Early mortality from malignant mesothelioma in Italy as a proxy of environmental exposure to asbestos in children
Authors
Lucia Fazzo, Giada Minelli, Caterina Bruno, Pietro Comba, Susanna Conti, Marco De Santis, Amerigo Zona, Alessandra Binazzi, Corrado Magnani, Alessandro Marinaccio, Ivano Iavarone
Abstract
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare neoplasm caused by asbestos. Mortality from
MM in ≤50 years old people, considering the long latency, is likely related to asbestos
exposure in childhood. Mortality from MM (C45, ICD10 code) is described among ≤50
years (ys) old people in Italy, in 2003-2016. National and regional Standardized Rates
(SRs) were computed by age-class. The North-South trend of regional SRs, increasing in
>50ys age-class, showed a flat cline in ≤50ys old people. Municipal Standardized Mortality
Ratios (SMRs) were computed, with respect to regional figures, for ≤50 ys old
population. In Italy, 487 people ≤50 ys old died from MM, in 2003-2016 (2.5% of all
MM deaths), corresponding to 35/year. The highest SMRs were observed in Northern
Regions, the most industrialized areas. Exceeding SMRs were found in 10 municipalities
where former asbestos-cement plants, shipyards, and a quarry contaminated by fluoroedenite fibres were present. Early mortality from MM, proxy of childhood environmental asbestos exposure, deserves particular concern.
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