Asbestos, asbestos-related diseases, and compensation claims in The Netherlands

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos, asbestos-related diseases, and compensation claims in The Netherlands, by P. Swuste, A. Burdorf, B. Ruers (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2004).

The study

• Authors: P. Swuste, A. Burdorf, B. Ruers
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2004;10(2):159-65
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In The Netherlands the number of asbestos-related diseases is increasing. An age-cohort model predicts a steep rise in pleural mesothelioma deaths up to 490 cases per year among men, with a total death toll close over 12,000 cases during 2000-2028. In the past decade the number of compensation claims for asbestos-related diseases has more than doubled, with increasingly verdicts in favor of claimants. In addition to the medical information, information about the state of the art of preventive measures in different periods of time plays a decisive role in these claims. The use of asbestos in The Netherlands, the occurrence of asbestos-related diseases, the national asbestos regulations, and the position of the claimants in asbestos lawsuits in The Netherlands are reviewed.

In plain English

This article reviewed asbestos use, disease, regulation and compensation claims in The Netherlands. Asbestos imports rose to 50,000 tons per year in 1978. National Death Register data showed 5,526 deaths from pleural mesothelioma in 1969-1998. Among men, the rate rose from 1.0 per 100,000 in 1969 (65 cases) to 3.9 per 100,000. Among women, cases went from 20 in 1969 to a peak of 43 in 1994, then 18 in 1998. Reported asbestosis deaths never exceeded ten per year over the past 25 years, most likely a gross underestimation, the authors said. A cited prediction study projected a peak of 490 pleural mesothelioma deaths in men (2017) and close to 12,400 in 2000-2028. From 1990, two lawyers submitted about 1,000 settlement applications; about 125 cases went to court. Supreme Court rulings shifted part of the burden of proof to employers once the claimant proved exposure, and later verdicts named 1949 as when employers should have known the danger. The authors concluded that official asbestos rules came late, in the 1970s, and that this delay showed in mortality figures and forecasts.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Review of asbestos use, asbestos-related diseases, national asbestos regulations and the legal position of claimants in The Netherlands
• Who was studied: The Netherlands. National mortality data for asbestosis and mesothelioma from 1969 onward (National Death Register, Statistics Netherlands), plus compensation claims and Supreme Court cases from about 1990 to 2001
• Exposure: Asbestos used in The Netherlands from about 1925. Imports peaked at 50,000 tons per year in 1978, and all asbestos was banned in 1993. Exposures occurred in the primary asbestos industry and in many user occupations.
• Main results:
  • 5,526 people in The Netherlands died of pleural mesothelioma in the period 1969-1998
  • Women: pleural mesothelioma deaths numbered 20 in 1969 (0.4 per 100,000), peaked at 43 in 1994 and were 18 in 1998 (0.25 per 100,000)
  • Men: the pleural mesothelioma rate rose from 1.0 per 100,000 in 1969 (65 cases) to 3.9 per 100,000, with 301 cases in 1994 and 265 in 1998
  • Over the past 25 years, reported asbestosis deaths never exceeded ten per year
  • A prediction study cited by the authors (using 1969-1998 mortality data) predicted a peak of 490 pleural mesothelioma cases in men in 2017, and close to 12,400 pleural mesothelioma deaths during 2000-2028
  • From 1990 onward, two specialist lawyers submitted about 1,000 applications for asbestos settlements
  • About 125 actions claiming damages for injury were taken to court; most other claims were settled out of court
  • The claimant must first prove asbestos exposure; before the duty of care is addressed, the onus of proof rests with the plaintiff (Supreme Court, Weststrate-De Schelde, 2001)
  • Once exposure is proven, under the 1990 and 1993 Supreme Court verdicts the burden of proof on adequate safety measures shifts to the employer
  • Two 1998 verdicts named 1949 (when asbestosis was officially recognised as an occupational disease) as the year employers should have known of the danger of asbestos exposure
  • The 1978 Asbestos Regulations prohibited crocidolite (blue asbestos) and asbestos spraying and adopted a workplace standard of 2 fibers per mL of air
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, for unknown reasons, official guidance notes and regulations on asbestos were not introduced until the 1970s, and that the effects of this delay showed in asbestos mortality figures and in forecasts of pleural mesothelioma mortality
• Limitations the authors state:
  • There is no reliable register of occupational diseases in The Netherlands, and underreporting is severe
  • Recorded asbestosis mortality is most likely a gross underestimation, because most asbestosis cases are probably diagnosed as pneumoconiosis
  • The trend in asbestos-related lung cancer mortality could not be established

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, State-of-the-Art Defense.

Related studies

• Mesothelioma incidence surveillance systems and claims for workers' compensation. Epidemiological evidence and prospects for an integrated framework — A. Marinaccio, A. Scarselli, et al. (2012)
• Workers' compensation for nonmalignant asbestos-related lung disease — C. Nevitt, W. Daniell, et al. (1994)
• A guide to compensation for asbestos-related diseases — M.G. Britton, D.T. Hughes, et al. (1981)
• Compensation for asbestos-related diseases--the U.K. model — M. Britton (1989)
• Lump sum compensation for asbestos related lung disease — T. Williams, P. Slade, et al. (1998)
• Hyperventilation in men claiming compensation for benign asbestos-related diseases — G.K. Crompton (2010)

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