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Veteran Science Writer Defends Asbestos Victims’ Rights in the New York Times

asbestos industry rebuttalThe community of asbestos victims’ advocates although international in scope is a relatively small one.  Most asbestos victims’ advocates are family members of asbestos victims or those of us involved in meeting their legal or medical needs. As a result most of what is written about asbestos and asbestos victims appears in publications and/or websites that are offshoots of these groups.

That’s why it is worth noting when someone goes to bat for asbestos victims in an important major media outlet like the New York Times.  Especially when that someone is a national science writer on environmental health hazards who has focused on asbestos.

The New York Times recently published an important letter about asbestos written by Paul Brodeur, an investigative science writer and author.  It appeared both in the paper’s internet and print editions.

In the letter, Brodeur states, “An estimated 10,000 Americans are dying of asbestos disease each year; before the asbestos tragedy has run its course, an estimated 500,000 Americans will have died of the disease.”

Brodeur is a former staff writer for The New Yorker magazine where the zeal for fact-checking is legendary.  So it is reasonable to presume scientific accuracy in Brodeur’s work.  No friend of industries that risk people’s lives for profit, Brodeur  also exposed the dangers of household detergents, the depletion of the ozone layer and electromagnetic radiation from power lines when these issues emerged during the 1970s and 1980s.

But a major focus of his environmental hazard reporting has been on asbestos. Over a twenty-year period, he researched and wrote four books about asbestos:

  • Asbestos & Enzymes (1972)
  • Expendable Americans (1974)
  • The Asbestos Hazard (1980)
  • Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial (1985)

So recently, when an asbestos industry supporter disparaged asbestos victims in a New York Times op ed, Brodeur felt compelled to write a rebuttal.

In his letter, he says the industry supporter “makes light of a claimant’s assertion that she was subjected to asbestos exposure because she lived in a house with relatives who worked with asbestos, but numerous studies link household exposure (often called “bystander exposure”) with asbestos disease.”

He further cites the investigation by Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, former director of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Environmental Sciences Laboratory, and Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond, former vice president for epidemiology and statistics of the American Cancer Society, “… who showed that nonsmoking asbestos workers died of lung cancer seven times more often than people in the general population, and whose calculations suggested that asbestos workers who smoked had more than 90 times the risk of dying of lung cancer as men who neither worked with asbestos nor smoked.”

 

New Tool Invented To Detect Airborne Asbestos Exposure

asbestos exposureWhen it comes to asbestos exposure, a little bit goes a long way in a very bad way.  It takes only a tiny spec of asbestos fiber too small to be seen by the human eye to cause a lethal amount of asbestos exposure if regularly inhaled into the lungs over time.  Then it takes decades for symptoms of mesothelioma, the fatal lung disease caused by asbestos exposure, to emerge.  And by the time it is diagnosed, it is usually too late.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful then to have a way to instantly test an environment for the presence of asbestos before any harmful asbestos exposure takes place?  It could potentially save the lives of thousands of construction workers, firefighters, factory employees, home repair contractors and DIY home renovators. And maybe eventually decrease the number of new mesothelioma cases diagnosed in the United States each year from its current 3000 to a much lower rate.

Maybe this will be possible with a new tool invented in a university laboratory in England that promises to detect minute asbestos particles in an indoor environment.

As reported in a Canadian business journal, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have developed a new tool to detect airborne asbestos on any worksite without the need to send air samples to a laboratory for testing.

The sensor, which uses lasers and magnets to identify asbestos particles, reportedly will be commercially available next year under the trade name Asbestos Alert.

Research on the project began over 20 years ago as an effort to identify airborne biological particles such as spores and fungi. Someone suggested to the researchers that they try using the device to test for asbestos fibers in the air as well.

The Hertfordshire team produced a half-dozen working prototypes that were sent to various construction sites for real world testing by companies specializing in asbestos removal. The final working design will be small enough to be portable to any site.

“When the machine alerts the user with an audible or visual signal, it’s 99 per cent certain that the air around you contains asbestos,” said researcher Paul Kaye, a professor at the Center for Atmospheric and Instrumentation Research at the University of Hertfordshire, “At that point, the worker can choose to either put on a mask or pack up the tools and leave the work area. I know which one I’d do.”

