New Lung Disease Report Shows Nationwide Increases in Mesothelioma, Asbestosis Deaths

Women now account for nearly 20 percent of all mesothelioma deaths, the report claims

If you live in California, are a woman, or at some point worked at an elementary school, the probability that you will die from mesothelioma has increased significantly over the past 10 years, according to figures released recently by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

According to data published recently by NIOSH's Division of Respiratory Disease Studies in its Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance Report 2002, nearly 20 percent of mesothelioma deaths that occurred nationwide in the last year of the 20th …