MESOTHELIOMA QUICK FACTS:
- A majority of mesothelioma deaths occurred in California.
- Coastal communities in California, Florida and New Jersey had elevated mesothelioma mortality rates.
- In 1999 more then 250 deaths were reported in California from malignant mesothelioma according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
- More than one-third of mesothelioma decedents were residents of just five states: California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.
- California Cancer Registry data to identify 2,908 cases of malignant mesothelioma diagnosed between 1988 and 1997 in adults ages 35 and older.
- The government did not begin to track mesothelioma as a separate cause of death until 1999.
- In most mesothelioma cases, the registry also provided occupational history.
- It is estimated that 27.5 million Americans were exposed to asbestos between 1940 and 1979.
- Mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 50 years after the first exposure to asbestos.
- It is estimated that there will be about 250,000 cases of Mesothelioma before 2020.
- Through 2003, more than 700,000 People have filed claims against more than 6,000 Asbestos companies. These same companies knew of the dangers for many years before ever warning the public of those risks.
- During the 20th century, some 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial sites, homes, schools, shipyards and commercial buildings in the United States.
- Many asbestos-containing products remain in buildings, ships, industrial facilities and other environments where the fibers can become airborne.
- It is thought that around eight million people in the United States have been exposed to asbestos over the past half a century, and many more cases - are expected to be reported in the next 25 years.
- The first known asbestos lawsuit was in 1929 in New Jersey.
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