Asbestos Cement Factory Still Impacting Lives in Italy
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Asbestos Cement Factory Still Impacting Lives in Italy

ByAlex Strauss

Residents who worked in or lived near an asbestos cement factory in Italy are still suffering the effects of toxic pollution decades later.  Separate studies in two environmental health journals this month highlight the ongoing problem. Both show there are more mesothelioma cases in these regions than in the rest of Italy. This is true even though Italy banned asbestos 30 years ago. One study concentrates on people who worked in an asbestos cement factory. The other focuses on mesothelioma patients whose only exposure was through air pollution near a factory  The Deadly Legacy of Asbestos in Broni The Fibronit asbestos cement company operated plants in Bari and Broni, Italy.  Broni is a town of about 9.000 people. The asbestos…

Mesothelioma: The Deadly Legacy of Cement Plants
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Mesothelioma: The Deadly Legacy of Cement Plants

ByAlex Strauss

A new study out of Italy demonstrates the deadly legacy of asbestos cement plants around the world. Researchers found a higher incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma not only not only among former plant workers, but also in people who just lived near the plants, including many women. The study involved more than 15 thousand Italians diagnosed with mesothelioma between 1993 and 2008. Because mesothelioma is directly related to asbestos exposure, the researchers analyzed the lives of these patients including where they lived, the industries in which they worked, and their family histories to see how they may have come in contact with the toxin. When all of these mesothelioma cases were plotted on a map of Italy, it became clear that some…