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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Source: DailyInterLake.Com
With one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the United States and thousands of people with other asbestos-related diseases, Libby, Montana is already the location of a serious public health disaster and—according to a report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine—the situation is due to get worse in the next two decades. The article, written by pulmonologist and asbestos-disease expert Dr. Alan Whitehouse, concludes that the current situation is merely “the tip of the iceberg” and that a true epidemic of mesothelioma is likely gestating among the citizens of Libby and the surrounding towns.
The cause of this health tragedy was an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine that was once the region’s economic lifeblood. The mine was in operation for decades and it employed thousands of people during this time. Even citizens who didn’t work in the mine were likely to be affected by its dust and airborne debris, either by living near it or living with someone who worked there.
The relationship between the mine and the town’s health effects was initially reported in 1999 and the scope of the tragedy has only increased since then. Much of this extra knowledge has come from the clinic that Libby started to track asbestos-related illnesses and provide care for affected residents. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) has already documented over 200 deaths related to asbestos exposure and is tracking 2,000 other additional cases of asbestos-related disease.
Dr. Whitehouse’s report, written in close consultation with a number of other doctors—including Dr. Brad Black, the Medical Director for the Center for Asbestos Related Disease—includes studies of people of who worked in the mine, as well as people who had no exposure to asbestos outside of simply being in Libby. Because mesothelioma has a latency period of 30 to 50 years from initial exposure, the report concludes that “The extent of the epidemic of environmental mesothelioma due to exposures based at Libby will probably not peak for another 10 to 20 years…”
Labels: mesothelioma
posted by Belluck & Fox at 11:46 AM
