TY - JOUR T1 - Para-occupational exposures to asbestos: lessons learned from Casale Monferrato, Italy JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO - Occup Environ Med DO - 10.1136/oemed-2015-103233 SP - oemed-2015-103233 AU - Leslie Thomas Stayner Y1 - 2015/11/09 UR - http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2015/11/09/oemed-2015-103233.abstract N2 - The paper by Ferrante et al1 presents the latest findings from a series of studies2–4 revealing the tragic story of the impact of an Eternit asbestos cement facility on the health of the workers and the community in Casale Monferrato, Italy.This study provides strong evidence of an association between pleural mesothelioma and non-occupational exposures to asbestos. An approximately twofold increase in risk was observed for having lived with a family member who worked in the Eternit asbestos cement plant (OR=2.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.4), or having been exposed from domestic or environmental sources (OR=2.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.2).This is unfortunately not a new story. In the seminal report by Wagner in 19605 of a series of mesothelioma cases with exposure to crocidolite asbestos exposure in South Africa, 18 of the 32 cases were born in the vicinity of the mines and had no known occupational exposures. Since then numerous cases of mesothelioma have been reported among family member of asbestos workers,6 7 … ER -