An insurance report prepared in the United Kingdom by Claims National recently found that pipe fitters and plumbers are among those most at risk for developing mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of a soft tissue known as the mesothelium. The increased risk of the disease in these professions is due to their working conditions. Plumbers and pipe fitters, as well as builders, mechanics, and electricians to a lesser degree, face an increased risk of exposure to asbestos, the deadly fiber which causes the disease.

The study’s findings are supported by research conducted by the CDC in the United States, which concluded that mesothelioma fatalities among plumbers were ‘proportionally significant.’ The United States study predicts that the number of mesothelioma incidents will continue to rise for several decades, due to what’s referred to as the disease’s long latency period. A long latency period means that the disease can take decades to develop from initial exposure to asbestos, so that its prevalence can continue to rise even after asbestos regulations have become more strict.

Asbestos was used frequently as an insulating material throughout the latter half of the twentieth century due to its cost effectiveness and its resistance to intense temperatures and corrosion. More than forty countries have completely banned asbestos due to its disease causing properties. While the United States is not among those which have enforced a ban, it has put several restrictions and regulations in place aiming to drastically reduce exposure to the dangerous material.

While new construction in the United States and in most developed nations rarely makes use of asbestos products, plumbers and pipe fitters working on older homes and buildings are likely to be exposed to asbestos containing sealants. Cutting, fitting, repairing and replacing old plumbing pipes in aging homes and buildings could expose plumbers to dangerous asbestos fibers for decades to come.

Mesothelioma prevention can be incredibly difficult to advocate, because asbestos fibers do not immediately cause pain or other adverse reactions which normally prompt workers to don protective gear. The disease develops slowly, and often presents with vague symptoms like shortness of breath and mild chest pain. By the time a positive diagnosis has been completed, many victims are expected to survive the cancer just six to twelve more months.

Alan Ward, a sixty-one year old plumber-turned-mesothelioma-patient living in the UK says that he and others like him never knew about the dangers of asbestos.

“We just smashed off the asbestos and carried on working,” says Ward, who was recently awarded £175,000 by those responsible for his disease.

Ronald Mancuso, a New York man, is facing time in prison for improperly disposing of asbestos waste. He is the fourth in his family to face the consequences of improper asbestos handling; his case follows the prosecution and incarceration of his father and two younger brothers on similar charges. Ronald Mancuso helped prosecutors to bring their case against his father and brothers. Because of his assistance, and his plea of guilty to improper handling and disposal of asbestos, he should receive some leniency when sentenced.

Asbestos exposure has been conclusively linked to a variety of deadly diseases including mesothelioma, an aggressive and terminal cancer of the soft tissue lining which protects the body’s organs. The mineral was used heavily throughout the twentieth century in a wide array of applications from building construction through home insulation and industrial manufacturing. Asbestos was originally prized for its insulating, sealing and fire retarding qualities, attributes which make it ideal for a huge variety of uses. It was later discovered, however, that asbestos causes diseases which are gruesome and often fatal.

In the late 1980′s the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attempted to ban the substance and passed a bill known as the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. The bill was later overturned by influential asbestos companies seeking to protect their market. In its place, a collection of state and federal regulations were passed which severely restricted asbestos use in the public sector and enforced safe dumping and handling rules. These asbestos regulations, still in place to this day, aim to protect the workforce and the general public from the toxic effects of asbestos by mandating the use of special safety equipment and certain asbestos removal and disposal techniques.

The rise of strict, specific laws around asbestos handling and removal has created an asbestos abatement trade. The trade consists of specially licensed, properly equipped companies removing asbestos from modern structures and disposing of it according to regulation. In some cases, individuals such as Ronald Mancuso and his father and brothers take advantage of the niche market and turn an unfair profit by removing and disposing of asbestos without adhering to state and federal regulations.

The Mancuso family was charged with dumping asbestos illegally across New York’s Mohawk Valley, and in one case, of washing the dangerous fibers down the drain of a New York school at which they were completing an asbestos removal contract. While Ronald Mancuso’s jail term is still to be determined, his father and brothers are serving between three and six years each.

The European Guidelines for Medical Oncology (ESMO) have published a new guide to mesothelioma diagnosis and treatment, an addition that the journal hopes will increase early diagnoses and improve treatment efficacy. The protocol is particularly important due to the terminal disease’s relative infrequency, its general symptoms, and the profound impact that early diagnosis can have on survival times.

Mesothelioma, an aggressive and terminal cancer of a specific tissue which encases the body’s vital organs, is caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. The disease can take from twenty to fifty years to develop from initial exposure to asbestos, and presents with symptoms shared by a variety of general ailments. The long latency period and vague symptoms make it particularly difficult to diagnose, and its aggressive progression makes it an incredibly dangerous disease with a normally grim prognosis. The publication in the European Guidelines for Medical Oncology provide some standard diagnostic and treatment procedures which hope to help doctors diagnose mesothelioma more quickly and treat it more efficiently.

The guidelines state that one of the first symptoms of the disease is often shortness of breath and varying degrees of chest pain. An X-ray can help to discern whether the chest wall has begun to thicken – another symptom of the disease – and a test performed on the fluid accumulating in the chest cavity along with an audit of the patient’s occupational history can help to narrow the possibilities. If all tests at this point indicate a possibility of mesothelioma, the new guidelines suggest a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.

In addition to symptomatic diagnosis, the guidelines discuss the possibility of further inferring a positive diagnosis by recognizing two specific protein markers found in the patient’s blood serum. While the role these proteins play is still relatively uncertain their presence has been correlated with a positive mesothelioma diagnosis.

A wide variety of experimental treatments exist for mesothelioma, but the ESMO report continues to support the traditional treatment methods of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Surgery, claims the new guidelines, should only be performed in early stages of the disease and should be followed by chemotherapy and combination radiotherapy where necessary. A variety of combination, or multi-modal, therapies – that is, collections of specific drugs and administration techniques – exist which have shown particular efficacy in different circumstances.

While mesothelioma is still considered a rare disease, its long latency period suggests that diagnoses will continue to rise considerably. Guidelines such as the new ESMO publication could help doctors to deal with rising instances of the disease.