Epidemiology of malignant mesothelioma in Australia

Our plain-English summary of Epidemiology of malignant mesothelioma in Australia, by A.W. Musk, N.H. de Klerk (Lung Cancer, 2004).

The study

• Authors: A.W. Musk, N.H. de Klerk
• Journal: Lung Cancer
• Published: 2004;45 Suppl 1:S21-3
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 35 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In Australia, consumption of asbestos peaked in about 1975 at around 70,000t per year--the majority being used for asbestos cement manufacture. Chrysotile, amphibole and crocidolite have all been mined in Australia and employment records from the single company which mined most of the crocidolite deposits at Wittenoom have formed the basis of an ongoing cohort mortality study of the workforce.

In plain English

This short article was a review, not a new study. The authors summarised existing Australian information on malignant mesothelioma, including the follow-up of Wittenoom crocidolite workers and town residents in Western Australia. They reported that national asbestos consumption peaked in about 1975 at about 70,000 t per year, and that crocidolite was mined at Wittenoom from 1937 to 1966. The article gave age-standardised mortality rates for Western Australia of 4.8 per 100,000 for males and 0.3 for females, and incidence rates of 4.7 for males and 0.5 for females (1998). In 1988, 429 of 459 cases (93%) were known to start in the pleura and 20 of 459 (4%) in the peritoneum. Citing registry data, the authors reported that the share of Western Australian cases occurring among Wittenoom workers fell from 45% (1960 to 1979) to 21% (1980 to 1994). Over the same period, cases with other occupational exposures rose from 26 to 48%. Statistical modelling suggested the national peak would come in 2020, though the authors noted these estimates may be incorrect.

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: Narrative review summarising existing mortality data, incidence data and cohort follow-up. No new study was reported.
• Who was studied: Mesothelioma cases in Australia and Western Australia. The article drew on two Wittenoom cohorts: 6500 people employed by the single company that mined the principal crocidolite leases from 1943 to 1966, and 5000 township residents not employed by the industry.
• Exposure: Asbestos produced and used in Australia, especially crocidolite mined at Wittenoom from 1937 to 1966. Chrysotile and imported amosite were also used. National consumption peaked in about 1975 at about 70,000 t per year.
• Main results:
  • In Western Australia, age-standardised mortality rates were 4.8 per 100,000 for males and 0.3 for females. Age-standardised incidence rates were 4.7 for males and 0.5 for females (1998).
  • In 1988, 429 of 459 cases (93%) were known to originate in the pleura and 20 of 459 (4%) in the peritoneum.
  • The percentage of Western Australian cases occurring in the Wittenoom worker cohort decreased from 45% (1960 to 1979) to 21% (1980 to 1994). This figure is cited from registry data.
  • Over the same period, the percentage of cases with other occupational exposures increased from 26 to 48%. Cases with no identifiable asbestos exposure stayed steady at 7 and 8%.
  • Western Australian female mesothelioma mortality was the third highest in the world, behind Italy and Slovenia. This is cited from earlier work.
  • Statistical modelling suggested that the peak incidence in the Wittenoom cohort was occurring at the time of writing and that the peak for Australia would occur in 2020.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that incidence and mortality rates had increased rapidly since the 1960s but now appeared to be levelling out.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the projected peaks may be incorrect because of increased longevity with fewer deaths from other causes, clearance of particles from the lungs, and a vitamin A cancer prevention programme in Western Australia.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Epidemiology, Malignant Mesothelioma, Asbestos-Cement, Chrysotile, Amphibole Group, Crocidolite, Wittenoom.

Related studies

• Plasma vitamin concentrations and incidence of mesothelioma and lung cancer in individuals exposed to crocidolite at Wittenoom, Western Australia — H.S. Alfonso, L. Fritschi, et al. (2006)
• Cancer incidence among women and girls environmentally and occupationally exposed to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia — A. Reid, J. Heyworth, et al. (2008)
• Predicted mortality from malignant mesothelioma among women exposed to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia — A. Reid, G. Berry, et al. (2009)
• Migration and work in postwar Australia: mortality profile comparisons between Australian and Italian workers exposed to blue asbestos at Wittenoom — A. Reid, E. Merler, et al. (2018)
• Retinol supplementation and mesothelioma incidence in workers earlier exposed to blue asbestos (Crocidolite) at Wittenoom, Western Australia — H.S. Alfonso, A. Reid, et al. (2010)
• Malignant pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas in former miners and millers of crocidolite at Wittenoom, Western Australia — G. Berry, N.H. de Klerk, et al. (2004)

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