Minnesota - This week, the Minnesota House of Representatives has finally passed the bill that gives the green light to the mesothelioma study on taconite miners in Minnesota’s Iron Range. Taconite, a form of magnetic iron ore, has been mined in the area for decades.

However, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has already threatened to veto the bill, on the basis that the study is being funded from the wrong source.

The study will cost an estimated $4.9 million, and the House of Representatives has voted to fund the research via the state workers’ compensation special fund.

However, Gov. Tim Pawlenty believes that the study should be funded not from the special fund, but via the state’s taxpayers.

Those who oppose the use of special fund money would prefer the Iron Ranger miner study to be funded partially via funds from a state agency called Iron Range Resources. This agency is focused on the northeastern part of Minnesota rather than the entire state. Opponents to use the use of the workers’ compensation fund say it’s more appropriate to use Iron Range Resources funds because mesothelioma cases have been reported only in that region.

The research, which will be planned and executed by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, is intended to determine why Iron Range taconite miners are at a vastly increased risk of developing mesothelioma, a type of asbestos cancer that is caused by asbestos exposure.

Jeffrey Mandel, an occupational physician in the School of Public Health, said “within the mining group, the rate of mesothelioma [is] significantly higher than it [is] supposed to be.” Since a preliminary study uncovered evidence of the high rate of mesothelioma, a more extensive research study has become a high priority.

The Minnesota Department of Health has determined that at least 58 Iron Range taconite miners have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Nationally, the average incidence of the disease is one case in every 500,000 people.

The research will look at four different aspects relating to taconite mining in the Iron Range. Three will look at causes of death in Iron Range Miners, as well as the health of current and past miners, and of their families. A fourth study will compare air particle samples taken from northern Minnesota cities and compare those to Iron Range samples.

One of the principle objectives of the study is to determine exactly why Iron Range miners are developing mesothelioma: whether the increased incidence of the cancer comes from exposure to taconite, or whether the cancer is caused by exposure to a substance used in industrial processes.

The bill passed by the Minnesota House of Representatives won by a majority vote of 88-45. The University of Minnesota has attempted to obtain funding for similar research in the past, but has never received enough funding to complete an extensive study.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Asbestos Legislation, Mesothelioma Treatment, Minnesota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.