During the 1970s, hundreds of men worked in Sarnia’s chemical industry in Ontario, Canada which thrived on asbestos during that time. It is here where these workers were regularly exposed to asbestos and, as a result of years of exposure, their lungs are now marked with pleural plaques, often predictors of asbestos-related diseases.

Each year, many of these men travel to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, ON, Canada hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. It is here where radiologists and doctors are conducting an early mesothelioma and lung cancer diagnosis study. Researchers hope to predict the diseases that are sometimes linked to pleural plaques. Dr. Heidi Roberts, the principal investigator, says a person who is diagnosed early may be saved using surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Nearly all of the study’s 766 participants are from Sarnia. So far, researchers have detected five cases of mesothelioma and two cases of lung cancer. The men with mesothelioma have since died.

One of the study’s participants, Bill Trenouth, has no idea how he was exposed to the dangerous material. And while most of the other men are in there 70’s and 80’s, Trenouth is only 52 and 7 years away from retirement. Yet, he is uncertain that he will live to see retirement or his children grow older.