Idaho State University joins Mount Sinai School of Medicine for Libby asbestos study

Nov 16, 2009

Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City recently launched a research project to study asbestos-related diseases in Libby, Montana. The Idaho State University Department of Biological Sciences will be collaborating with them on the Libby Epidemiology Research Program along with Libby’s Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD), the University of Montana and a national scientific advisory group. This research project is supported by a $4.8 million grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Assistant Professor Jean Pfau will lead leading the research team comparing the blood serum antibody production of Libby residents who were only exposed to environmental asbestos to those who workers who were subjected to heavy, long-term exposure to common commercial forms of asbestos.

Another part of the research project will look at the relationships between autoimmune antibody abnormalities, autoimmune disorders, CT scan evidence of scarring lung disease and Libby asbestos exposure. A third part of the research project will examine the risks of asbestos exposure on Libby residents during childhood, while the lungs are still developing.

The residents of Libby – not just the mine and processing plant workers and their families – have higher rates of scarring lung diseases like asbestosis than elsewhere in the United States. They also have a higher rate of lung cancer and mesothelioma, another form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

For the full story, go to Idaho State University.

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