The Wittenoom legacy

N. de Klerk; N. Sodhi-Berry; K. Shilkin; H. Alfonso; F. Brims; E. Merler; L. Layman; J. Hui; P. Franklin; B. Armstrong; M. Hobbs; N. Olsen; A. Reid; A.W. Musk

doi:10.1093/ije/dyz204

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Journal article

Peer reviewed

The Wittenoom legacy

N. de Klerk, N. Sodhi-Berry, K. Shilkin, H. Alfonso, F. Brims, E. Merler, L. Layman, J. Hui, P. Franklin, B. Armstrong, …

International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol.49(2), pp.467-476

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz204

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Abstract

The Wittenoom crocidolite (blue asbestos) mine and mill ceased operating in 1966. The impact of this industry on asbestos-related disease in Western Australia has been immense. Use of the employment records of the Australian Blue Asbestos Company and records of the Wittenoom township residents has permitted two cohorts of people with virtually exclusive exposure to crocidolite to be assembled and studied. Follow-up of these two cohorts has been conducted through data linkage with available hospital, mortality and cancer records. The evolution of asbestos-related disease has been recorded and, with the establishment of exposure measurements, quantitative exposure–response relationships have been estimated. There has been an ongoing epidemic of mortality from lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma and, less so, from asbestosis. Wittenoom crocidolite was used extensively in asbestos-cement products in Western Australia. As a result, the state has recorded a higher malignant-mesothelioma mortality rate than in any other Australian state and in any defined general population in the world. Thus, the legacy of Wittenoom has extended beyond the mine and the town, and is still evident more than 50 years after the closure of the mine.

Details

Title: The Wittenoom legacy
Authors/Creators: N. de Klerk (Author/Creator) - The Kids Research Institute Australia
N. Sodhi-Berry (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
K. Shilkin (Author/Creator) - Pathwest Laboratory Medicine
H. Alfonso (Author/Creator) - Curtin University
F. Brims (Author/Creator) - Curtin University
E. Merler (Author/Creator) - Previously, Venetian Mesothelioma Registry, National Health Service, Padua, Italy
L. Layman (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
J. Hui (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
P. Franklin (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
B. Armstrong (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
M. Hobbs (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
N. Olsen (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
A. Reid (Author/Creator) - Curtin University
A.W. Musk (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
Publication Details: International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol.49(2), pp.467-476
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Identifiers: 991005545520107891
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s)
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Arts
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 1 Clinical & Life Sciences; 1.297 Asbestos & Mesothelioma; 1.297.780 Asbestos-Mesothelioma Link
Web Of Science research areas: Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
ESI research areas: Social Sciences, general