IARC study links abestos exposure to throat and ovarian cancers
23 Jul 2009 by Wendi Lewis under Events, Legal, News
A startling new study from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization, says a new study reveals more cancers than previously thought are related to exposure to asbestos fibers. Results of the study were published this summer in the Lancet Oncology journal.
The findings were part of an article published in the July 19 edition of the Guardian, which says medical researchers now believe that the danger of asbestos exposure may have been “seriously underestimated.”
Asbestos disease – particularly mesothelioma – is a looming epidemic in the UK, expected to peak in the middle of the next decade, resulting in about 5,000 deaths each year, according to figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Many of these deaths will be a result of secondary exposure, in addition to more typical industrial type exposure, the agency says.
The Guardian article says “patterns of premature fatalities” among such professions as electricians, plumbers, garage mechanics, and even teachers and hairdressers” are now being reported.
Additionally, the government’s Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) estimates that as many as 90,000 people each year may be developing pleural plaques – an early indicator of asbestos contamination in the chest cavity and lungs. There is a debate currently raging in the UK to determine whether or not people diagnosed with pleural plaques are eligible to sue for compensation for their injury. A 2007 House of Lords judgment barred these claimants, saying pleural plaques “do not alter the structure of the lungs or restrict their expansion.”
However, proponents for the rights of those with pleural plaques to sue point out that this early asbestos disease could develop into more serious diseases including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer.
According to the Guardian, more than half of all work-related deaths from six major cancers in the UK are related to asbestos. Additionally, studies estimate that as many as 125 million people around the world work in asbestos-contaminated offices and factories, even if asbestos is not actively used in any manufacturing or other activity at that facility.
Now, the IARC study says “sufficient evidence is now available to show that asbestos also causes cancer of the larynx (throat) and of the ovary.”