9/11 Clean-up Workers Exposed to Asbestos Contamination Fear Losing Health Benefits

asbestos exposureThe dangers of asbestos contamination were well-documented long before terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001.

But immediately afterward, a number of federal and state safeguards for cleaning up hazardous materials were waived because of the state of emergency, according to a new article just published in the suburban New York newspaper Newsday.

After the Twin Towers fell, more than 2,300 clean-up workers were called in to remove debris including the toxic dust blown into surrounding buildings. Many now have developed health problems. Interviews with almost 2,000 out of the 2,332 known Ground Zero asbestos workers have revealed that hundreds weren’t properly equipped.

During that chaotic time, under pressure to work swiftly, safety shortcuts were taken exposing workers to asbestos contamination, the article states.

“People initially were using asbestos masks, but they got clogged so fast,” one worker told a reporter.

Former workers further told Newsday that they were assured it was safe to remove their masks. They ate food donated by local restaurants unaware of settling dust causing asbestos contamination to their meals.  They also changed into their street clothes unaware that they were also contaminated.

Unlike emergency responders, some clean-up crews spent years working in the area and the longer exposure intensified the asbestos contamination health risks.

And while Ground Zero asbestos-removal crews are now at risk of developing mesothelioma and other cancers, there’s no guarantee they’ll have their future medical bills covered.

Mesothelioma, usually diagnosed decades after asbestos contamination, could emerge long after the free, federally funded World Trade Center health program runs out of money in 2016.

Two years ago, the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund was reactivated to help cover economic losses and out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred by workers, survivors and victims’ relatives. But that fund must pay out all of nearly $2.8 billion by 2017, officials said. After then, it’s uncertain whether Congress will renew funding for either program.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the lead agency overseeing worker safety at Ground Zero, denies that asbestos workers were ignored.

“OSHA disputes any characterization that it neglected any group of workers, including non-English-speaking workers, during 9/11 recovery operations or at any other time,” Edmund Fitzgerald, an OSHA spokesman, said in a statement.

We at Kazan Law salute these loyal patriotic workers who were put in harm’s way to do work so crucial to the nation’s recovery from that horrific day.  The least we as a country can do is to make sure they have continued medical monitoring for asbestos and other work-related disease for the rest of their lives, and that provision be made to further compensate those who are unfortunate enough to develop disabling or fatal diseases, no matter how long from now that might occur.

Asbestos Exposure Continues to be a Danger

asbestos exposure Asbestos exposure still persists as a health threat.  Not just in third world countries with lax rules for hazardous materials but also in highly regulated countries like the United States and Canada.  Those of us involved in asbestos victims’ advocacy are so acutely aware of the continued pervasiveness of asbestos exposure that it always comes as kind of a shock when people seem oblivious to it.

But still I was very surprised when I came across this opening sentence in a recent scientific article about  asbestos exposure:  Asbestos describes a group of naturally occurring silicate mineral fibers that were frequently used in industry during the 20th century due to their desirable flame retardant and tensile properties.

Although the article goes on to clarify that asbestos exposure continues and “the burden of disease is considerable,” the opening sentence sets a misleading tone that unfortunately all too many people hold to be the truth.  In my decades of experience as an asbestos litigation attorney, I continue to be amazed by how the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that asbestos exposure is a thing of the past. This is certainly not the case.

According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, asbestos in the US today is still used in

The assumption that asbestos is now mostly a historical problem affecting only people who worked in construction and other industrial trades is a dangerous one to make.  According to some estimates the global trade in asbestos may have increased by as much as 20 percent last year with global exports said to have increased from 1,081,885 tons in 2011 to 1,327,592 tons in 2012. Russia is said to now be the world’s leading exporter of asbestos.

Although asbestos becomes dangerous only when disturbed or damaged, it is naive to presume that the products it is currently approved for use in here in the U.S. will remain intact and never break down.  When asbestos breaks down, bad things happen.  Dust and fibers released can find their way into the lungs if inhaled.  The resulting damage can take decades to emerge.  When it does emerge as mesothelioma it is a death sentence.  In the future we may see more cases of mesothelioma in people who were exposed without their knowledge and without working in occupations typically associated with asbestos-related diseases.

