Scientists Mull Recent Research
By ERICKA SCHENCK SMITH of the Missoulian State Bureau
June 26, 2002
MISSOULA - New asbestos research presented at a two-day conference at the University of Montana centered on how tiny, javelin-shaped fibers of asbestos and other minerals cause disease and why some fibers seem to be more toxic than others. "There's a rekindled interest by a lot of scientists who really want to understand... the mechanisms of asbestos-related diseases," said Andrij Holian, director of UM's Center for Environmental Health Sciences.
The center, currently working on four asbestos-related research projects, sponsored the conference. That interest was sparked mainly by the hundreds of people in Libby who have asbestos-related illnesses linked to the former W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine there. Tremolite asbestos and other minerals were contaminants of the vermiculite ore. Before Libby came to the attention of the national media in 1999, asbestos disease had only been seen in people who either worked with asbestos or lived with someone who did, said Paul Peronard, who has been leading U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emergency cleanup in the town.
In Libby, however, hundreds of people with no connection to the vermiculite mine have been diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses. "It knocks the dogma associated with asbestos disease on its ass," Peronard said. Peronard said he hopes researchers will take what they've learned in Libby to the next level, applying it not just to asbestos, but to other long, thin mineral fibers that can cause disease, both in the workplace and in the environment. Holian said he, too, expects new research to help develop treatments not only for people with asbestos-related diseases, but also diseases caused by exposure to other minerals and other chronic respiratory illnesses. "This sounds like an asbestos-only club, but it really isn't," Holian said. The conference also brought together researchers from many different fields, approaching the asbestos problem from medical, geological, chemical and governmental approaches. "One thing that I think this did very well was to educate a diverse group of individuals," Holian said. Some of the new research presented at the conference pinpointed a handful of genes that may make people more susceptible to asbestos-related diseases - and took the spotlight off some that were suspected but now don't appear to make much difference.
How genetics and the environment work together to make people susceptible to disease is at the forefront of scientific research into complex diseases like those caused by asbestos, said Ken Olden, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "The environment's playing a major role, and we won't solve the problem until we take a look at that," Olden said. Other research centered around how the body reacts to asbestos fibers and why some fibers appear to be more likely to cause disease. Researchers also looked at how the body's immune response might also play a role in how sick people will become. Holian said he plans to bring researchers back in about two years - and he expects it will be an even bigger conference. "People are not going to go back to their various labs and do business as usual," he said. He added, "There will be more advances."