Asbestos problems yet to explode in Korea.

Although asbestos mining and manufacture has occurred in Korea since the 1920s, it was not until the 1980s that the broader social democratic movement heightened public awareness of the health problems associated with exposure to asbestos. The first systematic national survey of asbestos-related diseases was conducted in 1993. In that year, the first case of asbestos-related disease was compensated by the government. This long-delayed recognition of asbestos-related disease took place in a country that already had more than 100 asbestos factories. About 40 to 50 mesothelioma cases are reported annually through the Korean Cancer Registry. Nonetheless, only six mesothelioma cases have ever been referred to the government for workers' compensation. Lung cancer is the fastest growing cancer in Korea. Over the last 15 years, mortality from lung cancer has more than tripled. Among all these lung cancer cases, only 12 have been recognized as occupational in origin and compensated accordingly.

Globalization and the transfer of hazardous industry: asbestos in Mexico, 1979-2000.

This study quantified asbestos use in Mexico in the past decade and evaluated available data on mortality due to malignant mesothelioma in Mexico between 1979 and 2000. Mortality data were analyzed from secondary databases of the Mexican Social Security System and the Ministry of Health. Data on the import and export of asbestos in Mexico were obtained from the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development of Mexico. Deaths due to pleural mesothelioma significantly increased in this period. Although the import of asbestos declined, the number of Mexican products that contain asbestos tripled. Export of Mexican asbestos-containing products to Central America grew rapidly in the last ten years of the study. Mexico continues the appreciable use of asbestos and has experienced a significant increase in the occurrence of the sentinel asbestos-related disease, malignant mesothelioma. Given the many limitations to the control of hazardous work exposures in Mexico, a ban on asbestos is advocated as the most feasible means of limiting an epidemic of asbestos-related disease.

Is DDT use a public health problem in Mexico?

We review the potential impact of DDT on public health in Mexico. DDT production and consumption patterns in Mexico during the last 20 years are described and compared with those in the United States. In spite of the restrictions on DDT use in antimalaria campaigns in Mexico, use of DDT is still higher than in other Latin American countries. We analyzed information from published studies to determine accumulated levels of this insecticide in blood, adipose tissue, and breast milk samples from Mexican women. Current lipid-adjusted DDE levels from women living in Mexico City are 6.66 ppb in mammary adipose tissue and 0.594 ppm in total breast milk. Finally, the methodological limitations of existing epidemiological studies on DDT exposure and breast cancer are discussed. We conclude that DDT use in Mexico is a public health problem, and suggest two solutions: identification of alternatives for the control of malaria and educational intervention to reduce DDT exposure. We also recommend strengthening epidemiological studies to evaluate the association between accumulated DDT levels in adipose tissue and breast cancer incidence among Mexican women.