Mesothelioma Incidence Across the Country

Until 1999, the U.S. Government had no specific ’cause of death’ code to track mesothelioma mortality, and incidence was reported based on cancers that were ‘thought to be’ mesothelioma. The low number in the following statistical table was determined using this premise. The higher number assumes that because of lack of a specific reporting category, the actual incidence rate was considerably higher than that reflected by government statistics. Figures were for the period of 1979 through 2001. In 1999, a specific code was assigned to mesothelioma to provide more effective tracking in the future. The following tables take into consideration only deaths from mesothelioma, and do not include any other asbestos-related diseases. When the addition of numbers due to deaths caused by asbestosis are included, rankings may be different.

More on the epidemiology of mesothelioma.