WHO targets workplace related lung cancer, mesothelioma and bladder cancer

Apr 29 2007

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than 200,000 people die each year from cancers related to their workplaces, mainly from inhaling asbestos fibers and second-hand tobacco smoke.

The WHO says about 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos at work and every 10th lung cancer death is related to occupational hazards, which amount to at least 90,000 deaths each year.

The United Nations health agency marked World Day for Safety and Health at Work by highlighting the many preventable deaths caused by exposure to carcinogens and have called for the removal of dangerous substances from job sites and says the risks for occupational cancer are preventable.

Among the most common types of occupational cancers are lung cancer, mesothelioma and bladder cancer.

Thousands more die from leukemia caused by workplace exposure to benzene, an organic compound used in rubbers, dyes, drugs, and pesticides, which is widely used in chemical and diamond industries.

Those exposed to second-hand smoke at work have twice the risk of lung cancer than those in a smoke-free environment.

Maria Neira, the WHO director of public health and environment states that known and preventable exposures are responsible for hundreds of thousands of excess cancer cases each year.

Neira says in the interests of protecting public health, an approach rooted in primary prevention must be adopted and workplaces made free from carcinogenic risks.

The WHO lays the blame for the majority of the cancer deaths from occupational risk factors, squarely on the wide use of carcinogenic substances such as blue asbestos, 2-naphthylamine and benzene 20 to 30 years ago.

The WHO warns that if the current unregulated use of carcinogens continues a significant increase in occupational cancer can be expected in the coming decades.

The agency is urging governments and industry to ensure that workplaces are equipped with adequate measures to meet health and safety standards and that they are free from dangerous pollutants.

It has called for a halt in the use of asbestos, the introduction of benzene-free organic solvents and technologies that convert the carcinogenic chromium into a non-carcinogenic form.

Who also recommends the banning of tobacco use at the workplace, and the provision of protective clothing for people working in the sun.