News Coverage
Lowcountry leads S.C. in asbestos deaths
Published March 9, 2004
CHARLESTON - A new report has found that the Charleston area leads the state in deaths attributed to asbestos, largely because of the once-widespread use of asbestos at the old Charleston Naval Shipyard.
Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties account for more than one-third of South Carolina's asbestos-related deaths, according to a national study by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group of Washington. The report analyzed government data on two asbestos-related diseases: mesothelioma and asbestosis.
At least 628 people in South Carolina died from asbestos-related diseases between 1979 and 2001, ranking the state 22nd in the country, the report found. The trio of Lowcountry counties recorded at least 246 of those deaths. Only 42 counties in the nation recorded more asbestos deaths than Charleston, which had at least 180 deaths, according to the report.
"The deaths you're seeing are from exposure decades ago," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president with the EWG. "But they haven't reached their peak. You'll see more people dying from asbestos-related exposure in Charleston and all across South Carolina."