Asbestos researchers are looking for people who went to high school in Libby between 1950 and 1990 and then moved away.
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease has begun a five-year, $4.8 million study into the effects of low-level childhood exposure to asbestos. Researchers also will compare the effects of asbestos in the former Libby residents, called amphibole asbestos, to other forms of asbestos.
Researchers also will examine whether there is a relationship between autoimmunie disorders and asbestos exposure.
Libby is the deadliest Superfund site in the nation’s history. At least 400 people have died of asbestos-related illnesses from a vermiculite mine that closed in 1990.
The study is funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control.