Mesothelioma, a lethal cancer of the lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, is caused mainly by exposure to asbestos.

Alison Reid told Reuters Health that she and her colleagues are studying people exposed to asbestos at Wittenoom in Western Australia. "This was an asbestos mining and milling town that closed in 1966, but still provides us with a legacy of asbestos-related diseases."

In the medical journal Chest, Ms. Reid, at the University of Western Australia, Crawley, and her associates report findings from follow-up through the end of 2000 among more than 4700 former residents of Wittenoom. These subjects were not employed in the milling and mining industry but were nonetheless exposed to the mineral.

Deaths rates from mesothelioma were higher with increasing length of residence, and were consistently lower for women than for men.

Men had more than four times the rate of mesothelioma as women, after accounting for cumulative asbestos exposure and age at first residence.

People who were at least 15 years old when they were first exposed to the asbestos-laden environment were 2.4-times more likely to die of mesothelioma than those who were younger than 15 years at first exposure, the researchers note.

"The asbestos epidemic is almost past its peak in the developed world," Ms Reid pointed out, "but elsewhere it will just be starting. It is still being used in many developing countries -- where they have little or no regulation about its use, worker protection, or means of treatment."

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