Study Details Significant Increase in Asbestos-Related Deaths

Deaths attributed to asbestos exposure — within the United States and worldwide — have been significantly underestimated, according to the latest study by the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH). Asbestos is killing more people than anyone thought. Based on the most extensive study to date, occupational asbestos-related diseases killed 39,275 people within the U.S. and 222,321 people throughout the world in 2016. Both figures were more than double the commonly used estimates that stem from various governmental and nongovernmental health agencies. “The asbestos burden is worse than people realize. The older estimates, the ones still being used, are so outdated,” Dr. Jukka Takala, president of the ICOH, told Asbestos.com. “We suspected these new figures would be higher, but the magnitude, the enormity of what we found, was surprising.” The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published results of the study earlier this year, reinforcing the often-forgotten fact that asbestos exposure causes a wide range of serious health problems. Mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer with no cure, is just the most obvious. Mesothelioma Is Only the Start The wide gap between previous estimates and the ICOH numbers stems mostly from better identification of lung cancers caused by asbestos, which Takala still believes are underreported. Asbestos exposure is the primary cause of mesothelioma, which is most often linked to the toxic m...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news