Montana
Montana is a rural state. Despite the small population, the death rate due to asbestos exposure is a whopping sixty times higher than the rest of the United States. Montana is the home of a huge scandal involving prolonged asbestos exposure to unsuspecting workers. Asbestos exposure can lead to asbestosis, where the lung capacity is reduced due to the production of scar tissue, or it can lead to mesothelioma, which is a cancer that is specifically attributed to exposure to carcinogenic asbestos fibers. Asbestosis, if caught in time, is treatable, but it can be deadly. Even if a person survives asbestosis, they can still develop mesothelioma which is a malignant cancer. Mesothelioma is incurable.
Vermiculite Mining
Libby, Montana, is quite well known for the vermiculite mines therein. The workers that were employed there up until 1993 are among the highest risk individuals for asbestos exposure. The ventilation in mines is notoriously poor, leaving the air hanging around the heads of the workers. Even those that wore respirators would have inhaled large quantities of dust and debris. Though vermiculite is harmless to us, the vermiculite in the mines of Libby was found to be heavily contaminated with asbestos. Miners that worked in these mines were not only inhaling this dust themselves, they had brought it home daily on their work clothes and in their hair. The families of the miners are among those with a high exposure risk, as well as the neighboring communities. There is an estimated two thousand people that have been unknowingly exposed for simply living in the wrong area.
Copper and Aluminum Plants
The plants that produce copper and aluminum in Montana used asbestos quite often. There were chemicals that the workers needed to be protected from, as well as fire and extreme temperatures that were employed daily for smelting. At the time when these plants would have been introduced, asbestos was a very popular insulator, and it would have been used in just about any place that needed to be protected from extreme temperatures, including the protective gear that the workers wore. The structures that housed the operations would also need to be fireproofed, which was another use of asbestos.
Construction workers, employees of manufacturing plants, chemical plants, petroleum refineries, and several other industries also employed asbestos to keep their sensitive equipment safe. Homes were insulated and fire proofed using asbestos floor tiles, ceiling tiles, wall boards, and insulation, and so were hospitals and schools. If you are concerned that you may have been exposed to asbestos, then you should notify your health care professional so that any early signs of asbestos injuries can be spotted and diagnosed.
A diagnosis may not occur for years after your initial exposure, as asbestos related injuries can have a long latency period. If you are diagnosed with any asbestos injuries, legal help is available to help you get the care that you deserve.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
