Summary

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 383089
Story Slug RANGE LUNGS / HEALTH EFFECTS (1985)
Location MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Format PKG
Date 03/02/1985
Archive Time 1:04:56
TRT 1:34
Video Description (FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE, THE REPORTER DR MICHAEL BREEN IS LICENSABLE) CU CHEST X-RAY, LINING OF LUNG IS THICKENED, STANDUP, NEWS CONFERENCE, COUPLE WALKING INTO HOUSE, HOME, SOT, WORKERS WEARING MASKS WHILE CUTTING MATERIAL, MINING OPERATION FILE, N/C
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) These are the x-ray changes that have concerned health officials The lining of the lung, called the pleura, is thickened Officials today said they don't know the conditions of the patients whose chest X-rays are abnormal They also stress that there are several different diseases that could be causing that abnormality, but there's one illness they fear more than any other That illness is asbestosis The reason we're obviously concerned, and the reason that we're proceeding so aggressively on this is that this could be associated with asbestos exposure, and asbestos exposure confers relatively large risk of a variety of diseases Gerald plant is not from the Iron Range, but he is a victim of one of those diseases Plant has asbestosis He's easily short of breath The former asbestos worker has seen that fiber kill many of his colleagues in the last 10 years, 45 to 50 members have died out of 300 because of asbestos They were all asbestos related an asbestos worker who smokes has 90 times the normal risk of lung cancer He's also at risk for another deadly tumor called a mesothelioma Whether Iron Range residents also face those risks will take more study One key question is whether the X ray changes now being seen are caused by the asbestos, like fiber used to produce taconite, besides what causes those changes Officials want to know how many normal people have those changes, and most important, what's the fate of an affected patient? Dr Michael Breen, Channel Five, Eyewitness News, TAG: MNH
Not everything listed in the CONUS Archive is necessarily licensable Reporter sound/image is not licensable