Researchers from the University of Trieste in Trieste, Italy, have uncovered a bit an unfortunate bit of news relating to people who have family members in the asbestos industry or custom building retrofitting at large.
The report, using data from the Italian Mesothelioma Register, determined that laundering clothes, touching equipment or even hugging someone who has worked with asbestos can result in a diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma years later.
“Our data confirms that household exposure increases the risk for pleural mesothelioma amongst women with no history of occupational asbestos exposure,” says Lead Researcher, Flavia D’Agostin.
While mesothelioma diagnosis due to asbestos exposure was commonly thought to only have impacts on affected workers themselves, it can be derived from this report that close family members and friends are also at high risk to develop the fatal disease.
The report in full by D’Agostin, F, et al, “Pleural mesothelioma in household members of asbestos-exposed workers in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy,” May 8, 2017, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, pp. 419-431, is available online.
To learn more about asbestos exposure, please visit the Surviving Mesothelioma webpage.
