According to research published in the British Journal of Cancer, one in 17 carpenters born in the 1940s will die of mesothelioma. During the study, funded by Cancer Research UK and the Health and Safety Executive, researchers, interviewed over 600 patients with mesothelioma and 1,400 healthy people to investigate rates of asbestos cancer linked with various occupations.
The researchers determined those men born in the 1940s and who worked as carpenters for longer than 10 years before the age of 30 are at high risk for mesothelioma. The risk was also high for plumbers, electricians, decorators (one in 50), and other construction workers (one in 125).
Additionally, researchers learned that the asbestos exposure also causes one case of asbestos lung cancer for every case of mesothelioma, making the overall risk for the carpenters in this group one in 10.
The study also showed that two-thirds of all British men and one-quarter of women had worked in professions that potentially involved asbestos exposure.
The study will continue into 2010, when results are released about the role of amosite causing mesothelioma in younger generations. Amosite, more commonly referred to as “brown” asbestos, is mined in South Africa and primarily used as a fire retardant in thermal insulation products.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma
