Illinois Asbestos Injuries: Geographical Statistics

Illinois is ranked 6th in the nation for mesothelioma deaths, with an age-adjusted death rate of 13.39 deaths per million. Illinois residents likely suffer such high rates of mesothelioma, asbestosis and asbestos-based injuries due to the state’s broad economic base built on manufacturing, agriculture, coal, petroleum, power generation and timber.

More than 60 Illinois-based businesses, factories and institutions have been named as defendants in asbestos-injury lawsuits, including the Great Lakes Naval Base, Amoco, Shell, Mobil, Citgo and Standard Oil.

Illinois Residents Fare Poorly In National Statistics

Numerous studies and statistical data show that Illinois residents fare poorly when it comes to asbestos-related injuries. According to a study published by the National Center for Health Statistics, Illinois ranked 17th in the nation for mesothelioma mortality rate during 1999 to 2005. In that time period, over 1,700 Illinois residents died of asbestos-related injuries from 1999 to 2005; nearly 900 of those deaths were the result of malignant mesothelioma.

Statistical data published in the International Journal of Occupational Environmental Health in 2006 ranked Illinois’s Lake and Rock Island counties among the top 20 counties in the United States with the highest malignant mesothelioma rates.

Tons Of Asbestos Imported To Illinois Over 40-Year Period

While there are no naturally-occurring asbestos formations in Illinois, more than 372,500 tons of asbestos–containing vermiculite were shipped from a Montana mine to approximately 30 locations throughout the state from 1948 to 1990. Chicago, Girard, Peoria, Quincy and Calumet City are just a few of the cities with facilities that processed the asbestos-tainted vermiculite.

That asbestos was used in power plants, oil refineries, a naval base and other industrial facilities throughout the state. However, two facilities contain dangerously high levels of asbestos:

W.R. Grace, Chicago. The former W.R. Grace & Company had a facility in West Chicago which from 1974 to 1996 processed more than 273,000 tons of the asbestos from the Montana mine. The Grace facility is now an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Site after the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry reported that asbestos was found in the soil surrounding the site.
Johns-Manville, Waukegan. The 150-acre Johns-Manville disposal site in Waukegan, Illinois – which borders both Lake Michigan and Illinois Beach State Park – contains approximately three million cubic yards of waste water sludge containing asbestos and other toxins. Asbestos hazards remain a concern there.

Asbestos Linked To Ovarian Cancer In Illinois

Asbestos exposure has been linked to cases of ovarian cancer in Illinois. According to reports from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health, women exposed to asbestos were about one-and-three-quarter times more likely to develop ovarian cancer as those who were not. Researchers say that asbestos exposure may have occurred when women worked directly with asbestos products or when they washed their husband’s asbestos-tainted clothing.