| | Asbestosis deaths among US. residents age 15 and over have increased from fewer than 100 in 1968 to more than 1,250 annually in 1999, the most recent year for which data are available, with no apparent leveling off to this trend. |  | | Figure 1-1. Asbestosis: Number of deaths, crude and age-adjusted mortality rates, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1968-1999 |
| Over the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999, there were more than 10,000 asbestosis deaths and annual asbestosis death counts increased by one-third. |  | | Table 1-1. Asbestosis: Number of deaths by sex, race, and age, and median age at death, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 |
| During the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999, asbestosis deaths represented about one-third of all pneumoconiosis deaths. |  | | Table 6-6. All pneumoconioses: Percent of deaths by condition and state, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 |
| For 1998 and for 1999, asbestosis deaths outnumbered coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) deaths, displacing CWP as the most frequent type of pneumoconiosis death. | | | | | | Table 1-1. Asbestosis: Number of deaths by sex, race, and age, and median age at death, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 | | Table 2-1. Coal workers' pneumoconiosis: Number of deaths by sex, race, and age, and median age at death, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 | | Table 6-1. All Pneumoconioses: Number of deaths by sex, race, and age, and median age at death, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 |
| Asbestosis was designated as the underlying cause of death in one-third of all asbestosis deaths from 1990 to 1999. | | | Table 1-1. Asbestosis: Number of deaths by sex, race, and age, and median age at death, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 |
| Residents of California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Washington, and Virginia together accounted for nearly half of all asbestosis deaths in the 1990 to 1999 period. |  | | Table 1-4. Asbestosis: Number of deaths by state, U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1990-1999 |
| For the period from 1985 to 1999, four counties (one in Virginia, one in Texas, one in Mississippi, and one in New Jersey) had age-adjusted asbestosis mortality rates that exceeded the national rate by more than 20-fold. |  | | Table 1-10. Asbestosis: Counties with highest age-adjusted mortality rates (per million population), U.S. residents age 15 and over, 1985-1999 |
| Based on a large subset of the national data for which decedents’ usual occupation and industry information was available, the construction industry accounted for one-fourth of decedents with asbestosis from 1990 through 1999. Apart from construction, asbestosis deaths were reported in a wide range of industries, with no particular industry predominating. Similarly, no one occupation emerged as being particularly common, though the most frequently listed occupational group was plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters. |  | |  | Table 1-6. Asbestosis: Most frequently recorded industries on death certificate, U.S. residents age 15 and over, selected states and years, 1990-1999 | | Table 1-7. Asbestosis: Most frequently recorded occupations on death certificate, U.S. residents age 15 and over, selected states and years, 1990-1999 |
| From 1990 to 1999, decedents whose death certificate indicated that they worked in the miscellaneous nonmetallic mineral and stone products industry or the ship and boat building and repairing industry had proportionate asbestosis mortality more than 15 times higher than that of all industries combined. |  | Table 1-8. Asbestosis: Proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) adjusted for age, sex, and race by usual industry, U.S. residents age 15 and over, selected states and years, 1990-1999 |
| From 1990 to 1999, decedents whose death certificate indicated that they were insulation workers or boilermakers had proportionate asbestosis mortality 20 times higher than that in all occupations combined. |  | Table 1-9. Asbestosis: Proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) adjusted for age, sex, and race by usual occupation, U.S. residents age 15 and over, selected states and years, 1990-1999 |
| Hospital discharges associated with asbestosis have been rising rapidly between 1995 and 2000. |  | | Table 1-11. Asbestosis: Estimated number of discharges from short-stay nonfederal hospitals, 1970-2000 |
| Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicate a trend towards lower exposure levels from 1979 to 1999, concomitant with mandated reductions in the OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL). |  | |  | Figure 1-5. Asbestos: Geometric mean exposures by major industry division, MSHA and OSHA samples 1979-1999 | | Table 1-12. Asbestos: Geometric mean exposures and percent exceeding designated occupational exposure limits by major industry division, MSHA and OSHA samples, 1979-1999 |
| For the period 1990 to 1999, less than 5% of the MSHA and OSHA asbestos exposures exceeded the recommended exposure limit (REL). The miscellaneous nonmetallic mineral and stone products industry, which had the highest proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) for asbestosis, also had the highest geometric mean exposure and the highest percent of exposures exceeding the PEL and REL (26% and 41%, respectively). |  | Table 1-13. Asbestos: Number of samples, geometric mean exposures, and percent exceeding designated occupational exposure limits by industries with elevated asbestosis mortality, MSHA and OSHA samples, 1990-1999 |
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