OBJECTIVE: To provide the most up-to-date data on the burden of malignant mesothelioma (MM) and the projections through 2029 in China. METHODS: Data on patients diagnosed with MM from China during 1990-2019 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database, including annual cases and deaths data and age-standardized rates of incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) associated with MM among different age groups. Temporal trends during 1990-2019 were analyzed by the Joinpoint regression models using 95% confidence interval (CI), while the projections through 2029 were calculated by the Bayesian age-period-cohort model. Data on the production and consumption of asbestos in China were obtained from the United States Geological Survey on Mineral Commodity Summaries during 1996-2023. RESULTS: We observed a significant elevation in incident new cases and deaths over the last 3 decades, increasing from 1193 in 1990 to 2815 in 2019 for incident cases and from 1134 in 1990 to 2773 in 2019 for death cases. We found a roughly 6% increase in the proportion of incident cases for those aged >70 years (30% in 2019 versus 24% in 1990), while for the proportion of deaths similar elevation for those aged >70 years was found. Additionally, men had significantly higher DALYs due to MM across age groups compared with women. Asbestos consumption in China dramatically dropped since 2012 and reached the bottom in 2017 with 230 kilotons. By 2029, the projected age-standardized rate for incidence and mortality is expected to reach 1.2 per million for both. CONCLUSION: We found, for the first time using GBD data on the Chinese population, that the burden of MM has been significantly increasing in China over the last three decades and will continue to increase in the upcoming decade, suggesting an urgent need for a complete ban on chrysotile asbestos in China.

• Klíčová slova
• Cancer burden, China, Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019, Malignant mesothelioma,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The association of mesothelioma, a lethal lung disease, with asbestos has led to an absolute ban on asbestos in at least 55 countries worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to review residual exposure to asbestos as well as other emerging causes of mesothelioma outside asbestos. The review provides detailed description of asbestos minerals, their geographical locations, mesothelioma in these areas, as well as contemporary possible sources of asbestos exposure. Second, we examine other emerging causes of mesothelioma including: ionizing radiation as the second most important risk factor after asbestos, particularly relevant to patients undergoing radiotherapy, third, carbon nanotubes which are under investigation and fourth, Simian virus 40. In the case of asbestos per se, the greatest risk is from occupational exposure during mining and subsequent processing. Of the non-occupational exposures, environmental exposure is most serious, followed by exposure from indoor asbestos minerals and secondary familial exposure. Overall, asbestos is still a major risk factor, but alternative causes should not be neglected, especially in young people, in women and those with a history of radiotherapy or living in high-risk locations.

• Klíčová slova
• asbestos, mesothelioma, non-asbestos etiology, non-occupational exposure, occupational exposure,
• MeSH
• azbest * škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• maligní mezoteliom * chemicky indukované   komplikace   MeSH
• mezoteliom * chemicky indukované   komplikace   MeSH
• minerály MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• nádory pleury * chemicky indukované   komplikace   MeSH
• nádory plic * chemicky indukované   MeSH
• nanotrubičky uhlíkové * MeSH
• vystavení vlivu životního prostředí škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• azbest * MeSH
• minerály MeSH
• nanotrubičky uhlíkové * MeSH

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but fatal cancer, which is largely caused by exposure to asbestos. Reliable information about the incidence of MPM prior the influence of asbestos is lacking. The nationwide regional incidence trends for MPM remain poorly characterized. We use nationwide MPM data for Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE) to assess incidence, mortality and survival trends for MPM in these countries. METHODS: We use the NORDCAN database for the analyses: incidence data were available from 1943 in DK, 1953 in FI and NO and 1958 in SE, through 2016. Survival data were available from 1967 through 2016. World standard population was used in age standardization. RESULTS: The lowest incidence that we recorded for MPM was 0.02/100,000 for NO women and 0.05/100,000 for FI men in 1953-57, marking the incidence before the influence of asbestos. The highest rate of 1.9/100,000 was recorded for DK in 1997. Female incidence was much lower than male incidence. In each country, the male incidence trend for MPM culminated, first in SE around 1990. The regional incidence trends matched with earlier asbestos-related industrial activity, shipbuilding in FI and SE, cement manufacturing and shipbuilding in DK and seafaring in NO. Relative 1-year survival increased from about 20 to 50% but 5-year survival remained at or below 10%. CONCLUSION: In the Nordic countries, the male incidence trends for MPM climaxed and started to decrease, indicating that the prevention of exposure was beneficial. Survival in MPM has improved for both sexes but long-term survival remains dismal.

