The leading cause of mesothelioma cancer is asbestos. Asbestos exposure can take place anywhere from a street to your own home or work place. However, according to statistics and the cases of mesothelioma that were recorded and monitored, it was discovered that most of the mesothelioma cases began from workplace. And in all such cases, the main cause of mesothelioma was asbestos exposure.
Workplace refers to the specific industry where asbestos is handled for manufacturing, packaging, or other reasons. Some of the industries make regular use of asbestos very frequently without implementing any safety measures. This is one of the major causes of Mesothelioma, increasing the number of deaths.
Mesothelioma Statistics by Asbestos Industries
More than half a century ago, there were numerous industries that employed asbestos for commercial purposes. And there is still a large number of industries even now, that use asbestos for manufacturing their products, run asbestos plants, or use machinery or equipment that contains asbestos. This is a very alarming situation because lack of proper safety measures and protective clothing expose thousands of people working at such industries are to asbestos. Resultantly, they are at a larger risk of getting mesothelioma, the deadly cancer.
According to a report by the United States National Cancer Institute, given below are the statistics of the people who died as a result of mesothelioma cancer. These statistics are based on the research that was carried out in various industries in the US and indicates the percent of people as per industry basis and became victims of mesothelioma.
| Industries where Asbestos Exposure takes place |
Percentage of Deaths |
| Construction |
14.2 % |
| Industrial and miscellaneous chemicals |
3.5 % |
| General government work |
2.4 % |
| Agriculture |
1.9 % |
| Nonspecific manufacturing |
1.9 % |
| Electric light and power |
1.9 % |
| Railroads |
1.7 % |
| Hospitals |
1.7 % |
| Unreported industries |
4.3 % |
| All other industries combined |
56 % |
The above mentioned statistics only indicate the percentage of all the mesothelioma deaths as they occur in respective industries. But, they do not tell us anything about the exact figures of mesothelioma deaths within each industry.
The 56% indicating all other industries combined shows that majority of people who die from mesothelioma either work in small industries or industries that are not typically associated with asbestos exposure. Yet they play a major role in causing mesothelioma as indicated by the statistics.
Many of the industries put their workers at deliberate danger by exposing them to asbestos. According to research, over 1.3 million people in the construction business are exposed to asbestos each year which leads to mesothelioma as a consequence. Moreover, people with an increased risk of mesothelioma include railroad, manufacturing, automobile and shipyard workers where asbestos is regularly used.
Due to lack of knowledge and information as well as safety measures, many people do not realize that they are working under direct exposure of asbestos and are vulnerable to mesothelioma. This not only causes them to suffer from this deadly disease but their family members are also at risk of getting this malignant cancer.
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