Mesothelioma

"We have no way of assessing environmental exposure.

Our numbers are based on cases as they are diagnosed or by death certificates." Brown said statistics for Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties are combined because of the counties' small populations.

Between 1999 and 2003, nine cases were reported, and most recently, between 2000 and 2004, seven cases were reported, she said.

"The cases are dwindling and this is to be expected because employers have gotten better at protecting people from occupational exposure," she said.

She said the numbers for Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties are too small to draw any conclusions or make any comparisons with more populous areas.

Unlike smoking and lung cancer, Brown said, there is no straight correlation between exposure to asbestos and development of "We can't tell you for sure what your risk is for developing cancer from exposure to asbestos," she said.

"EPA measures risks of exposure but we can't translate that into expected cases of Read more...