brief exposures have developed mesothelioma. Because mesothelioma is very hard to control, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States is currently sponsoring clinical trials (research studies with people) that are designed to find new treatments and better ways to use current treatments. You can find more information here

The number of deaths annually from mesothelioma has been increasing steadily since the 1960s in both the UK and US. This can be accounted for because the disease can take years to develop after initial exposure to the main cause, asbestos, which was heavily used in both countrys in the twenty years following World War 2. And this increasing trend is expected to continue for at least the next ten years. With this rise in the incidence of the disease the British Lung Foundation co-ordinated the Mesothelioma Summit on the 9th March 2005 which looked at ways to improve the treatment and care of existing patients, and to raise the profile of the disease to secure much needed funding to explore ways of treating it.

To find out more information about Mesothelioma and Asbestos you can visit these sites:

UK - http://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/
US - (Mesothelioma FAQs) - http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/6_36.htm
FAQs About Asbestos - http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts61.html

I also discussed the statistics of other types of Cancer in Ramble 30 - Killer Cancers

Copyright - Stuart Brown