CDC Continues To Express Concerns Over Asbestos Deaths -- MesoLink.org -- 09-07-04

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has expressed concern over the dramatic rise in recent years of asbestos related deaths.

They have also stated that the death toll is expected to continue to rise dramatically over the coming couple of decades.

Having reviewed the death certificates of around 125,000 people that died from lung conditions linked to asbestos fiber ingestion, the CDC stated that the figures has risen from around 77 people in 1968 to 1500 people in 2000.

The massive rise is expected to continue as more and more cases of asbestos related diseases come to light.

Asbestos was widely used until the 1970s and was utilized in a variety of ways, from insulation and lead piping to auto parts and tiling.

Many people working in such industries were put at high risk by being allowed to work with this hazardous material with no knowledge of the problems it could cause.

One of the diseases caused by asbestos exposure is mesothelioma, a deadly cancer. However, the symptoms of this cancer can take decades to manifest, hence many of the people that worked with asbestos thirty or forty years ago are only just being diagnosed with the disease.