A new study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has found that workers who were exposed to asbestos face an increased risk of developing heart disease or stroke. Researchers at Britain’s Health and Safety Laboratory compared the number of cardiovascular deaths among asbestos workers over a 30 year period to the rate that would be expected in the general population.
Health experts have long theorized that asbestos exposure could increase the risk of cardiovascular problems, but were unable to confirm these assertions with hard data. The results of the British study are the first scientific evidence linking asbestos and heart disease.
According to the study, male asbestos workers were 39% more likely to die from heart disease and 63% more likely to die from a stroke than the general public. Women who worked around asbestos were about twice as likely to die from heart disease or stroke as those who were not exposed to asbestos. Evidence from the study suggested that the risk of both heart disease and stroke increased the longer an individual worked around asbestos materials.
Exposure to asbestos has also been linked to a number of cancers and respiratory diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer. Workers who were employed at asbestos jobsites or who were exposed to asbestos materials in the U.S. Navy may develop mesothelioma decades later due to the long latency period associated with the disease. Workers who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or other asbestos disease may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation for their injuries.
Data for the British asbestos study was collected from nearly 100,000 asbestos workers who took part in a health monitoring and data gathering program known as the Asbestos Workers Survey. The majority of men taking part in the study worked in asbestos abatement, while the majority of women worked in manufacturing jobs.
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