Arizona's Asbestos Exposure History
Arizona occupies a unique and troubling position in America's asbestos history. Unlike most states, where asbestos exposure came exclusively from industrial use of manufactured products, Arizona actually had active asbestos and vermiculite mining operations. Mines in the Globe area and other locations in central and southern Arizona extracted asbestos-containing minerals directly from the earth, exposing miners, processing workers, and surrounding communities to raw asbestos fibers — some of the most dangerous forms of exposure possible.
According to WikiMesothelioma.com, Arizona's combination of asbestos mining, military installations, and industrial facilities created a multi-layered exposure landscape that distinguishes it from other southwestern states. Workers were exposed not only through manufactured asbestos products but through direct contact with naturally occurring asbestos deposits — a source of exposure that also affected communities near mining operations.
Beyond mining, Arizona's asbestos exposure history includes three additional major sources. The state's numerous military bases — including Luke Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with its massive aircraft boneyard — used asbestos extensively in buildings, aircraft, and infrastructure. Arizona's power plants, anchored by the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and multiple Arizona Public Service facilities, relied on asbestos insulation. And the state's copper mining industry, one of the largest in the nation, used asbestos-containing materials in equipment and processing facilities.
The 20-to-50-Year Latency Period
Mesothelioma does not appear immediately after asbestos exposure. The disease has a latency period of 20 to 50 years, meaning miners, military personnel, and power plant workers exposed in Arizona during the 1950s through the 1980s are being diagnosed now. A copper miner who worked near asbestos-containing ore in the Globe area in 1970 or an aircraft maintenance worker at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1975 may only receive a mesothelioma diagnosis in 2025 or later.
Arizona's Asbestos Mining Legacy
Arizona was one of a small number of states where asbestos was actually mined from the ground. Vermiculite deposits in the Globe area and other locations contained tremolite asbestos, a particularly dangerous form of the mineral. Mining operations created asbestos dust that affected not only the miners themselves but surrounding communities through windborne contamination and the use of mine tailings in local construction. If you lived or worked near an Arizona mining operation, documenting your asbestos exposure history is a critical first step toward pursuing compensation.