The Connection Between Asbestos and Lung Disease in Montana

While mesothelioma has been diagnosed in people living throughout Montana, it is difficult to prove a connection of environmental hazards with illnesses, such as cancer. This link is somewhat simplified with mesothelioma since the disease currently has one widely recognized risk factor: exposure to asbestos.

Although asbestos and vermiculite were mined primarily in Western Montana, the ore was transported great distances, both in and out of the state, resulting in the potential for many people to be exposed.

Many of the people with mesothelioma in Montana lived along rail routes in the populated centers of the state. However, the available data are insufficient to confirm a causal relationship between residence near a railroad and developing mesothelioma.

Since most of the people in Montana live in these population centers and along transportation routes, one would expect that many people affected with mesothelioma would live along these routes whether or not the railroad contributed to the spread of the disease. People with mesothelioma may have been exposed to any number of asbestos sources at any time. Information in this report is not sufficient to draw links between sources of asbestos and an individual’s mesothelioma.

People diagnosed with mesothelioma today were likely exposed to asbestos before 1999 when the limited asbestos ban was put into effect. As we progress in time from 1999, the number of new mesothelioma diagnoses for the nation is expected to level off and then begin decreasing15.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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