Mesothelioma

The department said last month it will study whether the deaths are linked to asbestos or asbestos-like fibers in iron ore dust, and whether exposure limits are needed.

A 2003 study, faulted by mine workers and others, said the cause probably was commercial asbestos used in taconite-plant furnaces and other mining equipment.

While at least 52 men have died, more than 200 miners have filed workers' compensation claims alleging that working in the taconite mines caused their lung-scarring asbestosis and other lung ailments.

Many live with the fear that the fibers and fragments scarring their lungs will someday trigger the latest deadly case of "Hopefully it never blossoms," Karl Oberstar Jr., 55, said of his asbestosis, which was detected in a screening arranged by his union in the late 1990s.

He worked 31 years as a millwright and mechanic for LTV Steel Mining Co.

in Hoyt Lakes.

Oberstar remembers dumping bags of dusty asbestos into "a big mixing bowl" while making a fire-resistant paste to seal furnaces.

"You could just see the particles everywhere," he said.

"The air never seemed clear." Highlighting the fickleness of asbestos exposure, or perhaps of fate, Oberstar's father, ...

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