AboutMesothelioma.Net

Deaths from mesothelioma, a respiratory cancer associated with asbestos exposure, have increased more than ten-fold in Great Britain over 40 years.

A study in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer noted that mesothelioma deaths now represented more than 1 percent of all cancer deaths in Great Britain. Mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lungs or abdomen, typically 30 years or longer after workers inhale asbestos fibers.

The researchers predict that mesothelioma will claim the lives of 91,000 people in Great Britain between 1968 and 2050, with about 61,000 of those deaths occurring after 2007.

While mesothelioma can strike anyone, about 85 percent of victims of mesothelioma in Great Britain are males, many of whom worked in trades where asbestos use was common such as plumbing, ship building, construction and sheet metal work. Asbestos is now banned in Great Britain, but was widely used in building materials until recent decades. The peak year of asbestos exposure was 1963, the study said.

The researchers predicted that mesothelioma mortality among males would peak in the year 2016 with more than 2,000 deaths annually, then decline.

The annual number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain has risen fairly steadily from 153 in 1968 to 1848 in 2001, according to the British Health and Safety Executive. Because of the long latency period, many of the recent mesothelioma deaths are a result of heavy asbestos exposure in earlier decades. Britain’s mesothelioma register recorded the deaths of more than 1,700 men in 2006, according to the article.