Airborne asbestos fibres and mesothelioma in the last 20 years in Egypt: a review

Asbestos has been used in Egypt ever since 2000 – 3000 BC for embalming the bodies of Egyptian pharaohs. Little data is available on airborne asbestos fibre counts in the occupational and environmental settings. Counts ranged between 0.0 – 2.7 f/cc and 0.007 – 3.0 f/cc inside and outside various industrial workplace sites, respectively at Sigwart (El–Maasara and Shoubra El–Kheima) companies in Cairo. Asbestos counts ranged between 0.0244 – 0.1389 f/cc in the surrounding areas of the ORA–Egypt company in the 10th of Ramadan City, which has been shut down since 2004. Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is becoming an increasing problem in Egypt. MPM is related to the inhalation of asbestos fibres in low counts and is incurable when diagnosed. According to official registry data, most MPM cases were living close to asbestos production companies. Mesothelioma incidence was analyzed and studied in the available data during the period 1984–2005. Mesothelioma incidences increased from 159 cases during 1984 – 1999 to 733 cases during 2000 – 2005. The age of the patients ranged between 17 to 90 years with a mean age of 54 years. The survival age varied between 6 to 15 months with median survival was approximately 1 year from diagnosis. Females represented ~39 % of the cases and males represented ~60% with male to female ratio of ~1.7.