1260 Mayo (MMC 807)
420 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Home >News : Western Mineral Products Asbestos Study

Three-Year Asbestos Study Enters Final Phase

Waste rock at the former Western Mineral Products site. Grains of
pure asbestos can be seen in the circled areas.
(Image courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Health)

Professor Bruce Alexander is leading the final stages of a ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)-funded study which seeks to determine what level of exposure to asbestos from the former Western Mineral Products facility, located at 1720 Madison St. NE in Minneapolis, may result in adverse health effects for members of the surrounding community.

The neighborhood exposure occurred via asbestos contaminated ore that was processed from 1938 to 1989 to make insulation and other building materials. The waste rock from this process was deposited outside the plant. Residents carted away the “crush rock” to be used as a gravel substitute in yards, gardens, and driveways, and local children would play on and around the waste piles.

Alexander's research team is now finishing up the medical screening portion of the study (several hundred current and former neighborhood residents were given chest x-rays and breathing tests to determine changes in lung health in addition to filling out a survey to determine past exposures to asbestos) and will begin evaluating medical and exposure data early next year. The team hopes to determine the extent to which these non-occupational exposures to asbestos in contaminated ore are associated with adverse health effects.

The final goals of the study will be to provide important health information to residents of the affected community, and to answer broader scientific questions about the potential dangers of low-level asbestos exposure within a community setting.

>>Read more about the Western Mineral Products hazardous waste site at the Minnesota Department of Health