Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By WADE RAWLINSResidents of a Pennsylvania community would like for federal environmental investigators to remove asbestos waste from their community rather than bury it. In April, the BoRit site joined the national Superfund list, a tally by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the nation’s most polluted sites in need of cleanup.
EPA officials listed the site because it’s in a densely populated area near Philadelphia, and nearby residents could potentially be exposed to airborne asbestos and to asbestos contamination along Tannery Run, Rose Valley Creek and Wissahickon Creek. Microscopic asbestos fibers can be inhaled when airborne and lodge in the lungs, causing respiratory problems and various forms of cancer, including mesothelioma, decades after the initial exposure.
In a June 11 letter, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, of Pennsylvania urged the EPA to give strong consideration to complete removal, destruction or recycling of the asbestos at the site, according to the Ambler Gazette newspaper.
“It is my understanding that EPA is in the process of shipping dirt to the BoRit site,” Specter wrote, according to the newspaper. “My constituents are understandably concerned that this dirt will be used to cap the site and have advised me that previous capping attempts have not been successful.”
Specter said it was critical that EPA carried out a cleanup plan that provided permanent protection to residents’ health and the environment.
Specter’s letter followed a petition drive organized by Citizens for a Better Ambler that gathered more than 2,000 signatures,
BoRit Site History
Starting in the early 1900s, the BoRit site was used to dispose of asbestos waste from the former Keasby and Mattison Company, Certainteed Corporation and Nicolet Industries, according to state and federal investigators. The industries produced asbestos products ranging from electrical insulation to brake linings, as well as piping, roofing shingles and laboratory tabletops. Asbestos manufacturing occurred on or near the site through the late 1980s, investigators said.
The 32-acre site includes three adjoining tracts: an asbestos waste pile, a 15-acre reservoir owned by Wissahickon Waterfowl Preserve and a former park and playground owned by Whitpain Township.
The waste pile covers about two acres and rises about 20 feet above the ground surface. The berm of the 15-acre reservoir was built of asbestos shingles, millboard and soil, and asbestos product waste such as piping and tiles is visible surrounding the reservoir and stream banks, the EPA said. The third disposal area, which covers 11 acres, was a depression that was filled and eventually used as a park and playground for a number of years. In the mid-1980s, it was closed and fenced off due to asbestos contamination.
In March, health investigators with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and federal Centers for Disease Control’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a study of cancer incidence in communities near the BoRit site.
Looking at cancer cases reported in three zip codes closest to BoRit, they found an elevated rate of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs linked closely to asbestos exposure, as compared to the rest of Pennsylvania. But they said the difference was not statistically significant.
Investigators said the cases of mesothelioma were most likely due to exposures that occurred in the past when asbestos facilities were operating and exposing workers and their families. They said recent air tests near the site indicated that residents were not currently being exposed to asbestos at a level of health concern. Most cases of mesothelioma occur decades after the initial exposure to asbestos.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said former plant workers are most at risk of asbestos-related disease. Family members who lived with workers also may have been exposed to asbestos, and residents who lived near the plant.
The BoRit site is a few hundred yards from another site where asbestos waste was dumped. The EPA cleaned it up in the early 1990s.
Labels: Featured News
posted by Your Attorney at 12:22 PM
Friday, June 26, 2009
By WADE RAWLINSToday, millions of homes and businesses across the United States have a pebble-like insulation in the attic made from the mineral vermiculite. Once admired for its fire-resistance and insulating properties, vermiculite insulation is now considered a potential health threat because, if disturbed, it can release microscopic asbestos fibers into the air that can be inhaled into the lungs.
Breathing asbestos can cause serious respiratory problems and diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma. Still, federal environmental officials aren't ready to start a nationwide attic cleaning campaign to remove the insulation.
"As a reminder, there are towns and cities across the United States with vermiculite insulation in their homes and in commercial buildings," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said recently. "EPA's advice in those situations remains the same. That is that that insulation be left in place, that it be undisturbed."