“Safe” Cigarette Filters Found to Have Contained Deadly Asbestos Fibers

asbestos fibers cigarettesMost mesothelioma victims unknowingly inhaled deadly asbestos fibers into their lungs on their jobs, typically through materials used for building construction or auto parts.  Another large group of mesothelioma victims are family members who breathed in those asbestos fibers from clothing and other asbestos dust-covered items those who worked with asbestos brought into the home.

Now a new group of mesothelioma victims has emerged – people who smoked Kent cigarettes during the 1950s. Mesothelioma, a lethal lung disease, typically takes decades to produce symptoms signifying its malignant presence.

Kent cigarettes, produced by Lorillard Tobacco, had filters packed with deadly asbestos fibers. This was a selling point for the cigarettes touted as a safer alternative to other cigarettes by the company, according to a new article by FairWarning.org, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit investigative news organization focused on public health and safety issues, and published in the consumer advocate magazine Mother Jones.

“It’s hard to think of anything more reckless than adding a deadly carcinogen to a product that already causes cancer—and then bragging about the health benefits. Yet that’s precisely what Lorillard Tobacco did 60 years ago when it introduced Kent cigarettes, whose patented ‘Micronite” filter contained a particularly virulent form of asbestos,” the article states.

Lorillard allegedly added the filters to the cigarettes as a marketing gimmick, according to the article, to  relieve consumers’ fears of the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine and keep them from quitting.  The harmful effects of smoking had just started to become public knowledge at that time.

The health benefits of the asbestos filter would prove false, but it  avoided the potential loss of millions of customers, according to the article.

Although it was already known that asbestos caused lung disease in miners and plant workers, the cigarette company reportedly banked on the reputation of asbestos as an effective filter material. It contracted with Hollingsworth & Vose to supply asbestos for the cigarette filter it called Micronite.

“What is ‘Micronite’?” one of its ads asked. “It’s a pure, dust-free, completely harmless material that is so safe, so effective, it actually is used to help filter the air in operating rooms of leading hospitals.”

Now six decades later, both companies face numerous lawsuits from former workers in its factories as well as former smokers who say they inhaled the asbestos fibers when they smoked. The company denies that enough asbestos fibers escaped from the filter to cause mesothelioma in smokers. But last month a Florida jury awarded $3.5 million in damages to a former Kent smoker with mesothelioma. In addition, Lorillard, based in Greensboro, NC, settled 90 cases in the last two years and has 60 more cases pending, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

If you’re a former Kent smoker with mesothelioma, please keep in mind that Kazan Law has a particular expertise in handling these types of cases and can handle them nationwide.

Mesothelioma Rates Double for Firefighters According to New Study

firefighter asbestos exposureFirefighter mesothelioma rates are twice that of the rest of the population according to a dramatic new study – the first ever of its kind.

The researchers said it was likely that the findings were associated with exposure to asbestos, and noted that this is the first study ever to identify higher rates of mesothelioma in U.S. firefighters.

What also makes the study important is that it analyzed cancers and cancer deaths through 2009 among 29,993 firefighters from the Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco fire departments who were employed since 1950.  The large number of study subjects and the many years that they were tracked elevates the credibility and importance of the study; especially in light of the grim results.

The findings are consistent with earlier studies, but because this one followed a larger study population for a longer period of time, the results strengthen the scientific evidence for a relation between firefighting and cancer, the researchers said.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) led the study in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and the University of California Davis. The results from the NIOSH researchers and their colleagues were reported on October 14 in the online edition of the international medical journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, an offshoot of the cutting edge British Medical Journal.

Other types of cancer were also found to be elevated in this study of firefighters in the three U.S. cities. The researchers found that rates of cancers of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems were higher in the firefighters than in the U.S. population as a whole.

Firefighters can be exposed to contaminants from fires that are known or suspected to cause cancer. These contaminants include combustion byproducts such as benzene and formaldehyde, and materials in debris such as asbestos from older structures.  These materials may be inert under normal conditions but break down and are released when structures collapse during a fire.

The findings of the new study do not address other cancer risk factors, such as smoking, diet and alcohol consumption, NIOSH pointed out, according to an article in EHS Today, an occupational health and safety magazine.

