Another death due to mesothelioma for taconite miners

Another taconite Iron Range miner is dead from mesothelioma, bringing the total number of mesothelioma fatalities for taconite workers in the area to 59. The news was announced by the Minnesota Department of Health at the third meeting of the Taconite Workers Lung Health Partnership. Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer that most commonly develops in the lining of the lungs of affected individuals. The only known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. The Taconite Workers Lung Health Partnership is working towards completing a study on the Iron Range mesothelioma issue, for which it recently received funding of $4.9 million. In 2007, the Department of Health announced that a total of 35 Iron Range miners had died from mesothelioma. Along with several other miners previously identified as having died from mesothelioma, Professor John Finnegan, dean of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, says that 58 Iron Range miners have died from the disease to date. Finnegan believes that this total is “clearly in excess” of that which should be expected in an average population. According to Charlie Olson, an Iron Range steelworker who gave testimony before the House Higher Education and Work Force Development Policy and Finance Division, workers at Iron Range mines have long held suspicion that the taconite processing work they were doing was causing the release of asbestos. Fibers that closely resemble asbestos have been found in eastern Iron Range ore. Preliminary data analysis on 58 mine workers diagnosed with mesothelioma has been carried out by the Minnesota Department of Health. The miners in the study worked at six of the seven mining operations that were active during their employment period. Almost one fourth of the workers were employed in the mining industry for less than one year, while slightly more than one fourth were employed for thirty or more years. Almost all of the miners were diagnosed with mesothelioma at least thirty years after they had first begun work in the mining industry. In some cases, diagnosis was made more than sixty years later. The new $4.9 million study will involve health and respiratory screening of current and former Iron Range mine workers and their spouses, as well as air testing in several different locations in and around the Iron Range area. Air quality tests began last week at Virginia City Hall, where a $35,000 particle-sampling machine collected ten days worth of data. The machines will be set up in a variety of location to collect data which can be analyzed to determine the types of particles present. The partnership hopes that the information they collect will eventually provide an answer to the question of why so many Iron Range workers have died from mesothelioma. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)