Do-It-Yourself Insulation
Vermiculite insulation is a pebble-like, pour-in product and is usually gray-brown or silver-gold in color. It was often sold under the brand name Zonolite and marketed as a do-it-yourself product. W.R. Grace stopped selling Zonolite in the early 1980s.
The EPA estimates there may be anywhere from 15 million to 52 million homes that have Zonolite attic insulation, Stephen J. Nesbitt, assistant inspector general at the EPA, told a congressional committee in September 2008.
Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral composed of shiny flakes resembling mica. A mine near Libby, Montana produced more than 70 percent of all vermiculite sold in the U.S. from 1919 to 1990, when the mine closed.
In its pure form, vermiculite isn’t harmful. But the vermiculite mined in Libby was contaminated by asbestos that also occurred in the area.
Public Health Emergency
In June, the EPA declared that the widespread release of asbestos in Libby and neighboring Troy, Montana constituted a public health emergency. Asbestos contamination in the Libby area has been blamed for the deaths of more than 200 people and the illnesses of more than 1,000 more to date.
For decades, miners in Libby were exposed to asbestos in their work and brought the toxic dust home on their clothes, unintentionally exposing their families.
Asbestos fibers embedded in lung tissue over time may cause lung diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer found in the lining of the lungs and almost always linked to asbestos exposure. The symptoms of the diseases often do not appear until 20 to 30 years after exposure.
Under the emergency declaration, the EPA plans to remove all uncontained vermiculite insulation from houses in Libby as part of the broader, ongoing cleanup. But the agency says that doesn’t mean that houses around the country containing vermiculite insulation require cleanup.
As long as vermiculite insulation remains undisturbed, it poses no risk and does not need to be removed, the EPA says. If homeowners plan to remodel their houses, requiring disturbance of vermiculite insulation, the EPA recommends that a trained asbestos removal professional should be used to ensure the material is handled properly to avoid any risk the home’s residents.
“We don’t believe cleanup actions are necessary outside of Libby and Troy at this time,” said Jackson, the EPA administrator. “However, health concerns and precautions for minimizing exposures always can be better understood by the public.”
Jackson said the EPA planned a new national education program focused on vermiculite insulation to ensure the safety of all Americans.
Labels: Featured News
posted by Your Attorney at 1:12 PM
Thursday, June 25, 2009
52 miners working at Minnesota’s Iron Range have been found to have mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. Mesothelioma has been traditionally associated with asbestos exposure; however, there is no known asbestos in the iron ore deposit. When asbestos fibers become airborne, they are breathed into the lungs where serious illness can develop up to 40 years after exposure. The Minnesota Department of Health will be conducting studies on the miners to determine if they have been exposed to asbestos at any time in their lives, prior to working at Iron Range. Some of the mine workers believe that the taconite dust in the mines is the cause of their illness. No studies to date have proven that mesothelioma can be caused by airborne particles other than asbestos.
Mine officials want to know whether iron ore mining can be linked to mesothelioma. The company is planning an expansion at its Northshore mine, and they want answers so they can move forward with the plan. The mining representatives support the health study, but they don't believe the taconite dust is dangerous.
A meeting will be held June 25th as the next step in the effort to determine the cause of the high rate of mesothelioma in the Iron Range workers. The meeting will lay out the plans for conducting a major survey of taconite workers' lung health. Participants will get an x-ray, blood test, and breathing test. The study gets underway this summer.
Taconite Potential Cause of Mesothelioma
Iron Range Study Underway
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma, National News, Research
posted by Nancy Meredith at 3:14 PM
The city of Nahariya and surrounding area on the northern coast of Israel has one of the highest concentrations of people with mesothelioma in the world, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.The incidence of the disease in the area reached 5.72 per 100,000 residents between 2002 and 2008, Dr. Micha Bar-Hana, director of the Israel Health Ministry’s cancer registry, said at a conference at Petah Tikva’s Medical Center. That compares to a rate of 3.55 cases per 100,000 people seven years ago.
