Asbestos exposure: the dust cloud lingers

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos exposure: the dust cloud lingers, by The Lancet Oncology (The Lancet. Oncology, 2019).

The study

• Author: The Lancet Oncology
• Journal: The Lancet. Oncology
• Published: 2019;20(8):1035
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a one-page editorial from The Lancet Oncology, not a research study, and it reported no new data. It stated that asbestos exposure is to blame for most (more than 80%) cases of malignant mesothelioma. Citing figures released by the UK Health and Safety Executive, it reported 2523 mesothelioma deaths in the UK in 2017, almost double the 1317 recorded in 1995. It noted that blue and brown asbestos were banned in the UK in 1985 and white asbestos in 1999. Given a lag of around 20 to 50 years between exposure and disease, it said current UK peaks are probably a result of 20th-century industrial exposure, and that UK numbers had begun to plateau and were predicted to decline. In the USA, it reported around 3000 new mesothelioma cases and 2500 related deaths each year, and noted that an initial 1989 ban was overturned in 1991. It said asbestos is banned in 55 countries, with Russia and China among the top producers. The authors concluded that incidence in countries still using asbestos can be expected to keep rising unless governments act.

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: editorial (opinion piece) with no original data; it cites figures from the UK Health and Safety Executive and other outside sources
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses mesothelioma deaths and cases in the UK and the USA, and countries that still mine and use asbestos, using figures from other sources such as the UK Health and Safety Executive.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general, as used in fireproofing, insulation and roofing materials. The editorial refers to blue and brown asbestos (banned in the UK in 1985) and white asbestos (banned in the UK in 1999), and to industrial exposure in shipyard, factory and construction workers.
• Main results:
  • The editorial stated that exposure to asbestos fibres is to blame for most (more than 80%) cases of malignant mesothelioma.
  • Citing UK Health and Safety Executive figures, the editorial reported 2523 mesothelioma deaths in the UK in 2017, almost double the 1317 deaths recorded in 1995.
  • The editorial gave the lag between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma as around 20 to 50 years. It said current UK peaks in deaths are probably a result of 20th-century industrial exposure.
  • According to the editorial, UK diagnoses and deaths had begun to plateau in the past 5 years and were predicted to decline.
  • For the USA, the editorial reported around 3000 new mesothelioma cases and 2500 related deaths recorded each year. It named Maine and Alaska as states with the highest incidence.
  • The editorial said an initial US asbestos ban in 1989 was overturned in 1991. It also said ten states and Washington, DC, are suing the Environmental Protection Agency.
  • The editorial said asbestos is banned in 55 countries, but many countries continue to mine and use it, with Russia and China among the top producers.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the incidence of asbestos-related mesothelioma and other diseases in countries that still use asbestos can be expected to continue to rise unless governments act.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• A simple dispenser for generating dust clouds from standard reference samples of asbestos — V. Timbrell, A.W. Hyett, et al. (1968)
• The Konimiser--a dispenser for the continuous generation of dust clouds from milligram quantities of asbestos — R.F. Hounam (1971)
• Dust exposure and mortality in chrysotile mining, 1910-75 — J.C. McDonald, F.D. Liddell, et al. (1980)
• Dust exposure and mortality in an American chrysotile asbestos friction products plant — A.D. McDonald, J.S. Fry, et al. (1984)
• Pleural calcification, pleural mesotheliomas, and bronchial cancers caused by tremolite dust — S. Yazicioglu, R. Ilçayto, et al. (1980)
• Health effects of World Trade Center (WTC) Dust: An unprecedented disaster's inadequate risk management — M. Lippmann, M.D. Cohen, et al. (2015)

Browse more research in The Lancet. Oncology, or return to medical research.