Epidemiology
Controls in the US to reduce workers' exposures were first promulgated in the early 1970s and then tightened in the 1980s. There is a latency period of around 20 years from time of first exposure to asbestos to development of radiographical changes, so the diagnosis is typically seen in individuals who began working with asbestos prior to the 1980s and are now usually more than 50 years of age. Exposure was common among workers in the shipyard, construction, and building maintenance industries, and in production workers of brakes, floor tiles, gaskets, asbestos cement products, fireproof textiles, and insulation materials.[4] Family members of these workers were also exposed because of asbestos contamination of work clothes.[5]
Asbestos use in developed countries has markedly decreased (its use is banned in many European countries). Currently, the risk of exposure in these regions is greatest among construction and/or maintenance workers who work with or around previously installed asbestos.[1] In 2019 in the UK, 905 new cases of asbestosis were assessed under the Industrial Injuries and Disablement Benefit scheme; around 1% to 2% of these were in women.[6]
By contrast, asbestos use in developing countries is increasing. Exposures to workers in Africa, Asia, South America, and some Eastern European countries are significantly greater than those currently occurring in the US and Western Europe.[7]
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