Asbestos-related deaths 54 higher than estimate for women living near Kubota factory
Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesThe death rate from asbestos-related cancer among women living near a former Kubota Corp. factory here that made asbestos products was 54 times higher than the estimated death rate under population movement statistics, researchers have found.
Nara Medical University Prof. Norio Kurumatani and Shinji Kumagai, a senior researcher at the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, uncovered the high death rate from mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by asbestos, in a joint epidemiological survey.
"We have not seen such a large and concentrated outbreak of mesothelioma, even on an international scale," one of the researchers said.
The researchers said it was likely there had been a high concentration of asbestos in the air around Kuboto's now defunct Kanzaki factory. They are set to report the finding at a meeting of the Japan Society for Occupational Health in Sendai on May 9.
In the survey, the researchers investigated people who had been living near the plant between 1957 and 1975, when it was using highly toxic blue asbestos, and analyzed data for 86 mesothelioma patients from the area who had no history of working with asbestos. Seventy-six of the patients have already died.
The estimated death rate between 1995 and 1999 for women who lived within a 300-meter radius of the factory, based on the mesothelioma death rate under vital population statistics, was 0.055 people. However, in actual fact three people died, bringing the death rate to a level 54.1 times higher than the estimate, researchers found.
Previous data released by Kurumatani and other researchers said that women who lived within a 500-meter radius of the factory faced 18 times the normal risk. Compared to that figure, the latest one is three times higher, indicating that people living close to the factory had a much higher chance of contracting mesothelioma.
The death rate for men who lived within a 300-meter radius of the plant was 11.7 times higher than the estimate during the period. Between 2000 and 2005, the death rate for men living within 300 meters of the factory was 17.8 times higher than the estimate, and for women it was 23.1 times higher. For those who lived between 300 and 600 meters away, the figures were 5 times higher for men and 10.8 times higher for women.
The reason the death rates for men were lower was that a higher percentage of men who died from work-related mesothelioma were included in vital population statistics that formed the basis for comparisons. Because of this, researchers said the rate for women was likely a more accurate reflection the effect the factory had on residents. (Mainichi)
Nara Medical University Prof. Norio Kurumatani and Shinji Kumagai, a senior researcher at the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, uncovered the high death rate from mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by asbestos, in a joint epidemiological survey.
"We have not seen such a large and concentrated outbreak of mesothelioma, even on an international scale," one of the researchers said.
The researchers said it was likely there had been a high concentration of asbestos in the air around Kuboto's now defunct Kanzaki factory. They are set to report the finding at a meeting of the Japan Society for Occupational Health in Sendai on May 9.
In the survey, the researchers investigated people who had been living near the plant between 1957 and 1975, when it was using highly toxic blue asbestos, and analyzed data for 86 mesothelioma patients from the area who had no history of working with asbestos. Seventy-six of the patients have already died.
The estimated death rate between 1995 and 1999 for women who lived within a 300-meter radius of the factory, based on the mesothelioma death rate under vital population statistics, was 0.055 people. However, in actual fact three people died, bringing the death rate to a level 54.1 times higher than the estimate, researchers found.
Previous data released by Kurumatani and other researchers said that women who lived within a 500-meter radius of the factory faced 18 times the normal risk. Compared to that figure, the latest one is three times higher, indicating that people living close to the factory had a much higher chance of contracting mesothelioma.
The death rate for men who lived within a 300-meter radius of the plant was 11.7 times higher than the estimate during the period. Between 2000 and 2005, the death rate for men living within 300 meters of the factory was 17.8 times higher than the estimate, and for women it was 23.1 times higher. For those who lived between 300 and 600 meters away, the figures were 5 times higher for men and 10.8 times higher for women.
The reason the death rates for men were lower was that a higher percentage of men who died from work-related mesothelioma were included in vital population statistics that formed the basis for comparisons. Because of this, researchers said the rate for women was likely a more accurate reflection the effect the factory had on residents. (Mainichi)
posted by Chris Placitella | 10:23 AM
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