In spite of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) predicted drop in mesothelioma rates in 2010, new research has shown that mesothelioma death rates are not decreasing. In fact, they’re increasing.
Previous estimates from the Centers for Disease Control predicted that new diagnoses and death rates for mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers, would decline in 2010. These estimates were based on the fact that the production and use of asbestos containing materials was widely curtailed in the 1970s and banned altogether in the 1980s. Officials had hoped that meant with fewer people being exposed to the carcinogen that fewer would develop mesothelioma. However, that has not proven true.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) released its annual report containing statistics for all forms of cancer. Unfortunately it showed that while other forms of the disease were declining -some rapidly so- mesothelioma was actually killing more people than ever before.
These finding are corroborated by studies from the University of Hawaii that shows nearly 20 million people in the U.S. alone are at risk for developing some sort of asbestos related disease.
Currently, mesothelioma strikes just under 3,000 people per year and every case is invariably fatal. New mesothelioma treatment options have become available in the very recent past and scientists are hopeful that one line of experiments may lead to a mesothelioma vaccine, but any radical developments are still years, possibly decades, away.
One of the possible reasons for this continued increase is that mesothelioma has an extremely long latency period. Patients can go decades after initial asbestos exposure before symptoms of mesothelioma develop. While previous research in the United States had shown the average time between exposure and diagnosis was between 30 and 40 years, a 2010 study out of Germany showed that many patients weren’t diagnosed until up to 50 years after exposure.
Still, there is hope. As asbestos regulations continue to tighten and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies begin taking a harder stance on Clean Air Act violations the number of people exposed to asbestos is declining. However, while traditional “at risk” groups such as mechanics, Veterans, and military personnel are ducking some of the threat from asbestos, new populations are increasingly coming into contact with the carcinogen.
In fact, new recommendations from the EPA urge those involved in the housing renovation industry, such as contractors, carpenters, plumbers, and electricians, to become more cognizant of:
In short, it may be decades or longer before the asbestos threat here in the United States is curtailed.