Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., June 19, 2009 Sivan 27, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:27 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Asbestos makes Nahariya world leader in lung cancer
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel news, cancer, Asbestos 

The northern coastal city of Nahariya and the surrounding area has one of the largest concentrations in the world of people with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that is caused mostly by exposure to asbestos. Experts believe the number of cases will rise in the coming decades as individuals exposed to the substance age.

The information was presented yesterday at a conference at Petah Tikva's Rabin Medical Center by Dr. Micha Bar-Hana, director of the Health Ministry's cancer registry. Bar-Hana said the prevalence of the disease in the Acre District, which includes Nahariya, reached 5.72 per 100,000 residents between 2002 and 2008. The overall total number of patients for the period was 19.

Nahariya was home to the only asbestos plant in the country, which was shut down in 1997. Mesothelioma develops several decades after exposure to asbestos. The vast majority of cases involve persons who worked with the toxic material.
Advertisement
The highest rate of asbestos-related cancer cases in the world can be found, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in the environs of Genoa, Italy, where there are 5.8 cases for every 100,000 persons.

Seven years ago, in the Acre district the rate stood at only 3.55 per 100,000. By comparison, in the Tel Aviv district the rate is only 0.55 cases per 100,000 residents.

Between 1990 and 2008 there were a total of 606 cases of mesothelioma in Israel. Most of the people who developed the disease have died.

In recent years there have been 30 new cases of mesothelioma per year, mainly among men who worked with asbestos.

Dr. Avi Weiner, an expert in work-related diseases at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, noted at the conference that people who were in close contact with those who were directly exposed to asbestos are also at risk for developing mesothelioma. "We had two cases of wives who became ill because their husband's clothes carried asbestos particles," he said.

Weiner warned that the numbers of people who will develop the disease will increase as persons exposed in the past to asbestos age. He noted that he had treated a 93-year-old man for mesothelioma who had apparently been exposed to asbestos around 70 years before.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Iran soccer protest
Protest by members of Iranian national team is particularly embarrassing for Ahmadinejad
Bruno premiere
Sacha Baron Cohen holds 'royal' premiere in London for gay Austrian fashionista
Special Offers
Advertisement
hotel Jerusalem
David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
23:11 Hundreds of thousands on Iran's streets for candlelight protest
21:58 I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
20:55 Iran: We thwarted election day bomb plot linked to Israel
19:57 Iran interactive - images, videos, and Tweets from the streets
22:18 ANALYSIS / Iran soccer protest particularly shaming for Ahmadinejad
01:18 VIDEO: Border Police upload footage of their abuse of Palestinians to YouTube
00:48 Lieberman: Israel's only dispute with U.S. is over settlements
20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
01:13 Yossi Sarid / Netanyahu's acceptance of my ideas only made me angrier
23:52 U.K.: We`ve frozen $1.6b in Iranian assets under nuclear sanctions
00:51 Red Cross urges Hamas: Let us visit Gilad Shalit
19:21 Deputy PM: Netanyahu will offer Abbas less than Olmert
23:37 Police object to Israel poker tourney slated for end of month
00:49 Israel envoys clash with UN watchdog chief over Syria probe 'bias'
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved