Iron Range mesothelioma study update from U Minn scientists
Scientists with the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health have developed a plan for the 5-year, $4.9 million research that will attempt to uncover why there is such an elevated rate of mesothelioma among miners in Minnesota’s Iron Range. The plans were approved recently by an independent scientific review board, and data collection is already under way.
The researchers will look at medical and occupational records for 68,000 Iron Range miners, many of whom have already died of mesothelioma or other causes. They will also assess the health of 1,200 current and retired miners, along with 800 of their spouses. Dust sampling from the mines and Iron Range communities is being performed.
More information is available at www.sph.umn.edu/lunghealth.
Fifty-eight Iron Range miners have died of mesothelioma since 1988.
For the full story, go to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
