Thursday 14:07
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.
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.
The results show areas where the number of deaths has increased most strongly - relative to the total for Great Britain - include Stafford, Torfaen, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Stoke-On-Trent, and Monmouthshire. These areas all had a lower than average overall risk. Areas where the number of deaths increased least strongly - relative to the average for Great Britain - include Glasgow City, Swindon, Plymouth, Southampton, and Portsmouth, which all had a higher than average overall risk.
HSE statistician, Damien McElvenny, explained, "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.
"These results may also reflect a weakening of the effect of specific high-risk activities of the past, such as shipbuilding, railway engineering, and asbestos product manufacturing, as other sources of exposure have developed more recently across a wider range of areas as a result of building maintenance and asbestos removal work."
The statistics are given in a factsheet available on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/area8100.pdf or as a hard copy on request from Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, HSE, Room 244, Magdalen House, Stanley Precinct, Bootle, Merseyside L20 3QZ. Tel: 0151 951 3051 / 3479.
Notes to Editors 1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Mesothelioma death statistics for Great Britain are derived from HSE's mesothelioma register http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/sources.htm#lung which comprises all deaths where the cause of death on the death certificate mentioned the word 'mesothelioma'.This data is compiled, analysed and released in accordance with the National Statistics code of practice .http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about_ns/cop/default.asp
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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Government News Network North East, Tel: 0191 202 3607; Fax: 0191 2618571; email: elfrieda.ranson@gnn.gsi.gov.uk