Nahariya was home to the only asbestos plant in the nation, which was shut down in 1997. Mesothelioma develops several decades after exposure. Most cases involve people who worked with asbestos. Health experts expect the number of cases will go up in coming decades.
The area around Genoa, Italy, has the highest rate of asbestos-related cancer cases in the world with 5.8 cases per 100,000 people, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Dr. Avi Weiner, an expert in work-related diseases in Haifa, said that people who were in close contact with those who were directly exposed also were at risk of developing mesothelioma. He said he’d seen two cases of wives who became ill because their husband’s clothes carried asbestos particles.
Nahariya Story
Labels: International News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 2:35 PM
Three Louisiana employers have been cited $112,000 in penalties for 10 alleged serious violations of federal health and safety rules involving asbestos removal.The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Louisiana Health Care Consultants LLC, Dean Building Holdings and Bob Dean Enterprises Inc., jointly for failure to provide proper supervision during the removal of a ceiling containing asbestos and failure to provide respiratory equipment to workers and for not informing them that the work site contained asbestos.
The citations stemmed from work performed at the State National Life Building in downtown Baton Rouge, which is owned by Dean Building Holdings and managed by Bob Dean Enterprises. Louisiana Health Care Consultants specializes in the management and maintenance of nursing homes.
“These companies failed to follow OSHA’s standards for asbestos-related projects in the construction industry,” said Dean McDaniel, the agency’s regional administrator in Dallas. “Employers must be committed to keeping the workplace safe and healthful to prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities.”
Serious violations are issued when there is a substantial probability that death or serious injury could occur from a hazard that the employer knew about or should have known. The companies have a period of time to respond.
Louisiana Asbestos Citations
Labels: National News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 2:29 PM
A lawsuit has been filed against Dupont Co. by three former workers at the DuPont plant in Mercedes, Argentina. The three allege that their asbestosis was caused by decades of exposure to asbestos in the plant. The suit has been filed in the state of Delaware.The asbestos was found in the insulation covering the pipes, where significant heat passed through during production of nylon. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, claims that DuPont identified and cleared up the asbestos at a nylon plant in Delaware in the early 1970s. However, asbestos was still present in 2004 in the Argentina plant, at which time the plant was sold.
The lawsuit alleges DuPont applied a double standard when protecting workers from the asbestos. The suit also alleges that DuPont protected American workers but failed to ensure that the Argentina workers were protected and working in a safe environment. DuPont had been aware of the asbestos in the plant for several decades, according to the complaint.
The Delaware location was selected for filing of the lawsuit since the Delaware courts have experience handling international asbestos cases. All three of the men have asbestosis while two of them also have asbestos-related cancers.
Workers Sue DuPont
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Headline News, International News
posted by Nancy Meredith at 1:54 PM
Thursday, June 18, 2009
By WADE RAWLINSFor decades, the people of Libby and Troy, Montana suffered and died at staggeringly high rates from asbestos-related diseases. Little did the townsfolk know that the vermiculite ore that workers unearthed at the local mine was spreading a pall of lung-penetrating microscopic asbestos fibers throughout the area. The fibers left scar tissue in the lungs that made it hard to breathe and caused cancer such as mesothelioma.
The asbestos contamination in these remote northwestern towns remains so widespread and the situation so dire that for the first time in history, federal environmental officials this week declared a public health emergency under the federal Superfund law.
“It is a toxic legacy, the legacy of decades of mining operations that literally contaminated these towns and put its residents at grave risk,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said in making the announcement.
The health emergency declaration requires the federal government to provide screenings and health care for Libby residents with asbestos-related disease.
Jackson said investigations by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry had found the incidence of asbestosis, a lung condition in the Libby area to be much higher than the national average for period from 1979-1998. “We determined that we needed to step up our efforts to protect the people in Libby and Troy,” Jackson said.
