What are the effects of exposure to low levels of asbestos on children? Are children exposed to low levels of asbestos at greater risk of developing asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma or autoimmune disorders later in life?
Researchers with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York in partnership with the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Montana and the University of Montana are tackling those questions in an ambitious five-year, $4.8 million study of the effects of low level childhood exposure to asbestos. They are using as a research population people who attended high school in Libby, Montana from 1950 through 1990, then moved away and haven’t returned to live
A public health emergency has been declared in Libby because of the extent of asbestos contamination in the community related to a former vermiculite mine and the high rate of asbestos-related disease. Malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen, has occurred at a very high rate in the small northwest Montana community, federal officials say. Lung cancer rates also are 30 percent higher in the Libby population than in similar populations not exposed to asbestos, researchers say.
Through the Libby Epidemiology Research Project, the researchers hope to better understand the effects of low-level asbestos exposure on vulnerable populations such as children whose lungs aren’t fully developed and to identify protective exposure levels.
Researchers also hope to gain insight in the comparative effects of exposure to amphibole asbestos, the kind found in Libby, with chrysotile asbestos, the more common form of asbestos used in building materials and pipe insulation.
Another study will examine the correlation between autoimmune disorders such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis with the level of Libby asbestos exposure and disease development.
The study is funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Stephen Levin, a nationally known expert on asbestos related disease at Mt. Sinai, is the principal investigator.
People who meet the criteria or know someone who does should contact the Center for Asbestos Related Disease at (406) 293-9274 or CARD@libbyasbestos.org
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