• Klíčová slova
• Age-specific incidence, Birth cohort analysis, Incidence trends, Regional incidence, Relative survival, Risk factors,
• MeSH
• analýza přežití MeSH
• azbest škodlivé účinky   normy   MeSH
• dějiny 20. století MeSH
• dějiny 21. století MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• incidence MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• maligní mezoteliom epidemiologie   etiologie   MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mortalita dějiny   trendy   MeSH
• nádory pleury epidemiologie   etiologie   MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• sexuální faktory MeSH
• věkové rozložení MeSH
• vystavení vlivu životního prostředí škodlivé účinky   normy   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dějiny 20. století MeSH
• dějiny 21. století MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• historické články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Dánsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Finsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Norsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Švédsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• azbest MeSH

High concentrations of airborne asbestos in the ambient air are still a serious problem of air quality in numerous localities around the world. Since 2002, elevated concentrations of asbestos minerals of unknown origin have been detected in the ambient air of Pilsen, Czech Republic. To determine the asbestos fibre sources in this urban air, a systematic study was conducted. First, 14 bulk dust samples were collected in Pilsen at nine localities, and 6 bulk samples of construction aggregates for gravel production were collected in a quarry in the Pilsen-Litice district. The quarry is the largest quarry in the Pilsen region and the closest quarry to the built-up urban area. X-ray diffraction of the asbestos minerals revealed that monoclinic amphibole (MA, namely actinolite based on subsequent SEM-EDX analysis) in the bulk samples accounted for < 1-33% of the mass and that the highest values were found in the bulk dust samples from the railway platform of the Pilsen main railway station. Simultaneously, 24-h samples of airborne particulate matter (PM) at three localities in Pilsen were collected. Actinolite was identified in 40% of the PM samples. The relationship between the meteorology and presence of actinolite in the 24 PM10 samples was not proven, probably due to the long sampling integration time. Therefore, highly time-and-size-resolved PM sampling was performed. Second, sampling of size-segregated aerosols and measurements of the wind speed (WS), wind direction (WD), precipitation (P) and hourly PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 were conducted in a suburban locality near the quarry in two monthly highly time-resolved periods (30, 60, 120 min). Three/eight PM size fractions were sampled by a Davis Rotating-drum Uniform-size-cut Monitor (3/8DRUM) and analysed for the presences of asbestos fibres by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Asbestos fibre detection in highly time-resolved PM samples and current WD and WS determination allows the apportionment directionality of asbestos fibre sources. The number of critical actinolite asbestos fibres (length ≥ 5 μm and width < 3 μm, 3:1) increased with the PM1-10/PM10 and PM2.5-10/PM10 ratios, WS > 2 m s-1 and precipitation < 1 mm. Additionally, the number of critical actinolite asbestos fibres was not related to a specific WD. Therefore, we conclude that the sources of airborne critical actinolite asbestos fibres in Pilsen's urban area are omnipresent. Frequent use of construction aggregates and gravel from the metamorphic spilite quarries in the Pilsen region and in many localities around the urban area is a plausible explanation for the omnipresence of the critical actinolite asbestos fibres concentration in Pilsen's ambient air. Mitigation strategies to reduce the concentrations of critical actinolite asbestos fibres must be developed. Continuous monitoring and performing SEM-EDX analysis of highly time-and-size-resolved PM samples, correlated with fast changing WS and WD, seems to be a strong tool for efficiently controlling the mitigation strategies of critical actinolite asbestos fibres.

• Klíčová slova
• Actinolite asbestos, DRUM sampler, Naturally occurring asbestos, SEM-EDX, X-ray powder diffraction,
• MeSH
• aerosoly analýza   MeSH
• azbest chemie   MeSH
• látky znečišťující vzduch analýza   MeSH
• mikroskopie elektronová rastrovací MeSH
• monitorování životního prostředí metody   MeSH
• pevné částice chemie   MeSH
• prach analýza   MeSH
• velikost částic MeSH
• znečištění ovzduší MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• aerosoly MeSH
• azbest MeSH
• látky znečišťující vzduch MeSH
• pevné částice MeSH
• prach MeSH