More than 200 people have died so far from asbestos-related disease--people such as Libby miner Les Skramstad, whose tragic story was recalled by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. Like many others, Skramstad worked at the mill on Zonolite Mountain. He came home with his clothes covered with asbestos fibers and unwittingly contaminated his family.
“I come down off the mine, and I’m caked in dust,” Baucus said, quoting Skramstad. “When I come down from the mine, my wife embraces me. She is all caked in dust with asbestos I’ve brought from the mine. My kids jump in my lap. They get caked with asbestos dust.”
Skramstad died in 2007 of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. Baucus said Skramstad’s wife, Norita, was dying of asbestos-related disease and two of his children had asbestos-related illnesses like hundreds of other residents in the area.
“I cannot emphasize too strongly just what a tragic situation it is up in Libby,” Baucus said.
Mining History
Gold miners discovered vermiculite in Libby in the 1880s. In the 1920s, the Zonolite Company formed and began mining the vermiculite. In 1963, W.R. Grace bought the Zonolite mining operations and extracted vermiculite for use in building insulation and as a soil conditioner. The mine closed in 1990.
It’s estimated that the Libby mine produced over 70 percent of all vermiculite sold in the United States from 1919 to 1990, according to the EPA.
The EPA has been working in Libby since 1999 when an emergency response team was sent to investigate newspaper reports about asbestos-contaminated vermiculite and high rates of asbestosis.
Much Work Remains
Libby has been on the EPA’s “Superfund” list of polluted places since 2002, and cleanup has been under way.
As of 2009, the former vermiculite processing plants and other highly contaminated public areas have been cleaned up, and cleanups also have been completed at more than 1,100 residential and commercial properties. But much work remains.
“No community — whether it’s a big city or a small town in northwest Montana — can deal with an environmental catastrophe on the scale of the Libby disaster by themselves,” U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said. “The system let Libby down. For too long, Libby has been what newspapers described as a town left to die. The people of Libby want their future back.”
Jackson, the EPA administrator, said there are towns and cities throughout the nation with vermiculite insulation in homes and businesses. EPA’s advice is not to disturb the insulation. “We don’t believe cleanup actions are necessary outside of Libby and Troy at this time,” she said.
But she said the EPA was launching a nationwide education campaign to improve public understanding of the health concerns of exposure to vermiculite asbestos and precautions for minimizing exposure.
EPA Information about Dealing with Vermiculite Insulation
Labels: Featured News
posted by Your Attorney at 3:22 PM
By WADE RAWLINSPeople often get exposed to cancer-causing asbestos by working with building materials in construction. So the World Bank is stepping up efforts to raise awareness of the health risks associated with asbestos-containing materials such as asbestos-cement water pipe and roofing shingles to reduce their use in developing countries.
The World Bank, which provides financial aid and technical assistance in more than 100 countries, in May finalized new construction guidelines to discourage the use of asbestos in new construction projects after a letter of inquiry from Congressman Dennis Kucinich and four other members of Congress.
The good practice guidelines, which originally were commissioned in 2006, had stalled before final administrative approval. In March, Kucinich and four other members of Congress sent a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick questioning the delay.
Kucinich said global asbestos use was on the rise at the very time it should be eliminated.
"Asbestos is a highly toxic material that has no place in construction projects here or anywhere else, especially when viable alternatives are available," Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, said in a statement. "This guidance will reduce exposure and permanent lung damage to citizens and workers around the world."
Asbestos, a group of naturally occurring mineral fibers, was once widely used to make many household products because of its useful properties including its ability to be woven, fire resistance, insulation properties and strength.
But asbestos is now recognized as the cause of various cancers.
Health hazards from breathing asbestos dust include asbestosis, a lung scarring disease, and various forms for cancer including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. The disease often arises decades after the exposure.
The World Bank’s good practice guidelines present an overview of available alternatives to building materials containing asbestos. The bank said it expected borrowers to use alternative materials whenever feasible.
