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News Coverage

Report: LA County Tops In Asbestos Deaths

Experts Say High Death Rate Due To Large Population

Associated Press, Staff reporter
Published March 4, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- A new report said Los Angeles County has recorded more asbestos-related deaths than anywhere else in the country.

This article also ran in:

NBC4.TV (online), CA - 3/4/04

The report by the Environmental Working Group estimates that more than 1,200 county residents died of asbestos-related illness from 1979 to 2001.

That's slightly more than the 1,051 deaths recorded in Cook County, Illinois -- which includes the Chicago area.

Experts said the high asbestos death rates can be attributed to the county's large population, widespread asbestos use in the shipping industry and post-World War Two construction.

Asbestos fibers can become embedded in the lungs and cause scar tissue on the lungs known as asbestosis or a form of cancer called mesothelioma.

Nationwide some 10,000 people died from asbestos-related disease in 2002.

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