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Mesothelioma
Treatment
Articles
and Abstracts
Distribution
of mesothelioma cases in different
occupational groups and industries in
Australia, 1979-1995
Appl
Occup Environ Hyg 1999 Nov;14(11):759-67
Yeung
P, Rogers A, Johnson A
Alan
Rogers OH&S; Pty Ltd, Clovelly,
Australia.
Australia
was a producer and user of asbestos and
has one of the highest national incidences
of mesothelioma in the world. The
incidence is still rising and expected to
do so for another 10-20 years. A study was
conducted in 1996 to examine the past and
current incidence rates of mesothelioma in
a number of industries and occupations as
the basis for predicting future outcomes.
Occupational histories of a total of 3758
mesothelioma cases collected by two
sequential national schemes--the
Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance
Program (1979-1985) and Australian
Mesothelioma Register (1986-1995)--were
reviewed and coded by the authors. The
building industry contributed the largest
number of cases nationwide followed by
shipbuilding and repair, asbestos cement
production, crocidolite mining and
milling, railway locomotive construction
and repair, coal-fired power stations, and
other engineering operations. The mean
latency between initial occupational
asbestos exposure and diagnosis of the
disease was 37.4 years (range = 4-66
years) for cases notified between 1979 and
1985, and 41.4 years (range = 6-84 years)
for those between 1986 and 1995. Trends
for each industry group have been changing
considerably in the past 16 years, with
the traditional primary asbestos industry
cases from crocidolite mining and milling
now on the decline and cases from asbestos
cement production having plateaued. In
contrast, more recently, more cases were
observed from the asbestos user industries
such as the building industry, and from
occupations such as plumbers, carpenters,
machinists, and car mechanics. These
increases might be a reflection of the
longer latency effects of the intermittent
and less severe exposures in these larger
occupational groups.
PMID:
10590549
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