Data on mesothelioma mortality: a powerful tool for preventing asbestos-related disease

Asbestos is a disaster.1 It has been responsible for over 200 000 deaths in the USA, for 400 000 deaths in Europe and continues today to cause an estimated 180 000 deaths each year worldwide.2 Asbestos is a known cause of cancer, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers all forms of asbestos—including chrysotile, the form in major use today—to be proven human carcinogens.3 Asbestos causes cancer of the lung, larynx and ovary as well as malignant mesothelioma. It is associated with stomach, pharyngeal and colorectal cancer. It causes asbestos-related non-malignant respiratory disease. No form of asbestos is safe and no level of exposure is safe. The WHO,4 the International Labour Organisation5 and the Collegium Ramazzini6 have called for a global ban on all production and use of asbestos.

Despite widespread knowledge of asbestos’ dangers, global production and...

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