Occupational, domestic and environmental mesothelioma risks in the British population: a case–control study

We obtained lifetime occupational and residential histories by telephone interview with 622 mesothelioma patients (512 men, 110 women) and 1420 population controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were converted to lifetime risk (LR) estimates for Britons born in the 1940s. Male ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) relative to low-risk occupations for >10 years of exposure before the age of 30 years were 50.0 (25.8–96.8) for carpenters (LR 1 in 17), 17.1 (10.3–28.3) for plumbers, electricians and painters, 7.0 (3.2–15.2) for other construction workers, 15.3 (9.0–26.2) for other recognised high-risk occupations and 5.2 (3.1–8.5) in other industries where asbestos may be encountered. The LR was similar in apparently unexposed men and women (∼1 in 1000), and this was approximately doubled in exposed workers' relatives (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3–3.2). No other environmental hazards were identified. In all, 14% of male and 62% of female cases were not attributable to occupational or domestic asbestos exposure. Approximately half of the male cases were construction workers, and only four had worked for more than 5 years in asbestos product manufacture

Mesothelioma and asbestosis in a young woman following occupational asbestos exposure: Short latency and long survival: Case Report

A 27-year-old female white-collar worker was diagnosed in 1998 with mesothelioma eight and one-half years following first exposure as a bystander to debris in a site in which asbestos-containing building materials were being dismantled and rebuilding work took place. Prodromal back pain had been present for a year and a half. She underwent extrapleural pneumectomy and received an intrapleural infusion of cisplatin post-operatively. Exposure to asbestos was verified by contemporary reports and lung biopsy, which demonstrated asbestos bodies and microscopic interstitial fibrosis -conforming evidence for asbestosis. The patient is alive and well 12 years after diagnosis and 14 years after onset of symptoms. The combination of an extremely short latency period and long survival following occupational exposure to asbestos dust is unique