Mesothelioma Found Among Minnesota Miners at Twice the National Average

Duluth, Minn. – July 18, 2008 – The University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health is heading up an investigation as to why men in the Iron Range area of northeastern Minnesota are developing mesothelioma at twice the national average. In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health and the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth, the university hopes to gain a clearer understanding of why taconite miners are dying of mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

After years of delay, the Minnesota legislature finally apportioned nearly $5 million to fund the investigation, which may take up to five years to complete.

Further details of the investigation were announced mid-June in a meeting among health officials and local politicians. Researchers are drawing upon a database of 72,000 miners, along with other various resources. Starting next summer, a health screening will begin including approximately 1,200 current and past miners, as well as their spouses.

Through investigation and interviews with miners, engineers, safety officials, and others familiar with taconite operations, researchers also hope to assess exposure risks and fill in gaps in historical data by creating mathematical models.

The Natural Resources Research Institute will be analyzing iron ore samples of the taconite, as well as dust contamination in the air of the Iron Range communities. This will be done in an effort to better understand the geological composition of the taconite and whether it could be contaminated with asbestos. According to the U.S. geological Survey and the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Iron Range area is known to contain naturally occurring asbestos.

Like asbestiform minerals, taconite is a silicate mineral that is found among layers of shale. Scientists have already stated that fibers in the rock were similar to asbestos. Mining companies, however, say they are not asbestos fibers, and even claim there are no fibers at all.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of discrepancy among the classification of fibers, and this has played a heavy role in the definition of asbestos. According to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, there are more than 100 asbestiform minerals, yet only six are regulated by the government (commonly referred to as “commercial asbestos”).

For years many have speculated that unregulated asbestiform minerals have the same potential to cause asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, as regulated forms of asbestos. Hopefully, research from these important studies will provide conclusive insight into the plausible asbestos contamination of the taconite, as well as the potential that taconite may also cause mesothelioma on its own.

By Michelle Whitmer

This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Legislation, Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.