A study conducted by the Utah Department of Health indicates that there is no increased evidence of cases of asbestos-caused mesothelioma among those who lived in the vicinity of two former vermiculite mines in Salt Lake City.
The study, according to the Deseret News, reflected those living within a two-mile radius of the former mines, which processed vermiculite that came from Libby, Montana, where hundreds have been sickened from an asbestos-contaminated form of the material. The study did not specifically target employees who worked at either Vermiculite Intermountain or Intermountain Products Incorporated, both in Salt Lake City.
Utah is just one of several states that is examining the relationship between cancer statistics and vermiculite mines. With help from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, state health departments nationwide have been looking at cancer rates near facilities that processed asbestos-contaminated vermiculite.
What the study did find in Utah, however, was a significantly increased rate of lung and respiratory cancers, though the Department of Health refuses to link these cases to the vermiculite mines.
When an environmental agent is the cause, said Department of Health toxicologist Wayne Ball, trends can be spotted. There was no upward or downward trend on respiratory cancer rates over the 28-year time period studied, from 1973-2000. “It was elevated, but consistent. We don’t know what was happening, but because mesothelioma was not increased, we don’t feel these facilities contributed to lung cancer rates in the area,” he said.
The state’s study, Ball noted, had limitations. “Health officials have no exposure data to know if asbestos was ever released as the vermiculite was processed. They don’t know who worked at the plant at the time and so have been unable to track workers  who would have had the highest exposure  to see whether they suffered harm from asbestos exposure.â€Â
As for the lung cancers, they know that about 85 percent of cases are caused by smoking, Ball said, but researchers had no information on the smoking rates in that area and whether that could account for the elevated rate.
Ball says the current site, which now houses a power plant, offices, and a commercial parking lot, poses no hazard for those in the vicinity. He notes that the EPA finished clean-up of the site in late 2004. Health department officials, however, are now searching for former employees of the mines to warn them of the risks of direct asbestos exposure.
