Mesothelioma is anything but a slow and steady phenomenon. As the years go by, we continue to learn just how aggressive this form of cancer is, along with a surprising rise in mesothelioma cases, including those who don’t seem to fit the description of prior victims. Here’s what you should know about the rise of mesothelioma in America

Mesothelioma Identified

Asbestos may have been used for thousands of years throughout human history, but our knowledge base of the related diseases of asbestos exposure is still a growing list. Mesothelioma was discovered as a direct result of asbestos exposure back in the 1960s and 1970s due in part to American and British factories. Today, this aggressive form of cancer has been identified as a particular form of cancer almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure. 

Despite the placeholder “mesothelioma”, this form of asbestos-related cancer is shorthand for a particular type of cancer called pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma in general refers to cancer of the mesothelium, the body’s protective tissue that surrounds various organs. Pleural mesothelioma refers to cancer of the lung’s surrounding tissue. Other types of mesothelioma include pericardial (heart) and peritoneal (abdomen) though these are less common compared to pleural mesothelioma. 

Around the same time that asbestos was seen as a potential cause of mesothelioma, it was also discovered that the contaminating nature of asbestos could leave other workers and even family members at risk. Despite this discovery, which we now commonly refer to as secondary asbestos exposure, the hazard was primarily publicized in national newspapers but remained underreported until the rise of lawsuits in the subsequent decades. 

Latency Issues

Part of the reason these lawsuits took several years to develop is due to the latency of asbestos. Asbestos exposure does not commonly lead to immediate health symptoms. Instead, asbestos-related diseases and cancers take decades to show up, with most latency periods lasting between 30 and 50 years. This latency period includes the development of asbestos’ most aggressive form of cancer: mesothelioma. 

Unfortunately, mesothelioma patients face a sad prognosis. In general, a mesothelioma diagnosis is the diagnosis of a terminal cancer with only several months to two years as the average survival rate. Due to the aggressive nature of this cancer, patients who receive a mesothelioma diagnosis will begin to rapidly decline in their physical health, particularly by the development of severe breathing and respiratory issues in cases of pleural mesothelioma. 

Since mesothelioma requires a specialized diagnosis from X-ray specialists known as B-readers, many victims are left guessing about the nature of their disease until they are able to receive this specialized medical evaluation, especially because mesothelioma symptoms can mimic other types of respiratory issues. 

What’s the Cause of Rising Mesothelioma Cases?

Between the latency period of mesothelioma and the progressive nature of medical studies related to the nature of the disease, what are we to make of the constant rise of mesothelioma cases in America? This is a fair question to ask, especially since asbestos was banned in many forms across the country back in the 1980s. Since asbestos-containing materials were largely phased on in the 1980s, why are mesothelioma cases continuing to rise? 

To revisit the latency issue of asbestos: if symptoms take 30-50 years to develop, we should not be surprised about the steady increase of mesothelioma cases up to the present day. Even if asbestos hypothetically disappeared in the 1980s (which it didn’t), we should expect up to a 50-year phasing out of mesothelioma cases. Currently, we have not passed that timeframe threshold. 

Secondly, asbestos did not disappear in the 1980s. Instead, only new forms of asbestos usage were regulated. This means that anything built during or before that time (and still standing) still contains asbestos materials unless significant abatement projects have taken place by professional companies in order to go in and replace buildings with safer alternatives. This process has happened in some structures, but the process of removing asbestos can cause more problems than it solves, so many undamaged buildings are left intact, asbestos and all. 

Unsuspected Asbestos Exposure

In addition to both those points, mesothelioma has been identified as a growing concern for previous workers as well as people without any known exposure to asbestos. That’s right, there are a growing number of mesothelioma cases which include a substantial number of homemakers among others:

According to a 2020 CDC cross-study, one out of five women with mesothelioma did not work outside the home. Among women with mesothelioma, by far the most common occupation was homemaker (22.8%). The next largest group was elementary and middle school teachers (5%). Schools in the 70s and 80s did have a lot of asbestos in tiles and other materials, but given homemaking patterns at the time (i.e. women did the washing), it’s possible many of the female teachers with asbestos damage were exposed to their husbands’ work clothing.

Currently, the ten States with the highest rates of mesothelioma diagnosis and death include

  1. Maine
  2. Delaware
  3. Minnesota
  4. Alaska
  5. Washington
  6. Louisiana
  7. West Virginia
  8. Idaho
  9. Montana
  10. Wisconsin

Respecting What the Evidence Shows

Given what we know about asbestos exposure and secondhand exposure concerns, there may not be a direct connection between the states themselves and the dangers of developing mesothelioma for those who live in those locations. All states throughout America either manufactured or used asbestos-containing materials up until the 1980s, and the ease of transporting airborne asbestos throughout workplaces, military installations, and homes simply illustrates how easily mesothelioma has arisen as a growing cancer trend across the country. 

As experts have noted, “Exposure to a single fiber can be sufficient to cause Asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma (Frank and Joshi 2014:260). As a result, when dealing with Asbestos abatement or processing Asbestos-contaminated disaster debris, no level of airborne Asbestos fibers is considered acceptable.”

Certainly, not everyone who is exposed to asbestos will go on to develop mesothelioma, but these trends and statistics go to show that this is anything but a rare form of cancer that only affects industry workers. If nothing else, the data shows us that a mesothelioma diagnosis can be given to anyone, despite what their work and family history may suggest.