A second phase of the study is planned and will further examine employment records from the three fire departments to gain more insight into occupational exposures, and to look at exposures in relation to cancer incidence and mortality, NIOSH said.

Mesothelioma Rates Double for Firefighters According to New Study

firefighter asbestos exposureFirefighter mesothelioma rates are twice that of the rest of the population according to a dramatic new study – the first ever of its kind.

The researchers said it was likely that the findings were associated with exposure to asbestos, and noted that this is the first study ever to identify higher rates of mesothelioma in U.S. firefighters.

What also makes the study important is that it analyzed cancers and cancer deaths through 2009 among 29,993 firefighters from the Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco fire departments who were employed since 1950.  The large number of study subjects and the many years that they were tracked elevates the credibility and importance of the study; especially in light of the grim results.

The findings are consistent with earlier studies, but because this one followed a larger study population for a longer period of time, the results strengthen the scientific evidence for a relation between firefighting and cancer, the researchers said.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) led the study in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and the University of California Davis. The results from the NIOSH researchers and their colleagues were reported on October 14 in the online edition of the international medical journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, an offshoot of the cutting edge British Medical Journal.

Other types of cancer were also found to be elevated in this study of firefighters in the three U.S. cities. The researchers found that rates of cancers of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems were higher in the firefighters than in the U.S. population as a whole.

Firefighters can be exposed to contaminants from fires that are known or suspected to cause cancer. These contaminants include combustion byproducts such as benzene and formaldehyde, and materials in debris such as asbestos from older structures.  These materials may be inert under normal conditions but break down and are released when structures collapse during a fire.

The findings of the new study do not address other cancer risk factors, such as smoking, diet and alcohol consumption, NIOSH pointed out, according to an article in EHS Today, an occupational health and safety magazine.

A second phase of the study is planned and will further examine employment records from the three fire departments to gain more insight into occupational exposures, and to look at exposures in relation to cancer incidence and mortality, NIOSH said.

EPA Developing New Ways to Measure Asbestos Exposure Risk

asbestos exposureCould taking your dog for a daily walk increase your risk of developing mesothelioma?  Yes, if that daily walk takes you through an old asbestos-contaminated area and stepping on the soil releases long dormant asbestos fibers into the air that you unknowingly breathe.

That is why the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing new ways to more accurately measure asbestos risk.  These include focusing on the types of activity occurring at a specific site and how they may increase asbestos exposure.

“Unlike a number of other contaminants, the main risk of asbestos is not so much direct contact but inhalation of the fibers that can enter the air if material contaminated with asbestos is disturbed,” said Julie Wroble, a toxicologist with the EPA’s Washington regional office in Seattle.

Across the U.S. there are sites embedded with naturally occurring asbestos or commercially-made products containing asbestos that may put people at risk for asbestos exposure, according to Wroble. “At the EPA we have been developing techniques to better estimate this exposure and the resulting health risks” she said.

Wroble made her remarks at CleanUp 2013, the world’s leading scientific contamination conference, which is being held in Melbourne, Australia this month.   She presented the latest techniques used by the federal EPA to estimate exposure risk to asbestos.

Every two years, scientists, engineers, regulators and other environmental professionals from many countries gather in Australia for this major conference addressing contaminated site remediation.
This year’s program featured 200 speakers and over 50 poster presentations.

“It’s not enough to just sample the contaminated material. There are a number of other factors that need to be considered when assessing how likely the fibers are to get into the air,” said Wroble.

“For example, we need to know what type of fibers we are dealing with and even what the weather is typically like in the local area. Most importantly we need to know what kind of activities take place at that site and whether these could release asbestos.”

Wroble and her EPA colleagues developed a system called “Activity Sampling” that measures the amount of asbestos fibers likely to be inhaled as a result of possible activities.  They are trying to standardize techniques used to measure asbestos exposure risk across the US.  This will allow for comparisons between sites in different parts of the country and help EPA determine which sites to clean up first.

