Asbestos in Australia: From Boom to Dust by Lenore Layman;Gail Philips;

Author:Lenore, Layman;Gail, Philips;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of New South Wales Press

Chapter 7

HEALTH OUTCOMES OF THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO LIVED AT WITTENOOM

Alison Reid

As well as workers who were employed in the mining and milling operations at Wittenoom, there were an estimated further 5000 people who also lived at Wittenoom. Half of these were women and children. This chapter outlines their living conditions at Wittenoom and how they were exposed to asbestos. It explains how the cohort studies were established and used to track the Wittenoom women and children, and then describes their health outcomes.

Most of what we know about the impact of asbestos exposure on human health has come from cohort studies of men exposed to asbestos in their workplace. However, most women and children have been exposed to asbestos in their general environment, rather than in their job. We do not know if these studies of men, with different exposure profiles, sufficiently describe the risks of asbestos exposure for women and children. Studies of men cannot tell us about possible associations with reproductive cancers, in particular if asbestos exposure causes ovarian cancer. Susceptibility and carcinogenicity may differ in men, women, and children. The Wittenoom cohort studies (sadly) have been integral to answering these important questions.

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