Summary

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 383017
Story Slug ASBESTOS / UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (1985)
Location TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA
Format PKG
Date 03/02/1985
Archive Time 1:15:31
TRT 2:01
Video Description (FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE, THE REPORTER DR. MICHAEL BREEN IS LICENSABLE) CHEST X-RAYS, THICKNESS OF THE LINING OF THE LUNGS, NEWS CONFERENCE WITH THE STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS, STANDUP, COUPLE WALKING INTO HOME AFTER WALK, HOUSE, MAN WITH ASBESTOS SOT, FILE OF WORKERS CUTTING WITH SAW, WEARING MASKS, DUST, MAN IN LABORATORY USING MICROSCOPE, CU MICROSCOPIC FIBERS, NEWS CONFERENCE, CHEST X-RAY,
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) Three weeks ago, a radiologist in Virginia, Minnesota made a startling discovery. He found that 40% of the hundreds of X rays he looked at had changes similar to those seen here. This abnormality a thickness of the lining of the lungs called the pleura, usually occurs in only 1% of patients. The state then called in a federal expert who looked at 400 random chest X-rays done on nearby patients in Hibbing, Grand Rapids and Duluth today, at a news conference, state health officials announced the results of that study. A significant number were found to have evidence of abnormal X ray findings, including pleural thickening. 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. Jerry plant is a former asbestos worker who's been living with that disease for six years. Jerry will get winded after a short walk. What's more, he knows from watching his fellow workers that his disease tends to get worse. In the last 10 years, 45 to 50 members have died out of 300 because of asbestos. They were all asbestos related. Someone exposed to asbestos has 90 times the normal risk of lung cancer. He can also get the deadly tumor mesothelioma. If the patients in northern Minnesota have asbestosis, officials say the cause may be breathing fibers similar to asbestos that are used in making taconite. The first thing state health officials want to do, though, is to call in a world renowned asbestos expert to find out if that's the cause of the X ray changes the health department is, for now, advising Iron Range residents not to worry and not to seek medical help unless they become ill. For now, though, the cause of these lung changes, how many people have them, and the fate of those people are all unanswered questions. 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

Keywords

MINNEAPOLIS
ST. PAUL
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