It said building materials containing asbestos should be avoided in new construction, including construction for disaster relief.
More than 90 percent of asbestos fiber produced today is chrysotile, which is used in construction materials made of asbestos-cement including pipe, water storage tanks and roofing. The largest users are developing countries.
Other products still manufactured with asbestos content include vehicle brake and clutch pads, gaskets and roofing.
More than 40 countries have banned asbestos, but not the United States.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from the state of Washington, has led a seven-year effort to ban asbestos in the U.S. Her legislation, which passed the Senate in 2007, would authorize additional studies to determine which commercial products still contain asbestos, increase funding for asbestos-related diseases and call for a national Mesothelioma registry to help public health professional track the disease.
"While more than 30 countries have banned asbestos and protected their citizens, the United States still has not," Murray said in a statement. "The time for Congress to ban asbestos is long overdue. Until we take the steps to ban this deadly substance, we will continue to put innocent lives at risk."
About 10,000 people a year die in the United States of diseases related to asbestos exposure, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit advocacy group. Worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates that 90,000 people die each year because of exposure to asbestos.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the World Bank is made up of two development agencies, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association.
World Bank Report (PDF)
Kucinich Press Release
Labels: Featured News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:03 AM
Federal prosecutors in Montana dropped charges against the remaining defendant Monday after a jury last month acquitted the W.R. Grace & Co and individuals of all charges related to widespread asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana, according to the Missoulian newspaper.W.R.Grace, which operated a vermiculite mine in Libby for many years, had been accused of a 30-year conspiracy to defraud the government and knowingly endanger residents of Libby.
A mortality study at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby has identified 227 community members who died of asbestos disease and more than 1,800 active cases resulting from exposure.
Montana Asbestos Contamination Case
Labels: National News
posted by Mike D at 9:49 AM
A Syracuse, New York environmental lab has been indicted on charges that for more than a decade it gave contractors false air quality test reports to cover up shoddy asbestos-removal projects in schools, businesses and homes. The 16-count federal indictment against Certified Environmental Services Inc., of Syracuse and five employees on violations of the Clean Air Act, mail fraud and making false statements to federal environmental agents represents the third major asbestos fraud case in central New York in five years, according to a report in Newsday.
Syracuse Asbestos Removal Indictment
Labels: National News
posted by Mike D at 9:43 AM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Federal officials have declared a public health emergency in a Montana town heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that has been blamed for 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.Lisa Jackson, an administrator with the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency will spend $125 million over the next five years for a home-by-home clean-up in the town of Libby, Mont.
Asbestos contamination came from a vermiculite mine near Libby that opened in 1919 but is now closed. Vermiculite was often used in insulation but the mineral was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a toxic form of asbestos that has been linked to mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the lining around the lungs, stomach or heart. There is no known cure.
Miners apparently carried asbestos home on their clothes, where family members also inhaled the deadly fibers. Vermiculite was once used as ground cover on the track at a Libby school and was also used by some residents as garden mulch.
Libby, Mont. Public Health Emergency
Labels: Mesothelioma, National News, News
posted by Your Attorney at 4:21 PM
The family of a retired Navy sailor who died in late April of mesothelioma caused by breathing asbestos fibers on the job decades ago won a $1.2 million award Monday against an Illinois-based manufacturer.Gerald Gray, who lived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, was once the second highest ranking enlisted man in the Navy and later taught school before his death at age 75 after a 16-month struggle with mesothelioma, according to the Newport News Daily Press.
A Virginia Circuit Court jury rendered a verdict against five manufacturers for a total of $4 million in Gray’s case. Before the trial, all the defendant companies settled out of court for an undisclosed amount except Illinois manufacturer John Crane Inc., which made gaskets and parts used on ships. The jury apportioned 30 percent of the blame to John Crane Inc.
