Age and Sex Differences in Malignant Mesothelioma After Residential Exposure to Blue Asbestos (Crocidolite)

http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/131/2/376

Between 1943 and 1966, blue asbestos (crocidolite) was heavily mined and milled in a small town in Western Australia named Wittenoom. Wittenoom has become synonymous with the mesothelioma epidemic and __ outrage. Pictures have been gathered depicting young children covered from head to toe in the asbestos dust while playing in their own backyards far from the mine.

Australian Universities across the continent pulled together to investigate various public records collected on the Wittenoom residents in an effort to determine if females are more susceptible to develop mesothelioma with asbestos exposure and if children are more susceptible than adults. Researchers also tracked the likelihood of someone to develop mesothelioma who did not work at the mine or the mill.

A total of 4,768 residents in Wittenoom have been followed up in cancer and death registries. Researchers found 67 cases of mesothelioma and 64 deaths due to mesothelioma documented until the end of 2002. Results showed that the mesothelioma mortality rate "increased with increasing residence duration, time since first exposure, and estimated cumulative exposure." More males developed mesothelioma than females, however, women developed mesothelioma with less exposure to asbestos than males. Researchers also found that those first exposed at 15 years of age of older were more likely to develop mesothelioma than children.

In conclusion researchers at leading universities in Australia found that former residents of Wittenoom, a crocidolite mining town have a much higher rate of mesothelioma than other Australian populations. Even though males and those 15 years of age and older were more likely to develop mesothelioma, females developed mesothelioma with less asbestos exposure than their male counterparts.

Authors: Alison Reid, MSc; Geoffrey Berry, PhD; Nicholas de Klerk, MD; Janice Hansen, MPH; Jane Heyworth, PhD; Gina Ambrosini, MPH; Lin Fritschi, PhD; Nola Olsen, BApplSci; Enzo Merler, MD and A. W. (Bill) Musk, MD

Data Collected From: School of Population Health (Drs. de Klerk and Heyworth, Ms. Ambrosini, Ms. Hansen, Ms. Reid, and Ms. Olsen), University of Western Australia; School of Public Health (Dr. Berry), University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (Dr. Musk), Nedlands, Western Australia; Occupational Health Unit (Dr. Merler), Department of Prevention, Local Health Unit, National Health Service, Padua, Italy; and Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (Dr. Fritschi), Perth, Australia.

*** POSTED ON FEBRUARY 27, 2007 ***