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The University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health has begun a study of taconite workers to explore why the rate of mesothelioma - a rare cancer of the lung lining related to Asbestos Exposure is twice the expected rate in Northeastern Minnesota.

In April, the Minnesota legislature allocated nearly $5 million to figure out why men in the Iron Range communities of northeastern Minnesota are developing mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by asbestos, at twice the expected rate. In June, at the third meeting of the Taconite Workers Lung Health Partnership, the Department of Health announced that yet another case of deadly mesothelioma has been identified, bringing the total to 59. The University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health is heading up the investigation, drawing on a database of 72,000 miners. The university is working with the Health Department and the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth. This summer, doctors will compile and analyze old health studies, begin to review current asbestos exposure controls and study what can be done to protect workers from the harmful dust. Next summer, health screenings of about 1,200 current and past miners and their spouses will begin. The Natural Resources Research Institute is analyzing iron ore samples and dust in the air in Iron Range communities, to determine how closely they match asbestos dust.

The School of Public Health is seeking 1,200 mine workers and 800 spouses to participate in the study, in which they will receive physical check-ups, x-rays, breathing tests and blood work over the next two years. The Minnesota Legislature asked the university to conduct the study after the state’s health department had delayed the release of data about mesothelioma deaths in the region, angering miners and their families.