Lung disease statistics unveiled

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today published updated statistics on work related mesothelioma deaths by geographical area within Great Britain.

The statistics are based on previously published death information covering the twenty-year period 1981-2000.

The analyses presented are: mortality rates for counties (including local authority districts within counties) and unitary authorities, compared with the average for Great Britain; and assessments of whether the number of mesothelioma deaths in each area increased more or less rapidly over time than total for Great Britain.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that principally affects the external lining of the lungs (pleura) and lower digestive tract (peritoneum). It has a strong association with exposure to asbestos dust. It is exceptionally rare in the absence of exposure to asbestos.

The statistics show that the areas with highest mesothelioma mortality in males are West Dumbartonshire, Barrow-in-Furness, Plymouth, Portsmouth and South Tyneside, which are associated with past exposure to asbestos in shipbuilding.

Other areas with the high overall rates generally associated with past asbestos exposure are those close to or containing railway engineering sites including Eastleigh, Crewe and Nantwich, and factories which made asbestos products, such as Barking, Dagenham and Newham.

Women tend to have much lower mortality rates than men – typically around 15% of the annual mesothelioma mortality is in females. The areas with the highest mesothelioma mortality rates for women were Barking and Dagenham (associated with asbestos product manufacturing), Sunderland (shipbuilding and manufacturing), and Blackburn with Darwen (gas mask manufacturing during the war). These results are less reliable than those for the males, since they are based on fewer deaths.

HSE statistician, Damien McElvenny, said: "The statistics relate to the period 1981- 2000 and generally reflect asbestos exposure in the 1970s and earlier decades. Due to death certificates reporting the usual place of residence at the time of death, the extent that people who worked with asbestos have moved away from the areas in which they were exposed will naturally have some effect on the geographical distribution of mesothelioma deaths."

Typically, there are between 15 and 60 years between first exposure to asbestos and the onset of mesothelioma, which is then almost invariably fatal within one to two years. Recent deaths therefore reflect working conditions of the past and do not represent risks for people currently working in each area.

(gmcg)