Mesothelioma Death Toll in Iron Range Area of Minnesota Rises

According to a recent new story from the Associated Press, the number of deaths in the Iron Range region of Minnesota attributed to mesothelioma has risen to 82, up from 63 reported by state health officials just last year. Health officials say they discovered the additional mesothelioma deaths by checking death records in other states for former Iron Range residents who had moved out of Minnesota.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Mandel, the lead researcher on the state health study of area workers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, a “back-of-the-envelope” analysis shows that mesothelioma rates are higher than they should be in the area. Thus far, it is still unclear where the victims were exposed to asbestos.
The “Iron Range” is an area in the northeastern region of Minnesota with multiple distinct bands of iron ore. Interestingly enough, state health officials have found that a large number of mesothelioma cases seem to stem from the region, though there are no local asbestos mines. Early reports on the elevated number of mesothelioma deaths suggest that the exposure may have came from workers who dealt with commercial asbestos, such as pipe insulation, furnaces and boilers.

Asbestos the Silent Killer

An article about the history of asbestos and the potential future problems asbestos may cause. People fear that asbestos could cause an epidemic if it is not removed from places of business and homes quickly and appropriately. Despite the fact the government banned the importation of blue and brown asbestos over twenty years ago and finally banned white asbestos in 1999, 3500 people currently die every year from asbestos related diseases. Be it the lung choking “asbestosis” or the cancer “Mesothelioma” these diseases make asbestos the biggest industrial killer today. In the 50’s and 60’s following World War 2, millions of tons of raw asbestos was imported into the UK to be made into building products and other industrial uses. It was cheap, easy to mine and when added to various building products gave them extra strength and fire retardant properties. Just what was needed to help the post war building boom. However it was not until well into the sixties that it was discovered that the ingestion of its fibres caused terminal damage to peoples lungs. All those people working in the factories using asbestos in their products had already been damaged by the microscopic fibres of asbestos. This was borne out by the climbing death rates in the late 80’s as it can take anything from 5 to 25 years for the asbestos dieses to kill you. When the government brought in various bans on the importation and the using of asbestos in products they assumed by the turn of the new millennium there would be a fall in the number of