Neighborhood and Environmental Exposure

Because asbestos is such a potent carcinogen, it is well-documented that people who live near an asbestos plant or asbestos mine are at an elevated risk of mesothelioma.  When asbestos products are produced, large quantities of asbestos dust and fibers are released into the air.  The people who live and work in the vicinity may be exposed to significant amounts of toxic asbestos fibers.  Epidemiological studies have found significantly elevated rates of mesothelioma as far as a mile downwind from an asbestos plant.

In addition, due to the widespread use of asbestos in the past, there is a certain amount of asbestos present in the environment throughout the United States.  Most asbestos present comes from past industrial uses of asbestos products.  Therefore, there is usually more asbestos in the air, soil and water around cities and industrialized areas than in the countryside and rural farmlands.

There may also be heightened levels of asbestos in certain rural areas with large asbestos deposits, particularly areas where asbestos was mined commercially.  People living in these areas may have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases.  The risk of exposure may be particularly great in the communities surrounding the historic asbestos mines in Vermont, North Carolina, Montana, Arizona and California.

Perhaps the best-known instance of this type of environmental exposure is found in Libby, Montana, whose citizens were exposed to asbestos for many years from an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine operated by W.R. Grace.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently declared a Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana due to concerns about the high rates of asbestos disease.