Arizona Workers Exposed To Asbestos

October 4, 2006 - In a press released issued in late September, the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have warned former workers at two Arizona vermiculite plants that they were exposed to asbestos on-the-job and may be at increased risk for developing asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Both plants processed vermiculite from the W.R. Grace mines in Libby, Montana.  The first, Ari-Zonolite in Glendale, operated from 1951 to 1964.  The second location, W.R. Grace/Solomon’s Mines in Phoenix, processed the hazardous material from 1964 until 1992.  That plant is still open, according to the release, but now processes vermiculite from “safer” sources.

Twenty-eight evaluations have been conducted at W.R. Grace sites around the country.  Officials report that the findings at the two Arizona facilities are quite consistent with those in other sites that processed the Libby vermiculite.  While the report stresses that those at highest risk for developing asbestos-related diseases are former workers, it also points out that family members of former workers and those who lived in the community during the years the plants were in operation are also at risk. Officials are also concerned as to the former practice of bringing “waste rock” home from the plants and using them in gardens and play areas.  Such practices may have exposed children to asbestos as well.

Those currently living near the still operational Phoenix plant are not at risk, the press release states.