The asbestos cancer epidemic

Our plain-English summary of The asbestos cancer epidemic, by J. LaDou (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2004).

The study

• Author: J. LaDou
• Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives
• Published: 2004;112(3):285-90
• Cited by: 124 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The asbestos cancer epidemic may take as many as 10 million lives before asbestos is banned worldwide and exposures are brought to an end. In many developed countries, in the most affected age groups, mesothelioma may account for 1% of all deaths. In addition to mesotheliomas, 5-7% of all lung cancers can be attributed to occupational exposures to asbestos. The asbestos cancer epidemic would have been largely preventable if the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) had responded early and responsibly. The WHO was late in recognizing the epidemic and failed to act decisively after it was well under way. The WHO and the ILO continue to fail to address the problem of asbestos mining, manufacturing, and use and world trade of a known human carcinogen. Part of the problem is that the WHO and the ILO have allowed organizations such as the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and other asbestos industry advocates to manipulate them and to distort scientific evidence. The global asbestos cancer epidemic is a story of monumental failure to protect the public health.

In plain English

This article is a commentary, not an original study; it collected no new data and relied on figures from other published sources. The author argued that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) responded late and weakly to asbestos-related cancer, and that the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and other asbestos industry advocates had influenced them. Citing other researchers, the author reported that in many developed countries mesothelioma may account for 1% of all deaths in the most affected age groups, and that 5 to 7% of all lung cancers can be attributable to occupational asbestos exposure. A cited projection of 5 to 10 million deaths, past and present, assumed exposures would cease; the author noted that world production seemed to have stabilized at around 2 million tons per year. The ILO Asbestos Convention had been ratified by only 27 of 176 member states, and no Asian country except Saudi Arabia had banned chrysotile. The author concluded that the WHO and the ILO need to demand an international ban on asbestos.

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: Commentary (opinion and policy article drawing on previously published sources; no original data)
• Who was studied: No study population. The article discusses asbestos exposure and asbestos-related disease worldwide, and the conduct of international agencies (WHO, ILO, IARC) and the ICOH.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general: chrysotile (serpentine) and the amphiboles amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite, with emphasis on continued chrysotile mining, trade and use
• Main results:
  • Citing Peto et al. (1995), the author stated that in many developed countries, in the most affected age groups, mesothelioma may account for 1% of all deaths
  • Citing Tossavainen (2004), the author stated that 5 to 7% of all lung cancers can be attributable to occupational exposures to asbestos
  • Citing Leigh (2001), the author reported a projection that the asbestos cancer epidemic will cause 5 to 10 million deaths worldwide, past and present. The author described it as a conservative estimate that assumes asbestos exposures will cease and the epidemic will run itself out.
  • The author noted that world asbestos production, which went down by half in the 1990s, seemed to have stabilized at around 2 million tons per year in 2001 to 2002. The author wrote that further progress was far from assured.
  • Citing an ILO extrapolation from Finnish data, the author reported an estimate that at least 100,000 and maybe as many as 140,000 workers die each year from asbestos-related cancer
  • Citing Peto et al. (1999), the author reported a prediction that mesothelioma deaths among men in Western Europe would rise from just over 5,000 per year in 1998 to about 9,000 by 2018
  • Citing Stayner et al. (1997), the author reported that the strictest occupational exposure limit for chrysotile (0.1 fiber per cc) is estimated to carry lifetime risks of 5 per 1,000 for lung cancer and 2 per 1,000 for asbestosis
  • The ILO Asbestos Convention of 1986 had been ratified by only 27 of the 176 ILO member states
  • More than 2 million tons of chrysotile were still mined and shipped each year. Canada exported about 300,000 tons of chrysotile annually.
  • No Asian country except Saudi Arabia had banned chrysotile asbestos
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the WHO, the ILO and other public health agencies need to demand an international ban on asbestos and plan how to achieve it
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author noted that low reported mesothelioma rates in countries such as Japan and Russia likely reflect improper reporting, and that no reliable incidence data exist for developing countries
  • The author noted that national asbestos consumption figures are affected by underreporting
  • The author noted that the 5 to 10 million death estimate assumes asbestos exposures will cease

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: Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Occupational Exposure.

Related studies

• The European mesothelioma epidemic — J. Peto, A. Decarli, et al. (1999)
• Trades of dangers: a study of asbestos industry transfer cases in Asia — Y. Choi, S. Lim, et al. (2013)
• Transfer of occupational health problems from a developed to a developing country: lessons from the Japan-South Korea experience — J. Park, N. Hisanaga, et al. (2009)
• Epidemic of mesothelioma in Egypt — R.M. Gaafar, N.H. Eldin (2005)
• Malignant mesothelioma--the rising epidemic — D. Ferguson (1989)
• Asbestos-related morbidity in India — T.K. Joshi, R.K. Gupta (2003)

Browse more research in Environmental Health Perspectives, or return to medical research.