A new study funded by a branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to improve the understanding of asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma, an aggressive and fatal cancer cause by exposure to asbestos fibers. The study centers around the circumstances of a national tragedy, the asbestos contamination of Libby, Montana, in order to research specific phenomena related to asbestos exposure.

Libby, Montana was placed in a state of emergency a few years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency as a result of the incredible amounts of asbestos debris found in the town. The debris was the product of a local asbestos mining operation which produced two million tons of asbestos each year. In addition to being subject to clouds of asbestos dust belched out by the mining operations, residents of Libby were subjected to piles of unusable asbestos debris discarded throughout the town.

The new study targets individuals who completed the majority of their high school education at Libby High between the years of 1950 and 1999, and who moved permanently to different places after their graduation. By laying out these specific circumstances, the researchers hope to isolate individuals who were exposed to asbestos as children, but whose exposure ceased before adulthood. Around 13,000 former students of Libby High fit the qualifications. Researchers are seeking these graduates out and asking them to submit to a battery of tests including X-rays, CT scans and pulmonary function tests as part of a larger study study concerning the rapidly progressing nature of asbestos diseases in Libby.

Asbestos fibers have long been linked to a variety of different diseases including mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective tissue which encases the body’s organs. When asbestos fibers are accidentally drawn into an individual’s body through inhalation or ingestion, the fibers make their way through the lung or intestinal walls. After becoming entangled in the mesothelium, the protective tissue encasing the organs, the asbestos begins to cause scarring which can lead to the growth of malignant tumors.

Normally, mesothelioma takes decades to develop. In Libby, Montana, however, the disease and others like it have been observed progressing much more rapidly. Dr Stephen Levin of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York expresses concern about asbestos issues in Libby, saying “This progresses much more rapidly than your grandfather’s asbestos-related disease.”

The ambitious study plans to follow Libby High graduates for more than fifty years, periodically documenting their health in an effort to better understand the effects of toxic asbestos exposure in children.

Two subsidiaries of RPM International Inc., a well known chemical, paint and sealant company, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Bondex International and Specialty Products Holding Corporation have taken large losses over the last several years due to asbestos related litigation, which eventually led to their declarations of bankruptcy.

The two companies have been hit with asbestos related lawsuits over and over again since the 1980′s. Most recently Bondex International was ordered to share responsibility for %60 of an $11 million dollar verdict awarded to a man who developed mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos, after working with their products. Bondex International had refused an out of court settlement, apparently trusting that the court’s decision would be in their favor. On the contrary, the man was awarded a fair compensation from several different companies who distributed asbestos laden products without warning their customers.

The effects of asbestos contamination have won their fair share of public exposure in the last several years. While the connection that exists between asbestos and many dangerous and even fatal diseases has been the object of some obscurity in the past, modern medical science and the waning power of the asbestos industry have worked to make the truth shockingly clear. With more than 10,000 Americans affected annually by asbestos related diseases, and 2,500 dying of mesothelioma (a cancer cause by asbestos), more and more liability is coming to rest on negligent asbestos giants.

Mesothelioma is caused by dangerous asbestos fibers which were at one time present in the products manufactured by Bondex International and other companies like it. The disease has a particularly long latency period, meaning that the development of life threatening malignant tumors can take years or decades after initial exposure to asbestos to occur. This latency period along with a concerted effort to mis-represent asbestos’s danger to the public orchestrated by the asbestos industry, has postponed the legal repercussions for several decades.

In the last twenty years, however, companies like Bondex International have been held accountable for the increasing diagnoses of mesothelioma, causing many of them to topple into bankruptcy.

Bondex International, for example, recorded a loss of more than $85 million last quarter as a result of allocating $288 million to cover current and future asbestos claims. This most recent allocation of funds was not expected, and follows a decision made several years ago to set aside $190 million for the same purpose. The $190 million which was originally set aside for asbestos-related settlements has been depleted.