CDC Data Show Marked Decrease in Silicosis-Related Deaths

WASHINGTON - Deaths from silicosis have declined steadily over the past 30 years, following a downward trend for pneumoconioses-related deaths that has been otherwise bucked by a nearly 400 percent increase in asbestosis mortality over a similar period, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported recently.

The findings, published in a July 23 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, indicated that death rates for silicosis among males declined 70 percent when compared for the periods 1968-1981 and 1982-2000.

By contrast, asbestosis-related deaths increased nearly 400 percent over the same periods and are expected to climb steadily …