Countries Ban Asbestos to Reduce Mesothelioma Deaths

ByHolly Zink
Countries Ban Asbestos to Reduce Mesothelioma Deaths
A new study published in BMJ Global Health has found that most countries ban asbestos to reduce mesothelioma cases.

A new study published in BMJ Global Health has found that most countries ban asbestos to reduce mesothelioma cases.

This study was an international collaboration. Authors were based in research centers located in Japan, Taiwan, and Australia.

The authors found a strong relationship between asbestos bans and pre-ban mesothelioma burden in the country. Countries with a high number of mesothelioma cases were more likely to ban the use of asbestos.

Asbestos Causes Cancer in Humans

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The Global Burden of Diseases Study estimates that 29,300 people around the world die each year from mesothelioma.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring material found throughout the world. It is almost impossible to set on fire. It is also nearly impossible to corrode. Asbestos can be woven into other materials and is cheap to buy.

Asbestos has been classified as a known human carcinogen (a substance that causes cancer) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the EPA, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. A leading cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure.

The best way to reduce mesothelioma cases is to ban the use of asbestos. About 60 countries have banned the use of asbestos. Many countries still use asbestos in manufacturing. The current global use of asbestos is over a million tons each year.

Global Burden of Diseases

The authors of this study looked at data from 198 countries. They used data from the Global Burden of Diseases Study. This data is collected by over 3,600 researchers around the world.

Countries that banned asbestos were more likely to report mesothelioma deaths to the Global Burden of Diseases Study. Countries that reported mesothelioma deaths were also more likely to ban asbestos.

The odds of a country banning asbestos increased in response to rising mesothelioma deaths before the ban.

The authors believe that there is a strong relationship between asbestos bans and reporting mesothelioma deaths. They recommend that the world should use a strategy for eliminating mesothelioma that combines the asbestos bans with the identification of this disease.

Source

Chimed-Ochir O, Rath EM, Kubo T, Yumiya Y, Lin RT, Furuya S, Brislane K, Klebe S, Nowak AK, Kang SK, Takahashi K. Must countries shoulder the burden of mesothelioma to ban asbestos? A global assessment. BMJ Glob Health. 2022 Dec;7(12):e010553. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-010553. PMID: 36543384. https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/12/e010553

Similar Posts

  • |

    Teacher’s Diagnosis Highlights Mesothelioma Risk in Schools

    ByAlex Strauss

    A recent mesothelioma diagnosis in the UK once again dramatically highlights the fact that even a small amount of asbestos can be deadly. Sixty-three-year-old school teacher Marion Potts of Brockenhurst died of mesothelioma in a Southampton hospital in June. According to an article in The Mirror, the Coroner recorded a verdict of “death from an industrial disease” after hearing evidence last week that Potts actually saw asbestos dust being released when she pinned work on the classroom walls. Most recently, Potts was head of the English department at Romsey School in Hampshire until her retirement two years ago. Mesothelioma is a growing threat among school teachers, administrators, maintenance workers, and even students in British schools. A government report released last…

  • | |

    Micro-RNAs May Offer New Way to Fight Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Scientists at one of the world’s top mesothelioma research centers, the Asbestos Diseases Research institute in Sydney, Australia, say that restoring the expression of certain micro RNAs in the cells of mesothelioma patients may offer a new way to fight the disease. A microRNA is a small RNA molecule which is involved in the regulation of gene expression. According to a new report in the Annals of Oncology, the Australian scientists found reduced expression of the micro RNA-15 family (miR-15/16) in the cells of mice with mesothelioma. “When malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines were compared with the normal mesothelial cell line MeT-5A, the downregulation of miR-15/16 was 2- to 10-fold,” they report. This finding is consistent with previous cancer research…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Claims Another American Actor

    ByAlex Strauss

    Another American actor has died of malignant mesothelioma. Veteran character actor Ed Lauter, who worked with such prominent names as Clint Eastwood, George C. Scott, Burt Reynolds and Tom Cruise, died this week in Los Angeles. According to the Associated Press, one of Lauter’s most notable roles was that of a prison guard in the 1974 Burt Reynolds film “The Longest Yard”. He also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Family Plot”, “Born on the Fourth of July” with Tom Cruise, and most recently played a butler in the 2011 Oscar-winning film “The Artist”. Lauter’s television appearances included “The Office”, “ER”, “Murder She Wrote” and “The Rockford Files”. Although little is being said about the origin of Lauter’s mesothelioma, an aggressive…

  • |

    Last Man Sentenced in Asbestos Dumping Scheme

    ByAlex Strauss

    The U.S. Justice Department has announced that a New Jersey man will spend 15 months in prison for his part in a scheme to illegally dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated construction debris – putting others at risk for mesothelioma. He was the last person to be sentenced in the conspiracy. Asbestos is the cause of mesothelioma, a difficult to treat and aggressive cancer.  At the height of its popularity from the 1940s to the early 1970s, asbestos was common in building products ranging from floor and ceiling tiles to joint compound, concrete and shingles. It is still present in tens of thousands of older homes and buildings today. In an effort to protect workers and the public from mesothelioma…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Case Shows Danger of Accidental Asbestos Exposure

    ByAlex Strauss

    A mesothelioma case in Birmingham, England is a dramatic illustration of the very real danger of hidden asbestos. The widow of a physician who died of mesothelioma last year at the age of 51 claims her husband was exposed to asbestos just walking to and from his medical classes. Monisha Coelho believes that exposed asbestos insulation in the underground hallways that connect the University of Birmingham to buildings on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital campus triggered Dr. Ian Pardoe’s mesothelioma. In an article in the Birmingham Mail, Coelho explained how her husband decided how and where the deadly exposure had occurred. “Ian thought long and hard about where he might have come into contact with asbestos,” Coelho told the paper. “He…

  • | |

    Aspirin Derivative No Match for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    It may work wonders for aches and pains but apparently the ‘wonder drug’ is no match for the asbestos-linked cancer, malignant mesothelioma. A number of previous studies have suggested a benefit from aspirin for some types of cancer. But Italian scientists testing the aspirin derivative [2-acetoxy-(2-propynyl) benzoate] hexacarbonyldicobalt (Co-ASS) and its analogue hexacarbonyl [μ-(2-ethylphenyl) methanol] dicobalt (Co-EPM) against malignant pleural mesothelioma cells found that both molecules function better as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) agents than as anti-tumor drugs. The researchers tested Co-ASS and Co-EPM against mesothelioma cells of both the more common epithelioid and rarer sarcomatoid types. The most encouraging results were seen with the sarcomatoid cells. Against this cell type, Co-ASS was found to be more potent than either Co-EPM or…