Background and aimPatients with interstitial lung diseases, including asbestosis, showed high susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a high risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. Italy, highly impacted by asbestos-related diseases, in 2020 was among the European countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. The mortality related to malignant mesotheliomas and asbestosis in 2020 and its relationship with COVID-19 in Italy are investigated.MethodsAll death certificates involving malignant mesotheliomas or asbestosis in 2010–2020 and those involving COVID-19 in 2020 were retrieved from the National Registry of Causes of Death. Annual mortality rates and rate ratios (RRs) of 2020 and 2010–2014 compared to 2015–2019 were calculated. The association between malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and asbestosis with COVID-19 in deceased adults ≥80 years old was evaluated through a logistic regression analysis (odds ratios: ORs), using MPM and asbestosis deaths COVID-19-free as the reference group. The hospitalization for asbestosis in 2010–2020, based on National Hospital Discharge Database, was analyzed.ResultsIn 2020, 746,343 people died; out of them, 1,348 involved MPM and 286 involved asbestosis. Compared to the period 2015–2019, the mortality involving the two diseases decreased in age groups below 80 years; meanwhile, an increasing trend was observed in subjects aged 80 years and older, with a relative mortality risks of 1.10 for MPM and 1.17 for asbestosis. In subjects aged ≥80 years, deaths with COVID-19 were less likely to have MPM in both genders (men: OR = 0.22; women: OR = 0.44), while no departure was observed for asbestosis. A decrease in hospitalization in 2020 with respect to those in 2010–2019 in all age groups, both considering asbestosis as the primary or secondary diagnosis, was observed.ConclusionsThe increasing mortality involving asbestosis and, even if of slight entity, MPM, observed in people aged over 80 years during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, aligned in part with the previous temporal trend, could be due to several factors. Although no positive association with COVID-19 mortality was observed, the decrease in hospitalizations for asbestosis among individuals aged over 80 years, coupled with the increase in deaths, highlights the importance of enhancing home-based assistance during the pandemic periods for vulnerable patients with asbestos-related conditions.

Content

CDPH Asbetos and Demolition Notification Notices of Intent (NOI) for demolition and asbestos abatement per Chapter 11 -4 Article XVIII of the Municipal Code ( see http://tinyurl.com/crvyb29) submitted to the Department of Environment (DOE) for work started January, 1993 to December 31, 2011 or submitted to the Department of Public Health (CDPH) for work beginning on or after January 1, 2012. On January 1, 2012, the DOE was disbanded and all its inspection, permitting, and enforcement authorities were transferred to the CDPH.
Data fields requiring description are detailed below. NOTIFICATION TYPE: Specifies the type of NOI submitted: NOI DEMO/RENOVATIONion or NOI NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants).
MAPPED LOCATION: Contains latitude/longitude coordinates of the site as determined through the Chicago Open Data Portal’s geocoding engine. In instances where the facility address is a range, the lower number (the value in the “Street Number From” column) is used for geocoding. For example, for the range address 1000-1005 S Wabash Ave, the Mapped Location would be the coordinates for 1000 S Wabash Ave. OWNER/APPLICANT: The owner or entity that submitted the NOI.
START DATE: The proposed start date of work as reported in the NOI.
END DATE: The proposed finish date of work as reported in the NOI.
COMMENT: Additional information relating to the NOI that may include location information, property description, actual start and finish dates, field observations, and status of work. DATA SOURCE: The city department that collected the data.

Context

This is a dataset hosted by the City of Chicago. The city has an open data platform found here and they update their information according the amount of data that is brought in. Explore the City of Chicago using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the City of Chicago organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated quarterly.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using Socrata's API and Kaggle's API. Socrata has assisted countless organizations with hosting their open data and has been an integral part of the process of bringing more data to the public.

Cover photo by Romel Velasco on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Context

First, what is asbestos? Well it is a mineral that can be pulled into fine fibres with high resistance to heat, electricity and chemical corrosion. In the past it was a common ingredient in construction materials (caveat: this is at least true for the European Union). Why in the past? Asbestos is a threat to health due to its very fibre structure. Those microscopic fibers can become trapped in the respiratory system, causing cancer and other disease decades after exposure.

Second, where is Poland?! The answer depends on how grumpy the internet is on that day. My home country, Poland, is located in the Eastern or Central Europe. Poland joined the European Union in 2004 and suddenly stuff was required of her. Strangely enough, Poland is the only European country that plans to be free of asbestos by 2032. The National Asbestos Cleaning Program program was initiated in 2009 with one of the aims to create a complete database of asbestos contamination by 2012. In this blog post I’m hoping to shed some light on the progress of this ambitious plan.

Content

The database is run by the Ministry of Development and should be updated yearly. It was originally uploaded on March 21st 2016 and then updated 8 months later. As far as I can see they don’t keep older versions. The spreadsheet contains columns with the total number of asbestos in the given location (in kilograms), how much of that has been utilised (also in kilograms) and how much still needs to be utilised (not kidding). There is also name of the place and its code TERYT. TERYT translates as the National Official Register of the Territorial Division of the Country. It is a very useful thing in identifying cities and regions, especially for languages that include certain letters with diacritics, the overdot, the tail and the stroke. As a side note, TERYT code for asbestos dataset was incomplete i.e. missing the last digit (!). In addition, there was no metadata that describes the data collection process or time when it was taken.

Acknowledgements

This dataset was downloaded from the Polish Public Data and is considered public data and can be used under following restrictions: - One should inform about the source of this data and the creation time of reused information as well

Inspiration

Is Poland on track to be free of asbestos by 20132?

The NSW Government is required under the Home Building Act 1989 to maintain a register of residential properties that contain loose-fill asbestos insulation. The register is known as the Loose-fill Asbestos Insulation Register (LFAI Register). The LFAI Register is available on the NSW Fair Trading website and each property can be searched for by its street address (number, street name and suburb).