Virginia Mesothelioma Verdict
Labels: National News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:50 AM
Asbestos exposure has been associated to the risk of developing many diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. While the dangers of this substance have been known since the early 1920's, the United States has not yet totally banned its use.Michelle J. White, an economics professor at UC San Diego, stated in her study “Asbestos and the Future of Mass Torts,” that claims for injuries from asbestos "involve more plaintiffs, more defendants and higher costs than any other type of personal injury litigation in U.S. history."
Although it can take up to 40 years after initial exposure of asbestos for a person to exhibit symptoms of asbestos-related cancer such as mesothelioma, which affects the membranes lining the abdomen or lungs, the patient and their family can often tie the exposure to a specific job.
Victims of asbestos-related diseases can bring suit against the companies or manufacturers of products, and the awards often run into the millions. Much of the award is attributed to the pain and suffering associated with the disease.
While the EPA proposed a ban on asbestos use in 1989 it was overturned by a federal circuit court of appeals in 1991. The Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 was proposed but never signed into law. The most current ban proposal is the Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008.
Asbestos Not Banned in U.S.
Labels: Asbestos, Cancer, Mesothelioma
posted by Nancy Meredith at 8:29 AM
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Two Washington County, Maryland public schools are undergoing asbestos removal as part of the summer renovation projects. Asbestos is classified by the EPA as a known cancer-causing material requiring specially trained and licensed asbestos abatement workers to conduct site decontamination.At both Fountaindale Elementary School and E. Russell Hicks Middle School the work is being done by licensed crews in compliance with all federal and state laws. Air samples are tested periodically to ensure the air is clean from airborne asbestos fibers.
Fountaindale Elementary was built in 1949 and the asbestos was found in the glazing compound and caulking on the old windows. The asbestos content there is relatively small and is not in a friable, or easily crumbled form, with the cleanup cost estimated at $24,360.
At E. Russell Hicks Middle School the project will cost approximately $21,000. Built in 1967 asbestos was found as part of a fireproofing insulation on the roof deck above the ceiling tiles.
Washington County Public Schools has an asbestos management plan which the public can view by contacting the facilities management office.
Washington County Asbestos Cleanup
Labels: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, News
posted by Nancy Meredith at 2:52 PM
Monday, June 15, 2009
A recent study by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found the annual number of deaths related to mesothelioma was still increasing. The findings highlight the need to control hazardous work-related exposures to asbestos to protect workers’ health.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health charted recent trends in deaths due to mesothelioma by analyzing death certificates from 1999 through 2005, the most recent years for which complete data are available.
A total of 18,068 deaths were attributed to malignant mesothelioma during the period. The number increased from 2,482 deaths in 1999 to 2,704 in 2005 — a 8.9 percent increase. Of those deaths, 80 percent were males and 95 percent were whites, the study found. Past studies have shown higher incidence of mesothelioma in certain occupations such as plumbers, pipefitters, ship builders and construction workers.
Mesothelioma is a fatal cancer primarily associated with exposure to breathing asbestos fibers. Asbestos was used widely in construction and manufacturing throughout most of the 20th century. In recent decades federal environmental regulators have taken steps to reduce exposure to asbestos in workplaces.
While use of asbestos has declined sharply since the 1970s, the 20 to 40 year lag time before the cancer shows up means people are still developing cancers from exposures many years ago. And future cases will reflect the legacy of extensive past use of asbestos, highlighting the need to control hazardous work-related exposures to asbestos.
"Despite regulatory actions and the sharp decline in use of asbestos, potential exposure to asbestos continues, but most deaths from mesothelioma in the United States derive from exposures decades ago," said Ki Moon Bang, a senior epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and his colleagues, in the study. "Because mesothelioma manifests 20-40 years after first exposure, the number of mesothelioma deaths will likely peak by 2010."
The annual number of mesotheloma cases increased significantly from the late 1970s through the mid 1990s.
The study reported that 26 states had death rates higher than the national average of 13.8 deaths per million people per year. Of those, six states had annual mesothelioma death rates exceeding 20 deaths per million people: Maine 27.5 deaths per million per year; Wyoming, 22.2; West Virginia, 21; Pennsylvania 20.8; New Jersey 20.2; and Washington 20.1.
