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At least 345 Californians died in 2002 from the deadly asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, and the often-fatal non-cancer disease, asbestosis, according to the most recent data from the National Centers for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control (NCHS 2005). Mesothelioma was responsible for more than two thirds (244) of the cases, compared to 101 asbestosis fatalities that year. More than one third of the deaths, 132, were in three metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland with 53, 46, and 33 fatalities respectively (NCHS 2005).

California led the nation in asbestos mortality between 1979 and 2002, with 4,618 reported casualties for just these two forms of asbestos disease. The top California metropolitan areas for asbestos mortality during that time were Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, with 861, 604 and 420 reported deaths respectively. The majority of these casualties are older men. Hundreds more died from mesothelioma during this period, but are not reflected in federal statistics due to reporting oversights described below.

Click here for to view the number of asbestos fatalities in communities across California between 1979-2002

The number of people killed each year in California from these two signature asbestos diseases more than doubled between 1990 and 2002, from 171 to 345 reported fatalities. From 1979, when reporting began, through the most recent year for which data are available (2002), the rate of mesothelioma mortality in California increased at about 3.5 percent per year; for asbestosis the increase was roughly 4.4 percent annually.

When the government began tracking mesothelioma as a cause of death, mortality nationwide more than doubled, from 935 in 1998, to 2,343 in 1999.

Click here to view the top 100 US counties for asbestos mortalities

*** POSTED APRIL 18, 2005 ***