"Asbestos" has a high cancer-causing rate! What diseases can result from long-term exposure? Are the construction industry and automobile maintenance industry high-risk groups?
He got sick due to exposure to asbestos at work! Long-term exposure may cause “three types of cancer”
A technician worked as a boiler maintenance technician for at least 4 years more than 40 years ago. When performing repairs and maintenance, he needed to open the “asbestos” coating on the outside of the boiler. In recent years, he began to feel chest pain and hyperpnea. After a medical examination, it was found that the technician was suffering from “malignant mesothelioma.” His wife actively collected various relevant information and visited major hospitals, hoping to find the cause of her husband’s illness. Later, she learned that It may be highly related to Mr.’s past work exposure to asbestos substances.
Wu Mingling, director of the Department of Clinical Toxicology and Occupational Medicine at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, pointed out that asbestos has been classified as a first-level carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Long-term exposure to asbestos may cause malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, Ovarian cancer, asbestosis (pulmonary fibrosis), pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thickening, etc. The related symptoms may be chest tightness, chest pain, cough, and wheezing.
The incubation period for asbestos-related diseases can reach 40 years. People who have not worked for a long time may still be a high-risk group for the disease.
The incubation period of related diseases caused by asbestos can be as long as 10 years, or even more than 30 to 40 years. However, health hazards often occur decades after exposure, so it is easy to overlook the correlation between diseases and asbestos exposure. Among them, malignant mesothelioma has been proven to be highly correlated with asbestos exposure. The initial symptoms include dyspnea and unexplained pleural pain. The course of the disease is often rapid, and most people die within one year. Since the incubation period of asbestos disease is quite long, even if you have left the relevant workplace for a long time, you are still a high-risk group for asbestos-related diseases.
The induction period for cancer caused by asbestos is more than 10 years, most of the induction periods for lung cancer are about 20-30 years, and most of the induction periods for mesothelioma are more than 30 years. Using this as a preliminary estimate, scholars predict that the incidence of mesothelioma in Taiwan may reach its peak around 2020 to 2030, and there may be more than 100 new cases each year. Other lung cancers, throat cancers and other diseases caused by asbestos exposure Cancer will also be present in considerable numbers.
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer. According to cancer registration files, the number of malignant mesothelioma patients in Taiwan is increasing year by year, but the median survival time of patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma is only 8 to 14 months. There were 819 malignant mesothelioma cases in Taiwan between 1983 and 2015, 71% of which were male. All malignant mesothelioma cases were invasive cancers; the average age at diagnosis was 58.86 years old.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital has treated a total of 48 patients with malignant mesothelioma in the past 10 years (2010-2019), 79% of whom were male. The age at diagnosis ranged from 35 to 85 years old, with an average age of 62.7 years (males 64.4 years old, females 56.1 years old). ). The primary site of mesothelioma was the pleura in 37 patients (77.1%), the peritoneum in 10 patients (20.8%), and the ovary in 1 patient (2%). The one-year survival rate is 62.5%, the 5-year survival rate is 12.5%, and the average survival time is 26 months. There are currently 8 people alive, with the longest surviving for nearly 10 years.
How can workers prevent asbestos-related diseases? Taiwan launches “occupational health checkup” to diagnose symptoms early
In view of the long incubation period of asbestos disease, international environmental and occupational health experts recommend that governments should conduct medical surveillance of workers who have been exposed to asbestos in the past, in order to diagnose the disease early and provide early medical care. Specific strategies include: identifying the number, distribution and exposure status of workers who are currently or have been engaged in asbestos operations in the past, establishing a roster, and establishing a health inspection monitoring and tracking management mechanism.
In addition, if asbestos dust in the workplace may be brought into the home living environment along with the worker’s clothing, the worker’s family members who live with him or her should also undergo health tracking. Taiwan is expected to promote post-employment occupational health examination services for asbestos workers after the implementation of the Occupational Accident Protection Act on May 1 next year. It is hoped that through health examination tracking, early diagnosis of pleural plaques and asbestosis and other early diseases can be carried out in an early stage. Workers have the opportunity to receive early diagnosis, appropriate medical care and occupational disease compensation before they develop lung cancer or malignant mesothelioma.
Which occupations are most likely to be exposed to the threat of asbestos? The construction industry and automobile maintenance industry should pay attention to chest tightness and cough problems
Director Wu Mingling reminded that if workers have worked in industries related to asbestos exposure, such as construction or demolition industry, shipbuilding or shipbreaking industry, automobile and motorcycle repair or manufacturing industry, thermal insulation or thermal insulation engineering industry, etc., even if they have left the relevant workplace for a long time, People who are exposed to asbestos are still at high risk for related diseases caused by asbestos. If you have chest tightness, chest pain, cough, wheezing, etc., and suspect that you have been exposed to asbestos, and want to know more about whether your own illness may be related to asbestos, please contact various occupational injury and illness prevention and treatment centers, or go to major hospitals The Department of Occupational Medicine seeks identification of relevant occupational diseases.
The Department of Clinical Toxicology and Occupational Medicine at Taipei Veterans General Hospital was commissioned by the Occupational Safety Administration of the Ministry of Labor to establish an Occupational Injury and Injury Prevention Center. It is one of the three major occupational injury and illness prevention and treatment centers in the North District. It is also equipped with occupational injury and illness case managers specifically for workers. Provide consultation on occupational injury identification needs and labor insurance rights and apply for related occupational disease benefits. Since most cases of asbestos-related occupational diseases have reached retirement age at the time of onset, according to the application method for lump-sum disability benefits from the Labor Insurance Bureau of the Ministry of Labor, you can go to Apply for disability benefits from the Labor Insurance Bureau.
