Asbestos in England
While the United States, which is finally beginning to see declines in the number of newly diagnosed mesothelioma cases, England has not been as fortunate.
According to the UK-based Health and Safety Executive, England is
still in the midst of seeing the number of cases increase gradually on
an annual basis. While the total number of deaths attributed to
mesothelioma and asbestos exposure was only reported to be 153 in 1968, the figure had skyrocketed to 2,156 in 2007.
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The most common victims of mesothelioma in England were found to be
men who had worked in construction as electricians, carpenters,
plumbers, or heating/ventilating engineers. The HSE concluded that male
deaths attributed to mesothelioma would likely increase until peaking at
2,038 in 2016.
The information supported data that had been published in the British
Journal of Cancer in 2005 that predicted that mesothelioma death rates
would not begin to decline until 2015.
The increase in cases may be due in part to the history of industrial
labor that was predominant in much of the country for most of the
twentieth century that likely included the creation of a number of
products that utilized asbestos and led to workers inhaling the fibers.
Similarly, the town of Armley in Leeds that housed an asbestos
factory for J W Roberts until 1950 exposed many of its residents to
high quantities of asbestos on a regular basis. According to the
Yorkshire Evening Post, the asbestos dust that was regularly shot out of
the building was so abundant that children would make “snowballs” using
the dust and play games with them
Following bans of Blue and Brown asbestos products in the 1980s, the European Union instituted additional asbestos laws
when it put a ban on all chrysotile (or white) asbestos in 1999.
Additionally, the Control of Asbestos Regulations was introduced in 2006
to further limit the use of asbestos-laden products in the workplace
and “ensure that the number of his employees who are exposed to asbestos
at any one time is as low as is reasonably practicable.”
Despite the numerous examples of the dangers caused by asbestos
fibers, many producers of the fibers - including many in Canada - have
since attempted to fight the EU’s ban and attempt to block any further
restrictions on the fibers’ usage from being implemented.