Living Near Asbestos Plant Raises Cancer Risk
Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 Sep 15;178(6):556-7.
NEW YORK SEPT 25, 2008 (Reuters Health) - People who have ever lived a short distance from an asbestos-manufacturing plant may have an elevated risk of a rare form of cancer, a new study suggests.
Asbestos is a heat-resistant fibrous material that was once widely used in insulation, fireproofing, tiles and a host of other building materials. Breathing in airborne asbestos fibers can contribute to lung cancer, as well as mesothelioma -- a rare cancer of the membrane surrounding internal organs. It most often affects the tissue that lines the chest cavity and protects the lungs.
People who have ever had on-the-job exposure to asbestos -- in industries like construction and insulation manufacturing -- are at greatest risk of mesothelioma.
The new findings now suggest that people who've ever lived near an asbestos manufacturing plant are also at risk of developing the disease, several decades later.
In the study, Japanese researchers found higher-than-expected death rates from mesothelioma among people who'd lived near a now-closed asbestos cement pipe plant between 1957 and 1975.
The risk steadily declined as residents' distance from the plant increased, with elevated mesothelioma rates seen among people living up to roughly 1.5 miles downwind of the plant.
Residents who died of mesothelioma developed symptoms of the disease an average of 43 years after their first year living near the plant, according to Drs. Norio Kurumatani and Shinji Kumagal. The findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The researchers based their findings on 35 men and 38 women who had lived near the asbestos pipe plant between 1957 and 1975 and died of mesothelioma sometime between 1995 and 2006. None had had any occupational exposure to asbestos.
The mesothelioma death rate for these residents was four times what would be expected. And the greatest risk was seen among men and women living within 300 meters of the plant; the death rate among women was 41 times the expected rate, while the rate among men was 14 times the expected figure.
The findings strongly support exposure to the asbestos plant as the cause of these mesothelioma cases, according to Kurumatani and Kumagal.
In 2006, the researchers note, the Kubota Corporation, which ran the plant before it closed, established a compensation fund for people who developed asbestos-related diseases after having lived within kilometer -- or 1.6 miles -- of the site during the time it used asbestos.
Kurumatani is at the Nara Medical University School of Medicine in Kashihara, and Kumagal is affiliated with the Osaka Prefecture Institute of Public Health in Osaka.
SOURCE:
ยท American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, September 15, 2008.
NEW YORK SEPT 25, 2008 (Reuters Health) - People who have ever lived a short distance from an asbestos-manufacturing plant may have an elevated risk of a rare form of cancer, a new study suggests.
Asbestos is a heat-resistant fibrous material that was once widely used in insulation, fireproofing, tiles and a host of other building materials. Breathing in airborne asbestos fibers can contribute to lung cancer, as well as mesothelioma -- a rare cancer of the membrane surrounding internal organs. It most often affects the tissue that lines the chest cavity and protects the lungs.
People who have ever had on-the-job exposure to asbestos -- in industries like construction and insulation manufacturing -- are at greatest risk of mesothelioma.
The new findings now suggest that people who've ever lived near an asbestos manufacturing plant are also at risk of developing the disease, several decades later.
In the study, Japanese researchers found higher-than-expected death rates from mesothelioma among people who'd lived near a now-closed asbestos cement pipe plant between 1957 and 1975.
The risk steadily declined as residents' distance from the plant increased, with elevated mesothelioma rates seen among people living up to roughly 1.5 miles downwind of the plant.
Residents who died of mesothelioma developed symptoms of the disease an average of 43 years after their first year living near the plant, according to Drs. Norio Kurumatani and Shinji Kumagal. The findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The researchers based their findings on 35 men and 38 women who had lived near the asbestos pipe plant between 1957 and 1975 and died of mesothelioma sometime between 1995 and 2006. None had had any occupational exposure to asbestos.
The mesothelioma death rate for these residents was four times what would be expected. And the greatest risk was seen among men and women living within 300 meters of the plant; the death rate among women was 41 times the expected rate, while the rate among men was 14 times the expected figure.
The findings strongly support exposure to the asbestos plant as the cause of these mesothelioma cases, according to Kurumatani and Kumagal.
In 2006, the researchers note, the Kubota Corporation, which ran the plant before it closed, established a compensation fund for people who developed asbestos-related diseases after having lived within kilometer -- or 1.6 miles -- of the site during the time it used asbestos.
Kurumatani is at the Nara Medical University School of Medicine in Kashihara, and Kumagal is affiliated with the Osaka Prefecture Institute of Public Health in Osaka.
SOURCE:
ยท American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, September 15, 2008.
posted by Carolin Shining at 7:35 PM
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