FAQ
How Many British Deaths?
Figures for asbestos deaths in Britain are inaccurate because only two of the asbestos diseases are recorded on death certificates: asbestosis and mesothelioma. Death certificates do not record incidences of lung cancer arising from asbestos exposure. One conservative estimate puts the number of British asbestos deaths at three thousand annually. If this figure was constant for the next thirty years, the result would be 90,000 deaths. According to Professor Peto, at its peak the British asbestos epidemic will claim 10,000 lives per year, producing a mortality of 300,000. Joseph Califano, a former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the US has stated that during a thirty year period 67,000 Americans will die annually from asbestos-caused cancers. Working with these numbers, it is calculated that more than two million American asbestos victims will die. If we were to use the American figures, the number of asbestos-related deaths we could expect in Britain over the
next thirty years is 500,000. Back to FAQ Main Page
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