The federal government did not begin tracking mesothelioma as a cause of death until 1999. This resulted in dramatic underestimates of true mesothelioma mortality rates. When the federal government began tracking mesothelioma as a cause of death, the mortality rate more than doubled, from 935 deaths in 1998, to 2343 in 1999.
Mesothelioma is associated with asbestos exposure, and it has a latency period ranging from 10 to 40 years.       Â
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