Asbestos Exposure
The North Country of New York encompasses six counties – Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence – along the state’s northern frontier between Lake Ontario on the west and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east. Ogdensburg in St. Lawrence County, Plattsburgh in Clinton County, and Watertown in Jefferson County are the region’s major cities. The 2000 census indicated the population of all six counties was about 422,000.
The North Country’s economy in the first half of the 20th century was based on industrial manufacturing. Scores of plants in upstate New York manufactured iron and steel, electrical components, chemicals, textiles, paper and other business and consumer goods. Workers from the North Country traveled the upstate area for jobs in regional plants operated by companies that are household names, like Bristol-Meyers in East Syracuse, General Electric in Auburn, Eastman Kodak in Rochester, Alcan in Oswego, Lockheed Martin in Owego and Revere Cooper in Rome, just to name a few.
Asbestos was commonly specified as a building material in industrial manufacturing plants. The region has a significant history of manufacturing and construction industries where fire and excessive heat was a concern. Asbestos-containing materials, therefore, were commonly used when erecting manufacturing plants.
Asbestos is an inexpensive and extremely durable, pliable and fire resistant material, which made it popular for use in construction materials. According to the U.S. EPA, because of its fiber strength and heat resistant properties, asbestos has been used for a wide range of manufactured goods and building materials. Uses include asbestos cement products, ceiling and floor tiles, roofing shingles, paper products, and friction products such as automobile clutch, brake, and transmission parts, heat-resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.
Given the type of work that occurs in chemical plants, asbestos appeared in factory buildings, lab equipment, bench tops, and safety clothing. The asbestos worked well in safeguarding against fire damage and in protecting lives from extreme heat, but exposed those same people to serious health risks such as mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma very often will take twenty or more years to manifest. By the time a diagnosis is made, this cancer is almost always at an advanced stage.
Databases that track asbestos use and identify subsequent hotspots with a higher-than-average rate of mesothelioma include New York’s North Country.
The upstate of New York, which includes the North Country, is home to the nation’s top mesothelioma treatment center, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Roswell Park is an excellent choice for treatment of asbestos cancer, including peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. Roswell Park maintains state-of-the-art equipment and employs doctors who keep themselves well informed about new treatment options for asbestos-related diseases. It was America’s first cancer center and remains the only upstate New York facility to hold the National Cancer Center designation of “comprehensive cancer center.”
Another great benefit to cancer patients in the region is the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, a division of the University of Rochester Medical Center. The Wilmot Cancer Center, through association with the leading academic medical colleges in the area, allows for consistent collaboration between medical doctors and medical scientists and brings treatments from the lab to the hospital in record time. Patients have access to new cancer drugs and therapies being tested in numerous ongoing clinical trials.
New York cancer patients have access to another University of Rochester Medical Center affiliate at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Strong provides a comprehensive range of general and highly specialized services, including treatment of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.
