The Center for Asbestos Related Disease of Montana (CARD), in partnership with the University of Montana and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, has started a five-year study to learn more about the effects of exposure during childhood, to low-levels of asbestos.
The $4.8 million study, funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (a branch of the Federal Center for Disease Control), is among many projects which aim to study the unique nature of asbestos-related disease in Libby. This particular research project aims to answer the question “Are people who were exposed to this toxic mineral during childhood at greater risk of contracting asbestos-related illnesses?” Some believe that a child’s underdeveloped lungs are indeed more vulnerable to the negative effects of asbestos exposure. Researches also endeavor to gain some insight into the effects of exposure to amphibole asbestos (found in former Libby residents) and compare it with that of more common forms of asbestos such as chrysotile. The study will also examine the correlation between asbestos exposure and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
The researchers are seeking out people who went to high school in Libby, Montana between 1950 and 1990, and then moved away, to be examined as part of the research.
Libby has become the deadliest Superfund site in U.S. history primarily because of the magnitude of asbestos contamination in the region and the prevalence of asbestos related diseases there. More than 400 people have died of asbestos- related diseases as they inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers discarded from a nearby vermiculite mine that closed in 1990. As reported by federal officials, malignant mesothelioma, the worst of the asbestos-related diseases, has occurred at an exorbitant rate in this community. This incurable and rare form of cancer affects the lining of the lungs and generally kills the patient within 25 months following the diagnosis.