Mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in North Carolina

Documented asbestos exposure in North Carolina

We list only sites where asbestos is documented by a government agency or published research. Many other workplaces in North Carolina likely used asbestos-containing insulation and equipment, but we do not name a site unless we can point to a record.

Historic anthophyllite asbestos mines in the western mountains

The U.S. Geological Survey's 2005 map of the eastern United States lists anthophyllite asbestos mining in North Carolina, and a 2006 state screening built on it. The North Carolina Division of Waste Management, working with U.S. EPA Region 4 and the state Division of Public Health, screened 50 sites: 27 past-producing mines, 9 prospects, and 13 natural occurrences (one site was not classified). By the state's table, 20 are in Jackson County, 7 each in Macon, Transylvania, and Yancey counties, 4 in Avery, 3 in Mitchell, and 1 each in Caldwell and Ashe. The report says asbestos was mined in North Carolina as late as 1977, that all of the state's production was anthophyllite, and that it went into pipe insulation, acid filters, fireproofing, roofing shingles, floor tile, and wallboard. It also describes a processing plant built around 1927 in the Avery County town of Minneapolis for ore from the nearby Frank mine.

Naturally occurring asbestos and new construction

The asbestos in western North Carolina sits in ultramafic rock bodies that run in a band through the mountains from Virginia to Georgia. The 2006 screening found residential land use near 18 of the 50 sites and development within 200 feet of 17, and warned that hundreds of smaller rock bodies are not yet mapped, so construction is increasingly likely to run into one. The state Division of Public Health says naturally occurring asbestos is not a health risk if it is left undisturbed, and lists activities that can release fibers, including grading and excavating, drilling into rock, leaf blowing on bare soil that contains it, and hammering or sifting while gem hunting. Its advice is to leave it in place, wet the ground to limit dust, and cover it with clean soil and plants.

North Carolina filing deadlines

North Carolina allows three years for personal injury (G.S. 1-52(16)). The statute says the claim does not accrue until bodily harm becomes apparent, or ought reasonably to have become apparent, to the injured person. In Wilder v. Amatex Corp. (1985), an asbestosis case, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that for a disease claim the first injury occurs when the disease is diagnosed, so the three years ran from the diagnosis, and it held that the ten-year limit in an earlier version of the law did not apply to claims arising from disease. The current statute also has a ten-year outer limit; how it applies to a particular disease claim is a question for a North Carolina lawyer. Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years, counted from the date of death (G.S. 1-53(4)), and that statute bars a death claim if the person would have been barred from suing had they lived.

Deadlines and discovery rules change and depend on the facts. Confirm them with a lawyer licensed in North Carolina. Compare other states in our national table.

Where North Carolina cases are heard

In North Carolina, larger civil injury and wrongful death lawsuits are usually filed in the state's Superior Court. Federal district courts in North Carolina can also hear some cases, for example when the people and companies involved are from different states. Which court, and which county, a case belongs in depends on where exposure happened and where the companies involved are based, and a lawyer makes that call. The state's court system is at North Carolina Judicial Branch.

Mesothelioma in North Carolina by the numbers

CDC's U.S. Cancer Statistics, queried on CDC WONDER, count 284 mesothelioma deaths among North Carolina residents from 2019 to 2023. That is an age-adjusted rate of 4.5 deaths per million people per year (95% confidence interval 3.9 to 5.0), ranked 45 of the 50 states and DC from highest to lowest. It is below the national rate of 5.6, beyond the statistical margin of error.

For new diagnoses, CDC WONDER reports 396 cases in North Carolina from 2018 to 2022, an age-adjusted incidence rate of 6.4 per million per year (rank 38).

An older NIOSH surveillance report, which counts every death certificate that mentions mesothelioma for people age 15 and over, recorded 325 such deaths in North Carolina from 1999 to 2004, an age-adjusted rate of 8.56 per million (rank 44). The two systems count differently, so compare each one only with itself.

These figures are counted by where people lived when they were diagnosed or died, not where they were exposed. See how North Carolina compares with every state on our statistics by state page.

Treatment in North Carolina

NCI lists 3 designated cancer centers in North Carolina that see patients:

VA health care in North Carolina

Veterans with asbestos-related illness can get care through VA. These VA health care systems serve North Carolina; each system's page lists its medical centers and clinics:

• VA Asheville health care
• VA Salisbury health care
• VA Durham health care
• VA Fayetteville Coastal health care

For benefits, see veterans and VA benefits or our veteran claim help form.

Workers' compensation

Work-related illness may fall under North Carolina Industrial Commission. Each state's system has its own notice and filing deadlines. NCI notes that federal civilian employees and longshore and harbor workers have separate federal programs through the U.S. Department of Labor.

Other states

Nearby state guides: Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia. See all state guides.