Obscure and Everyday Asbestos Products from the 20th Century

asbestos exposureBecause of the dangers surrounding asbestos exposure, concerned consumers have become wary of construction materials, particularly those that were used to build structures before the 1980s. However, a columnist for the website Greener Ideal pointed out that asbestos was used for more than just construction and cars. During the 20th century, people handled several asbestos products on a daily basis, which may be notable for senior citizens who are only now developing the symptoms of asbestos-induced diseases.

Material pervaded everything from decorations to hygiene products
The idea of being in a building with aging asbestos insulation can be frightening for educated consumers. Imagine the horror you’d feel if you realized you were touching asbestos regularly, or worse, putting it directly in your mouth.

Greener Ideal columnist Paula Whately wrote about several more obscure uses of asbestos from the 20th century:

  • Decorative snow. Between the 1930s and 1950s, asbestos was used for fake snow in Christmas decorations, and even used for set dressing on “The Wizard of Oz.” Part of what made it so appealing was the fact that it was fire-resistant.
  • Toothpaste. After World War II, some toothpaste manufacturers included the mineral in their product to act as the abrasive agent.
  • Beauty salon hair dryers. The hood-style hair dryers used during the 1950s included a layer of asbestos that was meant to protect customers from being accidentally burned.
  • Surgical thread. After World War II, asbestos was added to some types of surgical thread in order to make it both stronger and more flexible.

What you can do
It’s also important to remember that the U.S. government still allows asbestos to be used in the manufacturing of several products, including cement sheets, vinyl floor tiles, gaskets, automatic transmission components and automotive brake system parts. Consumers who are concerned about this need to keep putting pressure on their lawmakers to curb the use of asbestos.

Building Demolition and Asbestos Exposure

asbestos exposureIf you have an interest in demolition – either as a worker or spectator – you need to keep in mind that demolishing older structures may put you at risk of asbestos exposure. This is why there are strict federal laws dictating how asbestos must be handled both before and during demolition projects.

Where in an old building can you find asbestos?
During much of the 20th century, asbestos was a popular component of construction materials because of its strength, ability to resist fire and capacity to insulate against heat and sound. However, during the 1970s, responsible companies began eliminating asbestos from their manufacturing processes because of the link between exposure to the mineral and the development of fatal diseases, such as malignant mesothelioma.

In fact, the Environmental Working Group estimates that every year, asbestos-related diseases claim the lives of more than 9,900 individuals in the U.S. This underscores the importance of protecting both consumers and industrial workers from asbestos exposure.

As listed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, items in and around buildings that may contain asbestos include, but are not limited to:

  • Cement corrugated sheets
  • Cement flat sheets
  • Cement shingles
  • Cement pipe
  • Pipeline wrap
  • Roofing felt
  • Roof coatings
  • Non-roof coatings
  • Vinyl floor felt

How should asbestos be dealt with before demolition?
When a building is torn down, there is a lot of potential for dangerous substances to be released into the environment, putting the health of both workers and local residents at risk. That’s why the federal government has strict laws dictating the handling of asbestos before a demolition project commences.

First, the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, or NESHAP, requires that any building manager or operator notify the appropriate state agencies before demolition takes place. Next, demolition workers have to be careful about controlling the emissions of potentially deadly substances.

When it comes to asbestos, that means minding both friable – that is, it can crumble when handled – and non-friable asbestos products that may become damaged during the demolition must be removed prior to the actual demolition.

If the removal process is likely to disturb any of these materials, those in charge of the project have to make sure they’re kept adequately wet in order to control the dust problem.

Similarly, anything that cannot be physically removed from the site before demolition must be kept wet until its actual disposal after demolition. The goal here is to make sure that there is no visible dust.

There are only two exceptions to the rule regarding keeping these materials wet prior to demolition:

  1. If the temperature at the time of wetting is below zero. Building owners and operators must make a note of these temperatures and keep the records for at least two years.
  2. When the use of water will damage equipment or present a safety hazard. This requires written approval from safety inspection administrators.

Building owners and operators have to keep in mind that inspectors will also be on hand to make sure that the wetting procedures are being carried out properly. They can evaluate things such as the location of the water supply, whether an alternative wetting agent is needed, what equipment is being used to wet the materials and how properly bags of waste are handled.

If those in charge of a demolition project know that air concentrations of asbestos fibers may exceed permissible exposure limits, they must provide workers with protective clothing and respirators.

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