For every four or five cases of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma worldwide, at least one more case of the deadly disease goes unreported, according to a new study. Its authors propose a worldwide ban on the mining, use and export of asbestos.
The study broke ground by calculating the frequency of mesothelioma in countries that “use asbestos at substantial levels but report no cases of the disease,” study coauthor Dr. Ken Takahashi, of Japan’s University of Occupation and Environmental Health, said in a statement reported by Medscape Today. The countries cited include Russia, Kazakhstan, China and India, which all rank in the top 15 for asbestos use.
The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It used data from asbestos-using countries that report mesothelioma deaths to calculate the number of deaths in nations — many of them underdeveloped — that don’t disclose statistics on the disease.
For the 56 reporting countries, the number of deadly mesothelioma cases disclosed from 1994 to 2008 totaled approximately 174,300. Among the 33 countries that do not report the mesothelioma, the researchers estimated a total of 38,900 deaths.
“The present study is the first to provide a global estimate of ‘missed’ mesothelioma cases,” the authors say. But they cautioned that their extrapolations “should be viewed as conservative estimates. It is plausible that the ‘hidden’ burden is substantial.”
As The Center for Public Integrity has reported, the asbestos industry has thrived by expanding in the developing world, where demand for cheap building materials is strong. In contrast, asbestos is banned in the European Union.
In the United States, asbestos once was widely used, but today it is restricted to automobile and aircraft brakes, gaskets and a few other products.
The final statement in this article is incorrect and harmful. Asbestos has never been banned from other products in the US. The main restriction established in the 1970s was on bulk construction materials (concrete, sheet rock, joint “mud”, etc.), in which asbestos is allowed in concentrations up to 1% by weight. There is nothing that bans it from other products to at least the same limits. The presence of friable asbestos in a variety of household products, including children’s toys and home repair materials, was reported by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization in 2007, as a result of product testing. In the case of a children’s toy fingerprint powder kit, these findings were confirmed by the laboratories of two state governments. ADAO reported their findings to the US EPA and CPSC, but no Federal action has resulted. Asbestos remains a present danger to Americans in their homes, workplaces, and places of everyday commerce and recreation. The most effective way to start solving this problem would be to ban asbestos-containing products in commerce in America.
Hi Paul. I’m with you, but it doesn’t look good. Americans still aren’t fully aware of the issue. Plus, take a look at this. Sad news for progress.