David N. Weissman, M.D.’s Testimony: Asbestos-Related Diseases

Read more from the testimony of Dr. Weissman, who spoke before the Senate’s Committee on the Environment and Public Works about the dangers of asbestos. In this section, he discusses asbestos-related diseases.

Burden of Asbestos-Related Diseases
NIOSH has tracked annual U.S. asbestosis deaths since 1968 and malignant mesothelioma deaths since 1999 using death certificate data in the National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (NORMS).

Data from NORMS show that asbestosis deaths increased almost 20-fold from the late 1960s to the late 1990s and have apparently plateaued only since 2000 at approximately 1,500 per year (Figure 1). By contrast, mesothelioma deaths continue to rise (Table 1).

Current asbestos and mesothelioma mortality reflect past exposures because the latency between exposure and disease onset is long, particularly for mesothelioma, and asbestosis is a chronic disease, with affected individuals typically living for many years with the disease before succumbing.

Figure 1. Number of asbestosis deaths, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1968-2004. Source: National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (NORMS), found at: http://webappa.cdc.gov/ords/norms.html.

Over time, the annual number of deaths should decrease substantially as a result of reductions in exposures. However, asbestos usage has not been completely eliminated.

Although domestic production of asbestos has ceased and importation of raw asbestos fibers has markedly declined, many finished asbestos-containing products continue to be imported into the United States.

These include asbestos-cement sheets, panels, and tiles; corrugated sheets; and automotive friction products. In addition, a reservoir of asbestos-containing materials remains in place in older buildings and machinery.

Thus, even with limitations or exclusions from new use, occupational exposures to asbestos will continue, albeit at a far lower level than in the past.

Courtesy of EPA

Other helpful links:

Asbestos Asbestos
Asbestos and lung cancer Asbestos and lung cancer
Mesothelioma attorney Mesothelioma attorney
Mesothelioma Lawyer Mesothelioma lawyer
Asbestos attorney Asbestos attorney