Too Much Airborne Asbestos Means Higher Mesothelioma Risk for Workers
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Too Much Airborne Asbestos Means Higher Mesothelioma Risk for Workers

ByAlex Strauss

A new study evaluating trends in workplace concentrations of asbestos over time and across industries has some good news and bad news about mesothelioma risk for workers. Researchers at Cardno ChemRisk, a  California-based scientific consulting firm, analyzed data collected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) between 1984 and 2011. OSHA conducts inspections to measure asbestos concentrations because of the link between asbestos exposure and lung diseases like malignant mesothelioma. The bad news is that many of the air samples collected contained dangerously high levels of asbestos fibers, well beyond what OSHA allowed. This was the case even decades after asbestos was identified as the primary cause of mesothelioma. “Asbestos compliance sampling data associated with the construction, automotive repair, manufacturing, and…

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…

When “Breast Cancer” is Actually Mesothelioma
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When “Breast Cancer” is Actually Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A new case study out of Italy highlights the importance of using all of the available tools – including patient history – to distinguish mesothelioma from other types of cancer. Oncologists in the Ob/Gyn department at Umberto I Hospital in Rome have just published the details of a female patient who was originally believed to have breast cancer. The 49-year-old hairdresser was found to have a hard lump, about 3 centimeters in diameter, lying against the lowest layers of her right breast. But when her doctors performed a biopsy and tested the cells, they discovered that the lump was not what they thought it was. “Estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors were negative,” writes Dr. Marialuisa Framarino-Dei-Malatesta, the paper’s lead author….

Mesothelioma Risk High For Sheet Metal Workers
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Mesothelioma Risk High For Sheet Metal Workers

ByAlex Strauss

A 24-year study of more than 17,000 sheet metal workers shows that even indirect exposure to asbestos can be deadly.  The study found that these workers are much more likely to die of mesothelioma or asbestosis than the general public – even though their industry does not use asbestos. Mesothelioma is an extremely rare cancer in the U.S., with about 2,500 new cases each year. But unlike other cancers, the cause of mesothelioma is well-known. People who have worked or even lived around asbestos are at much higher risk for mesothelioma. While sheet metal work itself doesn’t directly involve the use of asbestos, the profession is risky because workers typically spend their professional lives in the vicinity of asbestos-containing construction…

Mesothelioma Risk from Recycled Textiles
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Mesothelioma Risk from Recycled Textiles

ByAlex Strauss

Sorting rags for Italy’s textile industry may not sound like a dangerous occupation. But a new study in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene finds that rag sorters in the industrial province of Prato have a significantly elevated risk of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing and incurable cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Most people who contract mesothelioma have either worked in asbestos mines or with asbestos-containing products in the construction or shipbuilding trades. However, a hundred and seventy-two cases of mesothelioma were recorded among textile workers in Tuscany between 1988 and 2012. Almost half of them (46.5%) were residents of Prato and half of those Prato workers were rag sorters. In fact, the incidence of mesothelioma among rag sorters in…

The Mesothelioma Threat in Nevada’s Soil
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The Mesothelioma Threat in Nevada’s Soil

ByAlex Strauss

Environmental asbestos may be to blame for higher-than-expected numbers of mesothelioma cases among younger people and women in Nevada. That conclusion comes from a newly-published report from top cancer researchers. Malignant mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by the mineral asbestos and affects the membrane that surrounds the lungs, heart, or abdominal organs. Although it is extremely rare, it is also highly lethal.  Since the regulation of asbestos in industries like construction and manufacturing in the 1970s, most mesothelioma cases now occur in older men who were exposed on the job decades ago. But the story is different in Nevada. Whereas occupational asbestos exposure typically causes mesothelioma at a rate four to eight times greater in men than in women, mortality…

Energy Plant Workers Face Elevated Mesothelioma Risk
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Energy Plant Workers Face Elevated Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Construction workers and tradespeople who have worked at any of the U.S. Department of Energy’s  nuclear sites would do well to be aware of the early warning signs of cancer, including malignant mesothelioma and asbestosis. A new report prepared by the Center for Construction Research and Training and Duke University finds that people who worked at the DOE’s nuclear sites are at higher risk of death from “all causes, all cancers” and should be actively monitored for signs of disease. The research was based on data from the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program, a program established in 1996 to provide occupational medicine screening exams to construction workers employed at DOE nuclear facilities. More than 18,800 workers were monitored from…

Could Your Hairdryer Cause Mesothelioma?
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Could Your Hairdryer Cause Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

A recent issue of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health contains some sobering news for hairstylists. A frightening new report highlights the potential link between the frequent use of hairdryers and a higher risk of deadly malignant mesothelioma. Hairdressers are not typically counted among the occupations at elevated risk for mesothelioma. Construction workers, electricians, plumbers, and others who work with asbestos-containing insulation have the highest incidence of mesothelioma, which is caused by inhaling the tiny fibers. But the same qualities that make asbestos such a good insulator in construction products, also make it ideal as an insulator and heat shield inside hairdryers. Hundreds of models from almost every major manufacturer were once made with asbestos. The asbestos heat shields were…

Occupational Risks of Carbon Nanotubes Include Mesothelioma
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Occupational Risks of Carbon Nanotubes Include Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Are carbon nanotubes the next asbestos? A new report in Occupational Medicine and Health Affairs suggests that the dangers of working with these tiny particles can include lung cancer and deadly malignant pleural mesothelioma – the same diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. Carbon nanotubes are tubular cylinders of carbon atoms. These tiny manmade particles have been found to have some extraordinary properties – including strength, elasticity and conductivity –  that are useful in making products ranging from baseball bats to electronics and optical lenses. Like asbestos, carbon nanotubes are also resistant to corrosion. As a result, they’re being used with increasing frequency, which means that more workers in these fields are likely to be exposed to them. In a…

Report Highlights Mesothelioma Danger in Home Repairs
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Report Highlights Mesothelioma Danger in Home Repairs

ByAlex Strauss

A new article published in a Danish medical journal highlights the potential mesothelioma danger of certain kinds of do-it-yourself home repairs. Mesothelioma is a highly aggressive and currently incurable cancer of body membranes caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos dust. Most mesothelioma patients have a history of working in an occupation, such as construction, manufacturing, or asbestos mining that exposed them to the toxin over an extended period of time. But a growing number of mesothelioma cases worldwide are being reported in people who have no occupational history with asbestos. Instead, these people are being exposed to asbestos while doing repairs or renovations in their own homes. The two newly published cases from Denmark are prime examples. Occupational medicine…