Asbestos, 1,545 victims of mesothelioma every year. Bellantone (Iss): remains a national priority

'Asbestos remains a public health priority'. This was stated by Rocco Bellantone, president of the Iss, on the day the data on asbestos victims in Italy is released. Between 2010 and 2020, an average of 1,545 people died each year in Italy from mesothelioma, 1,116 men and 429 women. Of the deaths observed on average each year, 25 (1.7 per cent) were aged 50 or under. The data are taken from the new Istisan report 24|18 'Impact of asbestos on mortality. Italy, 2010-2020' by the Istituto superiore di sanità (Iss) on asbestos mortality in our country. It reports a decrease in the number of deaths from mesothelioma among the under-50s in recent years, a first effect of law 257/92 by which Italy banned the use of asbestos and the production of artefacts containing asbestos.

"The Istituto Superiore di Sanità - underlines Rocco Bellantone, President of the Iss - has been working on this issue for years and the asbestos problem remains among the public health priorities. The Iss will continue to contribute to research activities and to the epidemiological surveillance of asbestos-related diseases, as well as to the definition of tools for the detection of sources of asbestos exposure still present in our country, and to the implementation of preventive actions, providing support to institutions and citizens, through moments of dialogue and sharing".

The highest number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants compared to the national average is recorded in Piedmont, Lombardy, Valle d'Aosta and Liguria, but cases are registered throughout Italy. In total, almost 17,000 cases were registered nationwide in the period 2010-2020. The number of deaths is higher than the expected number based on the regional average in 375 municipalities: these are territories with shipyards, industrial poles, former asbestos-cement industries, and former asbestos quarries.

Deaths among the population aged 50 or less are decreasing (31 cases observed in 2010 and 13 cases in 2020). The deaths from mesothelioma observed among the youngest," the Iss experts explain, "are probably due to exposure that occurred during childhood in non-occupational environments, given the long latency (up to 30-40 years) of the disease. Most people who died of mesothelioma were probably exposed to asbestos in work environments in past decades. But exposure may also have occurred in domestic or environmental contexts, through inhalation of fibres released in the home or in the environment from sources in the area.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive, highly lethal tumour with a latency of up to 30-40 years, affecting the cells of the mesothelium, the thin tissue that covers most of the internal organs. Mesothelioma in about 80% of cases is due to exposure to asbestos. Due to the fact that it releases inhalable fibres, asbestos (also called asbestos) can be responsible not only for mesothelioma but also for asbestosis (a chronic lung disease resulting from the inhalation of asbestos fibres) and, albeit with a lower and more difficult to estimate attributable share, for other types of cancer, such as lung and ovarian cancer.