Response to: ‘The epidemiology of malignant mesothelioma in women: gender differences and modalities of asbestos exposure’ by Marinaccio et al

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 75; no. 11; p. 844
• Main Author: Finkelstein, Murray Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ 01.11.2018; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Asbestos; Epidemiology; Female; Females; Fibers; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Humans; LETTER; Lung Neoplasms; Mesothelioma; Occupational exposure; Sex differences; Women; Canada; Italy; United States > US; North America; Europe; Germany; amphiboles; mesothelioma; talc
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105129
• ISSN: 1351-0711

Correspondence to Dr Murray Martin Finkelstein, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1V7, Canada; murray.finkelstein@utoronto.ca Marinaccio and colleagues1 compared asbestos exposures of men and women with mesothelioma in Italy and found that women were less likely to have had occupational exposures and more likely to have experienced non-occupational and familial exposures. Statista, an online market research company, located in Hamburg, Germany, performs analysis of consumer purchasing patterns and has reported on their website that some 100 million Americans used body and baby powders in the years 2011–2017.6 These powders have been used in Europe, but usage data have not been located. Physicians and researchers interested in mesothelioma should thus question their subjects about past usage of these powders.Table 1 The proportions of subjects with pleural mesothelioma who had fibres of the stated minerals in their lung tissues, and female versus male ORs for the detection of fibres Mineral fibre Men Women Female versus male (age-adjusted OR and 95% CI) Talc 332/491 (68%) 62/75 (83%) 3.24 (1.65 to 6.35) Talc and tremolite 205/491 (42%) 46/75 (61%) 2.97 (1.74 to 5.08) Talc and anthophyllite 77/491 (16%) 11/75 (15%) 1.03 (0.51 to 2.06) Talc and tremolite and anthophyllite 53/491 (11%) 9/75 (12%) 1.31 (0.61 to 2.81) Data from the Roggli database.