"Iron Range miners show higher than expected rates of cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and a rare cancer known as mesothelioma — but it's not clear if taconite ore is what's making them sick.

Those are the conclusions from the final report of a six-year University of Minnesota study into the health of Iron Range miners released Monday.

For decades, some miners have wondered if microscopic needle-like fibers found in the dust of crushed taconite iron ore can lodge into workers' lungs and cause respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs that's killed 80 former mine workers on the Iron Range."

Dan Kraker reports for Minnesota Public Radio December 1, 2014. [2]