Thursday, March 29, 2007
Minnesota, Mining, Mesothelioma
More cases of rare cancer reported on Minnesota Iron Range
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - MINNEAPOLIS - The state Health Department says 35 more cases of a rare type of cancer linked to asbestos exposure have been reported among miners on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota.
The Health Department is planning two new health studies because of the additional cases of the cancer (known as mesothelioma) -- which is seen almost exclusively in people who have been exposed to asbestos.
One of the new studies would look more closely at miners' exposure to asbestos and the other would study the health effects of asbestos-like mineral fragments produced when ore is processed.
With the data from the most recent study, 52 cases of the cancer have been found in a group of 72,000 people who worked in Minnesota's iron mining industry between the 1930s and 1982.
The cancer take 40 or 50 years to develop.
