News Coverage
Asbestos: U.S. Death Toll at 10,000 a Year and Rising -- EWG Report
Published March 5, 2004
Almost 10,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by asbestos exposure, and that mortality rate is expected to increase over the next decade, according to a study released yesterday by the Environmental Working Group.
The study, "Asbestos: Think Again," examined 25 years worth of government mortality records and epidemiological studies to chart and map asbestos-related diseases nationwide. It found 9,900 Americans -- mostly older men -- died from asbestos-related illness in 2001. Asbestos was widely used for insulation and fire-proofing through the mid-1970's. Scientists have linked inhalation of its fibers -- which are lighter than air and can lodge in the lungs for decades -- to asbestosis, a condition characterized by irritation of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a form of asbestos-specific cancer, as well as cancers of the lung and gastrointestinal system.
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