Asbestos news
24/10/2007

Mesothelioma claimants getting younger

An Australian newspaper has revealed that the demographic of those affected by mesothelioma appears to be changing, shifting to a younger generation.

Personal injury solicitors handling compensation claims for sufferers of the asbestos-related disease have observed a change in their clients and the circumstances in which they were exposed to the asbestos fibres.

One particular firm of compensation solicitors, Turner Freeman Lawyers, has revealed that there is a clear trend of younger people needing mesothelioma compensation. Also, despite mesothelioma having a history of mostly male sufferers who were exposed at work, many more women are being diagnosed with the lung disease.

The reason for these changing trends appears to be linked to the use of asbestos in the renovation of homes. It seems that many of those who are today being diagnosed with mesothelioma were exposed at a very young age whilst building work was being done in the house in which they lived.

One sufferer, a 40-year-old woman from Adelaide, explained: "I was too young then to know much about what was going to happen. I remember hanging around the guys building it.

"I think we're going to start seeing a lot of problems," she predicted. "It's home renovators, people doing it themselves but also people living in places being renovated."

As in the UK, the number of people being diagnosed with mesothelioma in Australia has been steadily increasing for some years, and is not expected to drop off for some time. Figures for Australia now stand at 522 people dying from the asbestos disease in 2005, which is up 25% on 1997.