The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency in Atlanta, Georgia, recently updated a report on a review of death certificate data from 1979 to 1998 for the Libby, Montana, community. This fact sheet provides highlights of that report.
In December 2000, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in cooperation with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (MDPHHS), released an analysis of mortality in Libby, Montana, for the twenty-year period encompassing 1979 to 1998.
This review of death certificate data was performed to develop accurate information about deaths potentially associated with asbestos exposure in Libby.
After releasing the mortality report, death certificate data inadvertently omitted from the analysis was discovered. Therefore, ATSDR and MDPHHS conducted another search for eligible decedents using the Montana Vital Statistics database.
ATSDR reviewed all death certificates for Libby residents who died between 1979 and 1998, and compared the number of deaths from asbestos-related causes to similar deaths across Montana and the United States.
The new report is a health consultation entitled "Mortality in Libby, Montana (1979 - 1998)" and was released Aug. 8, 2002.
Lincoln County Library
406-293-2778
220 W. 6th Street
Libby, Montana 59923
Steve Dearwent, health consultation author, 1-888-422-8737;
Dan Strausbaugh, ATSDR Montana representative, (406) 457-5007;
Maria Teran-MacIver, ATSDR community involvement specialist, 404-498-1754.
This page last updated on October 29, 2008