Letter: Taconite and mesothelioma by Craig Strid
Editor:
Are conditions created by taconite mining responsible for mesothelioma cases?
In 2003, a study of taconite miners found that 14 out of 17 cases of mesothelioma were contracted by asbestos.
Since that study 35 additional cases have been diagnosed but all do not share contact with asbestos. Mesothelioma occurs at twice the expected rate among the population of the northeastern region of Minnesota, including the Iron Range.
In 1974, a US District Court judge ruled that the drinking water and Lake Superior must be protected from the asbestos-like particles. Water tests showed 100 billion fibers per liter of water. There was no epidemiological proof that these particles caused cancer or if they were safe. This became one of the costliest pollution prevention cases for the Reserve Mining Company.
The University of Minnesota and public health are now again conducting a study to answer the following questions.
What is the relationship of working in the taconite industry to the excessive number of cases of mesothelioma? Are other diseases, respiratory and non-respiratory, associated with work in the taconite industry?
Are spouses at risk for respiratory diseases as a result of their partners working in the taconite industry?
Food for thought…
Craig Strid, Rhinelander
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1 Comment for "Letter: Taconite and mesothelioma by Craig Strid"
A Minnesota report in 2003 found that taconite mining was the second largest source of mercury emissions after coal plants.
According to the University of Minnesota the rate of mesothelioma is 70% higher in northern Minnesota.
They also learned that 8 % of the infants born in the Lake Superior region have toxic levels of mercury in their bodies, above the Feder4al 5.8 micrograms per liter. Some had levels as high as 211 micrograms per liter. This covered Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Dirts Jan 26, 2013 4:05 PM