A recent study published by Italian researchers suggests that dental technicians could be at an increased risk of developing asbestos-related cancer. According to the study, exposure to materials that were once commonly used in the manufacture of dental prostheses may be the primary cause of a deadly development of malignant mesothelioma. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.
Dental technician is not one of the professions typically associated with mesothelioma, nor was the dental industry previously thought to be at high-risk for asbestos exposure.
However, this study, titled “Pleural malignant mesothelioma in dental laboratory technicians: A case series,” published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, is a frightening reminder that mesothelioma and asbestos-related cancer risk can present in unexpected occupations and industries.
Joe Lyon is a highly-rated Cincinnati Asbestos lawyer representing plaintiffs nationwide in a wide variety of dentist asbestos exposure, toxic tort and Mesothelioma Cancer.
Toxic Dental Equipment & Dentist Asbestos Exposure
The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled asbestos as a proven cause of cancer. Long used in construction and industrial installations prior to the 1980s, asbestos was also used in some dentistry products. Asbestos was reportedly used as a binder in periodontal dressings and as a lining for casting rings and crucibles.
As a result, dental technicians who worked with asbestos-containing products in the past may have inhaled carcinogenic asbestos fibers, and risk triggering the development of mesothelioma in later years.
Dentist Asbestos Exposure
The recently published Italian-based research, written by experts in occupational health, analyzed more than 5,000 mesothelioma patients between 2000 and 2014. They placed the victims in specific industries, and found that four victims whose only exposure to asbestos had been in dental technician roles. Three of the four victims were able to describe the use of asbestos as a lining material for casting rings.
The three men mentioned in the study had worked as dental laboratory technicians, exposed to asbestos for 4, 10, and 34 years, while one female victim said she assisted her husband for 30 years in manufacturing asbestos-containing dental prostheses.
Mesothelioma Settlements
The Lyon Firm reviews toxic tort litigation and files asbestos injury claims following dentist asbestos exposure. Contact an experienced attorney following lung cancer or mesothelioma diagnosis.
