Mesothelioma rates are highest in Britain and Australia

Australia - A recent British study on the global impact of asbestos estimates that 30,000 Australians will die from mesothelioma between 2000 and 2050.

According to the report, which will be presented at Melbourne University Tuesday night, one in ten carpenters born before 1950 will be among the 30,000 victims.

Professor Julian Peto, a cancer research specialist, was the person in charge of the study. He gathered the data by combining the research into the occupations of 600 mesothelioma patients during their lifetime and an analysis of international trends in mesothelioma death rates.
Prof. Peto concluded from the evidence that blue and brown asbestos, crocidolite and amosite respectively, have been the main causes of mesothelioma. Brown asbestos was widely used in cement sheeting and roofing products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s.

He noted that carpenters had not paid much concern when handling asbestos-containing products, such as chopping them up using power saws and wearing no safety equipment. He added that it was still happening even after it was discovered that blue asbestos was responsible for mesothelioma.

The results of Prof. Peto's study also revealed that Australia and the UK are the countries with the highest rates of new mesothelioma cases per year, with Australia at 600 and Britain at almost 2,000. These numbers, which dwarf the rate in the United States by at least five times, are still increasing.

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