Posted on June 29, 2016
The most comprehensive review of asbestos-related deaths has just come out from EWG Action Fund’s Asbestos Nation campaign.
The new interactive map from EWG Action Fund’s Asbestos Nation campaign allows viewers to see how many people have died at the hands of asbestos in each state and county, highlighting the tragic legacy asbestos has left in virtually every community across the country.
Researchers with EWG Action Fund used the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s death records for both mesothelioma and asbestosis, combined with a projected number of deaths from lung cancer attributed to asbestos from top cancer experts with the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm to arrive at these startling numbers.
“The deadly legacy of asbestos touches every state and every county in America,” said Alex Formuzis of EWG Action Fund’s Asbestos Nation Campaign. “Because asbestos-related disease may not show up for decades after exposure, thousands more Americans will die in years to come.”
While those states with the largest populations, like California and Florida, had the greatest number of deaths, other states with smaller populations, like Montana, West Virginia and Maine showed asbestos-related deaths rates 50 to 100 times higher than the national average.
Linda