Occupational Burden of Asbestos-related Cancer in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

• Main Authors: Roberto Pasetto, Benedetto Terracini, Daniela Marsili, Pietro Comba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Levy Library Press 2014-11-01
• Series: Annals of Global Health
• Subjects: asbestos; burden of disease; Latin America; neoplasms; occupation
• Online Access: https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/2055

Background: An estimate at the national level of the occupational cancer burden brought about by the industrial use of <a title="Learn more about Asbestos" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/asbestos">asbestos</a> requires detailed routine information on such uses as well as on vital statistics of good quality. A causal association with asbestos exposure has been established for <a title="Learn more about Mesothelioma" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/mesothelioma">mesothelioma</a> and cancers of the lung, <a title="Learn more about Larynx" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/larynx">larynx</a>, and ovary. Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide estimates of the occupational burden of asbestos-related cancer for the Latin American countries that are or have been the highest asbestos consumers in the region: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Methods: The burden of multifactorial cancers has been estimated through the approach suggested for the World Health Organization using the population attributable fraction. The following data were used: • Proportion of workforce employed in each economic sector • Proportion of workers exposed to asbestos in each sector • Occupational turnover • Levels of exposure • Proportion of the population in the workforce • Relative risk for each considered disease for 1 or more levels of exposure Data on the proportion of workers exposed to asbestos in each sector are not available for Latin American countries; therefore, data from the European CAREX database (carcinogen exposure database) were used. Findings: Using mortality data of the World Health Organization Health Statistics database for the year 2009 and applying the estimated values for population attributable fractions, the number of estimated deaths in 5 years for mesothelioma and for lung, larynx, and ovary cancers attributable to occupational asbestos exposures, were respectively 735, 233, 29, and 14 for Argentina; 340, 611, 68, and 43 for Brazil; 255, 97, 14, and 9 for Colombia, and 1075, 219, 18, and 22 for Mexico. Conclusions: The limitations in compiling the estimates highlight the need for improvement in the quality of asbestos-related environmental and health data. Nevertheless, the figures are already usable to promote a ban on asbestos use.