Mesothelioma, an asbestos cancer, is a well-known public health risk. But when people think of asbestos exposure, artificial sources like insulation or fireproofing in buildings and vehicles comes to mind.

But asbestos is naturally-occurring mineral, and some people can suffer from mesothelioma from wild exposures.

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral, made of tiny glass-like fibers. This structure makes asbestos functionally fireproof and an exceptional insulator — even under industrial conditions.

Humans have uses asbestos since antiquity. In Europe, prehistoric pottery has been found with asbestos reinforcement.

The material was sporadically used throughout history as a novelty for its fireproof properties. Kings would have tablecloths fashioned from asbestos fibers, and impress guests by cleaning the cloths by throwing them into fire.

But during the Industrial Revolution, asbestos first came into widespread use due to its useful properties. However, by the end of the 19th century, the medical community had already begun to notice a link between mesothelioma and asbestos exposure.

Asbestos disease includes a number of asbestos cancers, including mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the ribcage. It has a dismal survival rate.

The majority of patients die from asbestos within a few years of their diagnosis, with a handful surviving more long-term with intensive treatment. Mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer, and occurs almost exclusively in patients who were exposed to asbestos.

In fact, record-breaking lawsuit awards have created precedents that asbestos in the workplace is almost certainly the cause of most cases of mesothelioma.

However, a few areas of Nevada may be a special case. According to new research published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, there was an unusually high rate of mesothelioma in Clarke and Nye Counties in Nevada.

Normally, mesothelioma strikes at a much higher rate in males over 55 years of age. This is because men over 55 were most likely to work in asbestos-related industries.

Though men were still the leading population for mesothelioma in these Nevada counties, the ratio was not as extreme as it usually was, with an unusually high percentage of women and younger men suffering from mesothelioma.

Researchers concluded that in these parts of Nevada, asbestos and related minerals occurred in large amounts near the earth’s surface, causing naturally-occurring asbestos exposures.

While in Nevada asbestos exposure can occur naturally, the vast majority of cases of mesothelioma can be linked to workplace asbestos exposures. Since it can take decades between exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma, many asbestos lawsuits involve asbestos exposures from decades ago, when the risks of mesothelioma were known, but the material was not yet banned.

In fact, many asbestos lawsuits are being filed by shipyard workers that build warships for World War II and the Korean War. Asbestos lawsuits tend to seek compensation for medical costs, wrongful death, and other costs linked to mesothelioma.