The Center for Disease Control released a report on December 12, 2008 entitled Asbestosis-Related Years of Potential Life Lost Before Age 65 Years - United States, 1968-2005. The CDC states that "asbestos still is used in the United States (approximately 2,200 metric tons in 2006) in certain products manufactured domestically." The report notes that there has been an increase in the years of life lost due to deaths attributable to asbestosis in the United States between 1968 and 2005. Overall, the report indicates that annual years of potential life lost (YPLL) before age 65 years attributable to asbestosis increased 64% from an average of 146 YPLL per year during the time frame of 1968 - 1972 to 239.6 YPLL during 2001 - 2005.
Interestingly, the classification of the underlying data throughout the 1965 to 2005 timeframe changed. The CDC findings are based upon cause of death data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) extracts information on deaths from "occupationally related respiratory diseases and conditions" from the NCHS data. As mentioned in a footnote, the means for documenting deaths since 1968 changed and the code used for deaths attributable to "asbestosis" was eliminated in 1998. Thus, for purposes of its calculations, the CDC considered deaths to be caused by asbestosis if the deaths were described by NCHS or NIOSH as deaths caused by (1) "asbestosis," (2) "pneumoconiosis due to asbestos and other mineral fibers," or (3) "pneumoconiosis due to asbestos and other mineral fibers" with "pneumoconiosis associated with tuberculosis" or "pleural plaque with presence of asbestos." The CDC acknowledges additional limitations associated with the report.
The report also ranks the number of years of potential life lost related to asbestosis per job title for a limited number of workers.
If you are interested in reading the CDC report in total, it can be found at the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5749a1.htm?s_cid-mm5749a1_e
James J.A. Mulhall, Esq.
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
P.O. Box 2190
Clarksburg, West Virginia 26302
(304)624-8164
(304)624-8183 Fax
james.mulhall@steptoe-johnson.com
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