Asbestos is no longer mined in the United States. But the mineral is still imported and used in various construction and transportation products. A substantial amount of asbestos still in buildings and eventually will be removed when the buildings are demolished or remodeled.
"Maintenance, renovation or demolition activities that might disturb asbestos should be performed with precautions that sufficiently prevent exposures for workers and the public," the authors said.
The analysis showed the nation’s most populous states generally had the highest number of deaths attributable to mesothelioma.
California, by far the largest state in population with an estimated 36 million people, led in mesothelioma-related deaths with 1,779 from 1999-2005. Texas, second in population with 24 million people, placed fifth with 942 mesothelioma-related deaths. The third most populous state, New York ranked fourth on the mesothelioma mortality list with 1,051 deaths.
Florida, the 4th most populous state, was second on the mesothlioma mortality list with 1,213 deaths. Pennsylvania, sixth in population, was third with 1,211 mesothelioma-related deaths.
Labels: Featured News
posted by Wade Rawlins at 9:26 AM
Thursday, June 11, 2009
At the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio, both former and current residents of Morgens Hall await word from University officials regarding the mold and asbestos found in the apartment complex.Although a UC spokesman confirmed that there was mold in Morgens Hall, he said that the mold formed because of poor air circulation after the building was closed for renovations. A former resident of the building became sick after discovering a leak and mold in her apartment prior to the renovations.
An international health and safety consultant, Linda May, indicated that the university is legally mandated to inform all residents of the risks of the toxic mold and asbestos. May was invited by University of Cincinnati students and community members to address concerns about possible health effects arising from mold in Morgens Hall.
To date, the University has not issued any statement warning of health risks to residents of Morgens Hall.
According to the University of Cincinnati's website, "Morgens Hall is currently under renovation to address the life safety systems."
UC Mold and Asbestos Story
Labels: Asbestos
posted by Your Attorney at 11:27 AM
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A long-running British study monitoring mortality among asbestos workers in occupations exposed to asbestos reconfirmed the link between asbestos exposure and mortality from lung, peritoneal and pleural cancer and mesothelioma, Great Britain's Health & Safety Laboratory reported.Health & Safety Laboratory Report
Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
posted by Your Attorney at 10:16 AM
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Fort Chafee Redevelopment Authority will start the cleanup of asbestos debris left after fire destroyed 155 buildings at the Chafee Crossing site in Arkansas. As part of the cleanup, authority personnel will use spray the area with a foam product to wet the asbestos fibers and prevent them from becoming airborne and at risk of being inhaled, the Fort Smith Times Record reports.
Fire Clean-Up & Asbestos Fibers
Labels: Asbestos, Headline News
posted by Your Attorney at 10:12 AM
Saturday, June 6, 2009
North Carolina labor investigators cited the town of Marshall, N.C. with several violations of improper removal of asbestos during the renovation of the town hall. In its report, the N.C. Department of Labor said the town did not attempt to identify the presence, location and quality of asbestos before starting renovation work and that workers were allowed to sweep or shovel asbestos without respirators.
N.C. Asbestos Removal Violation
Labels: Asbestos
posted by Your Attorney at 10:08 AM
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A Pennsylvania school district has settled violations of federal law regarding asbestos removal at two schools, federal environmental regulators announced. The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act requires local education agencies to develop a plan to prevent release of asbestos and exposure. A inspection last year found the Bucks County school district out of compliance, but EPA did not contend that students were exposed to asbestos.
The settlements announced this month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are part of the agency's ongoing efforts to work throughout the mid-Atlantic states to reduce asbestos hazards in schools.
Pennsylvania Asbestos Removal Settlement
Labels: Asbestos
posted by Your Attorney at 10:06 AM
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Wade Rawlins is a former environmental reporter with the Raleigh News & Observer.
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