Iowa Asbestos Sites

Iowa is a Midwest state that has had industries grow around its primary economic driver, which is agriculture. The primary job sites where asbestos exposure has occurred for workers are probably the power plants, built to bring electricity to an agrarian population. Some were built by a state authority, a few by municipalities and some by electrical cooperatives which developed in agrarian regions of the Midwest in the absence of government utilities.

Industries that were involved in meat packing and packaging prepared foods developed to process the products of Iowa farmers. Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Clinton all have food processing plants. Other factories produced livestock feed and chemicals that are used as fertilizer. Many of them used asbestos in their production lines.

Uses of Asbestos in Iowa

The list of job sites below consists of locations where hazardous asbestos exposure may have impacted employees. Two facts are applicable to all of them: they were built more than thirty years ago and probably use heat in their factory processing.  Heat is a key to the presence of asbestos because in its natural form asbestos is an excellent form of insulation. In factories it was used to coat pipes and boilers in order to control heat in the area.

Asbestos Health Risks

When asbestos begins to disintegrate or is disturbed in some fashion it will give off tiny asbestos fibers that float in the air. When those fibers are inhaled they can cause serious health problems. The two most serious are asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs that inhibits breathing and gets progressively worse; and mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer that impacts the lining around the lungs, the heart and the abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma can take twenty years or more to develop after the asbestos is inhaled, which is why people are still impacted by the disease twenty years after asbestos use was effectively banned in this country.

Iowa Mortality Rates from Asbestos Exposure

The impact of asbestosis and mesothelioma over the last twenty years of the twentieth century was measured in a study released in 2004. It shows that Iowa registered 91 deaths from asbestosis during that period, along with somewhere between 457 to 758 deaths from mesothelioma. 

The federal government has tracked mesothelioma deaths since 1999. Their data shows that between 1999 and the end of 2004 there were 151 deaths due to mesothelioma cancer.  Despite the fact that asbestos is no longer in use as an industrial or commercial product component, the fatalities from exposure to asbestos continue. If you or a family member worked in any one of the locations listed above you should consult with your doctor about the impact of asbestos exposure. If you have health problems as a result of asbestos exposure, consult an experienced Iowa mesothelioma lawyer about your rights to compensation.

Cancer Treatment in Iowa

The National Cancer Institute has designate sixty four cancer treatment facilities as 'cancer control centers' which means they are eligible for federal grants to further cancer treatment development. Forty one of those facilities are designated 'comprehensive cancer care centers' which means that they are involved in both research and treatment. There is none in Iowa but they are in states all around Iowa:

Eppley Cancer Center
University of Nebraska Medical Center
600 South 42nd Street 
Omaha, Nebraska 68198-6805 
Tel: (402) 559-4238 
Fax: (402) 559-4652

Siteman Cancer Center
Washington University School of Medicine
660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8109 
St. Louis, Missouri 63110 
Tel: (314) 362-8020 
Fax: (314) 454-1898

Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Northwestern University
303 E. Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Tel: (312) 908-5250
Fax: (312) 908-1372

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center 
Mayo Clinic Rochester
200 First Street, S.W. 
Rochester, Minnesota 55905 
Tel: (507) 266-4997 
Fax: (507) 284-1544

In-state Iowa options include:

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of Iowa
5970Z JPP
Iowa City IA 52242-1002
Tel: 319-353-8620
FAX: 319-353-8988
Email: Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center: University of Iowa Health Care