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Study looks into possible cancer link with asbestos 

Neighbors of two plants that made products containing asbestos were about 50 percent more likely to get lung cancer than residents living elsewhere in the state, a new study indicated.

Using data from the U.S. census and the Utah Cancer Registry, a Utah Department of Health study identified about 70,000 people who lived in the 2-mile radius around both vermiculite processing plants and traced their cancer incidence over 28 years.

The number of cases of respiratory cancer in the area was significantly higher than other areas of the state, but cases of the specific cancer directly linked to asbestos -- mesothelioma -- were significantly lower, said Wayne Ball, lead epidemiologist with the state Department of Health. . . .

Other factors, like smoking, could have also caused the cancers, Ball said.

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