Increase in European Mesothelioma Cases Due to Asbestos Exposure

Mesothelioma News

Mesothelioma Deaths in Western Europe May Double

LONDON — March 9, 2001 — The number of men dying from mesothelioma in Western Europe will almost double over a 20–year period, from 5,000 in the year 1998 to about 9,000 in 2018, according to an article in the British Journal of Cancer. A total of about a quarter of a million deaths from the disease may occur over a 35–year period.

The predictions are based on an analysis of male deaths from pleural cancer from 1970 to 1989 in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The ratio of mesothelioma to recorded pleural cancer mortality is known for these countries.

Mesothelioma is mainly caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos use in Western Europe remained high until 1980, and substantial quantities of the substance are still found in several European countries. The study predicts that men born around 1945–50 will have the highest risk for developing mesothelioma.

“Asbestos use in the building and engineering industries in Europe peaked around 1970, when men born in 1950 started work. The effects are only now beginning to be seen, because mesothelioma usually takes 20–60 years to develop,” says J. Peto, one of the authors quoted in a Lancet journal article (free registration required, search on Vol 353, 9150: 383). He warns, however, that there is still a great deal of asbestos in older buildings and today’s renovation and demolition workers risk exposure.