Mesothelioma Asbestos - Mesothelioma Lawyer
Mesothelioma Info
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that is thus far incurable. Mesothelioma treatment options have done little save provide a brief extension of life. Traditional mesothelioma treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. New mesothelioma treatment options include photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy and the development of new chemotherapy drugs.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma asbestos, contact a mesothelioma lawyer or asbestos attorney to get information about your right to compensation.
(d) Friction materials manufacture
There have been only two cohort studies in which the risks of lung cancer in the manufacture of asbestos friction materials have been examined. One of these was among employees of a plant in Stratford, Connecticut, USA, which used only chrysotile (McDonald et al., 1984). The other was in a large plant in the United Kingdom where, apart from two periods before 1944 when crocidolite was needed for one particular contract, only chrysotile was used (Berry & Newhouse, 1983; Newhouse & Sullivan, 1989).
In the United Kingdom plant, there were no excesses in deaths due to all causes or to lung cancer (Newhouse & Sullivan, 1989). Berry & Newhouse (1983) carried out case-control studies on deaths from lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer using a detailed assessment based on the work history for each subject and estimated levels of chrysotile exposure. The first fibre counts were taken in 1968. Earlier work practices were simulated using original machinery and appropriate basic materials to estimate historical fibre counts. Fibre counts (both personal and static sampling) were measured by PCOM (Skidmore & Dufficy, 1983) (Table 10). There was no evidence of any exposure- response relationship for either cancer site. For lung cancer, an estimated relative risk of 1.06 for a cumulative exposure of 100 f/ml-years was associated with a 95% confidence interval of 0.6 to 2.0. A total of 13 deaths from mesothelioma (0.54% of all deaths) was observed among this cohort.
The study in Stratford, Connecticut, was complicated by the fact that the high SMR for lung cancer, based on state death rates, was largely explained by mortality among men employed in the plant for less than one year. The exposure-response relationship for lung cancer was described; however, there was in fact no significant relationship between risk and cumulative exposure. No mesotheliomas were observed among the cohort members in this study.
(e) Mixed products manufacture
In a study of 824 workers employed during 1946-1973 in a factory producing various chrysotile products in Lodz, Poland, and followed-up until 1985, there was a significant increase in lung cancer mortality, based on 24 observed and 12.9 expected deaths (SMR 1.86, 95% CI 1.19-2.77). When workers were grouped according to cumulative asbestos dust exposure, the SMR of lung cancer was 1.55 in the group with exposure to up to 50 mg/m3-years and 3.11 in the group with higher exposure (Szeszenia-Dabrowska et al., 1988). No mesotheliomas were observed among the cohort members in this study.
In a cohort of 1172 workers in Tianjin, China, exposed to chrysotile in the manufacture of asbestos textiles, friction materials and asbestos-cement for at least one year, and followed from January 1972 to December 1987, Cheng & Kong (1992) reported increased risk of mortality from lung cancer (21 observed/6.67 expected; SMR= 3.15; p<0.05) and "other" non-malignant respiratory disease (29 observed/11.78 expected; SMR= 2.46; p<0.05). The comparison was made with the general population of Tianjin. Based upon employment history and monitoring data collected between 1964 and 1975, estimates of qualitative and quantitative (i.e. low, middle or high; cumulative exposures of <400, 400-800 or 3800 mg/m3-years) exposure to "asbestos dust" were derived for each worker. The Task Group noted that these exposures were extremely high. Analysis of the relative risk of lung cancer according to level, duration or latency since first exposure indicated significant excess risk of mortality at all levels of cumulative exposure (SMRs ranged from 2.71 to 4.85; p <0.01), with "middle" or "high" levels of exposure (p <0.01), with duration of exposure 3 15 years (SMRs ranged from 3.02 to 6.67; p <0.01), and with 3 20 years latency (SMRs ranged from 2.97 to 3.11; p <0.05). Information on the distribution of workers across industries or movement of workers from one industry to another was not reported.
Chen et al. (1988) reported mortality for 1551 workers in Shanghai, China, producing asbestos textiles, rubber, brake linings, seal material and thermal insulation products between 1958 and 1985. Compared to the population of Shanghai, lung cancer was increased (SMR = 2.28, 14 observed for males; SMR = 2.17, 5 observed for females).
Zhu & Wang (1993) reported significantly increased relative risk (RR= 5.3; 95% CI= 2.6-7.1) and attributable risk (AR= 63.6%; p<0.01) of mortality due to lung cancer between 1972 and 1991 in a cohort of 5893 asbestos workers from eight factories in China (45 974 person-years for men and 39 445 person-years for women) exposed to chrysotile compared to a control group of unexposed workers (number not reported; 122 021 person-years). Quantitative data concerning the level of exposure to chrysotile (or other compounds) were not presented.
(f) Gas mask manufacture
In a study of a group of women who assembled civilian masks using only chrysotile and a group of women who assembled military masks where crocidolite was used, Acheson et al. (1982) reported one death from mesothelioma among 177 deaths in the former group (0.6%) compared with 5 deaths from mesothelioma among 219 deaths (2.3%) in the latter. The experience of the chrysotile group was thus comparable with frequencies observed both in chrysotile mining and milling and in the manufacture of chrysotile-containing products. The authors noted that the case of mesothelioma occurred in a woman who had transferred to the factory that manufactured crocidolite gas masks.