Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Report on vermiculite asbestos exposure

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 30, 2008 at 4:39 PM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Vermiculite mined in Libby, Mont., and distributed nationwide was contaminated with amphibole asbestos which has been linked to lung disease, officials said.

A report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said that employees, their families and people living close to 28 exfoliation sites may have been exposed to amphibole asbestos from vermiculite mined in Libby between the 1920s and the early 1990s.

Workers were exposed to asbestos through a process called exfoliation, in which vermiculite is heated until it expands. Since the Libby vermiculite contained asbestos, heating released asbestos fibers into the air where they could be inhaled, the report said.

Asbestos has been linked to pulmonary diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma and 15 to 30 years can pass from a person's exposure to the time disease develops.

People who believed they may have been exposed to amphibole asbestos are encouraged to discuss this with their healthcare professional, the report said.

In addition, the agency also recommends that exposed persons stop smoking, as smoking combined with asbestos exposure greatly increases the risk of developing lung cancer.

More information is at: www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/sites/national_map.

Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
High Fashion in Paris 2011: The year in space The best kisses
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 15
Rose McGowan at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2012 Collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York
View Caption
fark
NJ DOT committee presents recommendations on ways to reduce train-related deaths. #1: Stop getting...
Another amenity your car is missing: A wood burning stove. Talk to this guy about getting that set...
If you think doing your taxes by yourself is confusing, try getting them done at a tax business...
Photoshop this night on the town
Rhinoceros accidentally killed by conservationists during anti-poaching demo
Researchers develop way to scan liquids that may allow travelers to carry on enough vodka to relieve...