RR861 - The burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain - Mesothelioma
The aim of this project was to produce an updated estimate of the current burden of cancer for Great Britain resulting from occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents or exposure circumstances. Estimation was carried out for carcinogenic agents or exposure circumstances classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as definite (Group 1) or probable (Group 2A) human carcinogens. Here, we present estimates for mesothelioma derived using mortality data for calendar year 2005. The methodological approach used informed judgement about the proportion of mesothelioma cases in Great Britain attributable to occupational and paraoccupational and environmental (indirect industrial exposures) asbestos exposures based on evidence from UK published studies.
The estimated total (male and female) fraction of mesothelioma attributable to occupation and paraoccupation is 95.1% (95%Confidence Interval (CI)= 93.0-96.9), which equates to 1937 (95%CI=1898-1976) deaths and 1,937 (95%CI=1898-1976) registrations.
This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
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