According to new figures released by the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive, cases of mesothelioma cancer in certain areas of Britain are on the rise. In the West Midlands area, for example, both the male and the female regional death rate per million people increased. This does not come as much of a surprise to West Midlands industrial illness lawyer Alida Coates, of the firm Irwin Mitchell.

“Although we have known for years the mesothelioma death rate was set to peak sometime around 2015, seeing the cold, hard statistics always brings home the extent of the problem we continue to face in the UK,” said Ms. Coates. “We handle scores of cases involving mesothelioma victims annually and each and every one is utterly heartbreaking.”

“We are increasingly seeing cases involving younger people who worked in old buildings like schools and hospitals while there is a rise in cases where family members have been exposed to the deadly fibers brought home on the overalls of their husband or father. We must not stop fighting for justice for the victims and their families whose lives have been torn apart by this disease.”

Mesothelioma often is not detected until many decades after a person has been exposed to asbestos-laden materials. Traditional, those who are employed in construction, factories, or even schoolteachers have been considered to face the highest risk of asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma affects thousands worldwide, including between two and three thousand people each year in the United States.

In the U.S. over 30 million homes and commercial buildings are said to contain asbestos in the form of attic insulation, floor and ceiling tiles and drywall. If a building was constructed prior to 1980, it is safe to assume that it contains asbestos. In the U.S., about 2,500 people are diagnosed annually, the majority with pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the lining of the lungs. Instances of peritoneal mesothelioma, which manifests in the lining of the abdomen, and pericardial mesothelioma, located in the lining of the heart, are far rarer.

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