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Mortality from asbestosis and mesothelioma in Britain by birth cohort

Mortality from asbestosis and mesothelioma in Britain by birth cohort
Mortality from asbestosis and mesothelioma in Britain by birth cohort
Background: analysis of occupational mortality in England and Wales during 1991–2000 showed no decline in work-attributable deaths from asbestosis.

Aims: to explore why there was no decline in mortality from asbestosis despite stricter controls on asbestos exposure over recent decades.

Methods: using data from registers of all deaths in Great Britain with mention of mesothelioma or asbestosis on the death certificate, we plotted death rates by 5 year age group within 5 year birth cohorts for(a) mesothelioma and (b) asbestosis without mention of mesothelioma.

Results: analysis was based on a total of 33 751 deaths from mesothelioma and 5396 deaths from asbestosis. For both diseases, mortality showed a clear cohort effect; within birth cohorts, death rates increased progressively with age through to 85 years and older. However, highest mortality from mesothelioma was in men born during 1939–43, whereas, mortality from asbestosis peaked in men born during 1924–38.

Conclusions: our findings suggest that mortality, in Britain, from asbestosis has been determined mainly by cumulative exposure to asbestos before 45 years of age and that the effect of such exposure continues through to old age. That mortality from asbestosis peaked in earlier birth cohorts than mortality from mesothelioma may reflect a difference in exposure-response relationships for the two diseases. The discrepancy could be explained if risk of asbestosis increased more steeply than that of mesothelioma at higher levels of exposure to asbestos and if the highest prevalence of heavy exposure occurred in earlier birth cohorts than the highest prevalence of less intense exposures
0962-7480
594-552
Darnton, A.
3940a540-698a-4b6c-916a-67d9065d1925
Hodgson, J.
53c102b5-8e53-4c13-8c78-6d29a038e2ae
Benson, P.
24392133-b9e0-424a-a88b-6d64ccb9a9dd
Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Darnton, A.
3940a540-698a-4b6c-916a-67d9065d1925
Hodgson, J.
53c102b5-8e53-4c13-8c78-6d29a038e2ae
Benson, P.
24392133-b9e0-424a-a88b-6d64ccb9a9dd
Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3

Darnton, A., Hodgson, J., Benson, P. and Coggon, D. (2012) Mortality from asbestosis and mesothelioma in Britain by birth cohort. Occupational Medicine, 62 (7), 594-552. (doi:10.1093/occmed/kqs119). (PMID:23034792)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: analysis of occupational mortality in England and Wales during 1991–2000 showed no decline in work-attributable deaths from asbestosis.

Aims: to explore why there was no decline in mortality from asbestosis despite stricter controls on asbestos exposure over recent decades.

Methods: using data from registers of all deaths in Great Britain with mention of mesothelioma or asbestosis on the death certificate, we plotted death rates by 5 year age group within 5 year birth cohorts for(a) mesothelioma and (b) asbestosis without mention of mesothelioma.

Results: analysis was based on a total of 33 751 deaths from mesothelioma and 5396 deaths from asbestosis. For both diseases, mortality showed a clear cohort effect; within birth cohorts, death rates increased progressively with age through to 85 years and older. However, highest mortality from mesothelioma was in men born during 1939–43, whereas, mortality from asbestosis peaked in men born during 1924–38.

Conclusions: our findings suggest that mortality, in Britain, from asbestosis has been determined mainly by cumulative exposure to asbestos before 45 years of age and that the effect of such exposure continues through to old age. That mortality from asbestosis peaked in earlier birth cohorts than mortality from mesothelioma may reflect a difference in exposure-response relationships for the two diseases. The discrepancy could be explained if risk of asbestosis increased more steeply than that of mesothelioma at higher levels of exposure to asbestos and if the highest prevalence of heavy exposure occurred in earlier birth cohorts than the highest prevalence of less intense exposures

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 25 July 2012
Published date: October 2012
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 346625
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/346625
ISSN: 0962-7480
PURE UUID: 0cef1bea-abd0-4a91-ad7b-58c11c573da1
ORCID for D. Coggon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1930-3987

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Date deposited: 04 Jan 2013 10:23
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:52

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Contributors

Author: A. Darnton
Author: J. Hodgson
Author: P. Benson
Author: D. Coggon ORCID iD

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