Vermont asbestos deaths were job related

The Vermont Health Department has determined that five people who died of an asbestos-related lung diseases were exposed to the material at their jobs and not because they lived near a now-closed asbestos mine.

According to the report, three of the five people who died of asbestosis between 1996 and 2005 had worked at the asbestos mine in Eden and Lowell, but the other two had the disease before they moved to the area.

The report expanded on an earlier study that found residents who lived near the mine had higher-than-normal rates of asbestosis, which scars the lungs and leads to respiratory failure. Some residents in the area were upset by the first study’s conclusions, and encouraged public health officials to re-examine the issue.

The report concluded that there is “no evidence that people living in the 13 towns surrounding the mine have a higher risk of dying from non-occupational asbestos-related diseases than people elsewhere in the state of Vermont,” but residents are still urged to stay away from the mine, where an estimated 30 million tons of the dangerous mineral are left behind.

Exposure to asbestos is the only known source of developing mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that afflicts the lining of the lungs, stomach or heart. Mesotheloma is difficult to diagnose and is typically fatal as there is no known cure.