February | 2010 | About Mesothelioma: Asbestos Exposure and Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma Lawyers & Attorneys Info

Trades Workers in Australia at Risk of Asbestos Exposure, New Study Says

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Construction and maintenance workers in Australia are still at risk of inhaling toxic asbestos fibers, a new study by Safe Work Australia says.

Even though most trades workers are aware of the health risks of asbsestos, they lack an understanding of how to recognize asbestos or control risks when handling it, according to the report by Safe Work Australia which develops national policy on occupational health and safety issues.

“It is concerning that although trades people have a high level of awareness of and confidence in being able to protect themselves, this is not matched with the necessary safety precautions when working with asbestos,” Tom Phillips, chairman of the Safe Work Australia Council, said in a press release.

Asbestos exposure is closely linked with serious respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen. The number of new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed annually in Australia has been increasing dramatically since at least 1982. New cases increased from 156 in 1982 to 597 in 2005. Australia’s population adjusted death rate from mesothlioma is more than 50 percent higher than the United States.

The new study says that while nearly all trades people believe they can protect themselves from asbestos, the level of compliance with safety procedures is much lower than the workers estimate. Trades workers ability to consistently identify asbestos was limited. Few premises have labeling of materials or areas containing asbestos and asbestos registers are often absent or inaccurate, according to the study.

Phillips said the new study adds significantly to understanding of compliance with occupational health and safety legislation related to asbestos.

“The results of this study will be used to inform effective strategies to eliminate or reduce worker exposure to asbestos,” Phillips said. “Local, state and federal governments must work together to improve worker education and information on asbestos, particularly the development of practical advice on how workers can protect themselves from exposure to asbestos, and on safe asbestos removal and disposal. “This will help reduce individual suffering and the substantial cost to families and the community.”

In 2006, there were 486 deaths attributed to mesothelioma in Australia. More than 80 percent of the deaths were men, and three quarters were over age 65. Overall, the age-adjusted death rate in Australia due to mesothelioma was 23 deaths per million population. In comparison, the annual U.S. rate is 14 deaths per million.

Labels: International News
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Roadmap Proposed for Research on Asbestos and Suspect Mineral Fibers

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Asbestos has been a leading concern in public health for decades. It’s well established that asbestos fibers when inhaled cause serious and often fatal respiratory diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen. Still questions and areas of scientific uncertainty remain about asbestos and similar fibers.

As part of a reappraisal of standards to protect workers from asbestos, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the lead federal agency for prevention of worker illness and injury, is seeking public comment on a new draft report that outlines current scientific understanding of asbestos. The report offers a research roadmap for exploring unanswered questions about asbestos and other elongated mineral fibers. The research findings would build a scientific foundation for future environmental and occupational health policy decisions.

“Asbestos has been a highly visible issue in public health for over three decades and abundant information is in the scientific literature,” the draft document states. “However, in part because of the complexity in the mineralogy, the scientific literature has various inconsistencies and inconclusive evidence which have led to uncertainties in identifying and applying the term asbestos for health and regulatory purposes.”

Since federal regulatory agencies developed workplace standards for exposure to airborne asbestos fibers in the 1970s because of its toxicity, the use of asbestos in the U.S. has declined substantially. Mining of asbestos in the U.S. ceased in 2002. Yet, asbestos products are still in wide use and new products are being manufactured and imported in the U.S.

The regulatory standards apply to six commercially used asbestos minerals— chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, actinolite asbestos, anthophyllite asbestos and tremolite asbestos. In 1990, to protect workers, NIOSH broadened its definition of airborne asbestos fibers to include in addition to the six types of asbestos, other elongated mineral particles from nonasbestiform minerals. That was based on research in long-term animal studies.

The research roadmap proposes further research to clarify understanding of what determines the toxicity of asbestos and elongated mineral particles such as size or dimensions of the fiber. Studies of workers at talc mines in upstate New York and taconite mines in Minnesota are examples of potentially valuable followup research on the toxicity of non-asbestos elongated mineral particles, the report notes.

The draft document was developed by NIOSH scientists and engineers with professional experience in areas related to asbestos and elongated mineral fibers. Public comments are invited until April 16, 2010.

Read the Draft Report

Labels: Asbestos, Research
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New Cancer Drug Tested in England

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Physicians in Great Britain and the U.S. are conducting an initial trial on a new drug that could help mesothelioma patients. The trial involves a drug called LDE 225 manufactured by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. One of the locations where the drug trial is being conducted is the Leicester Royal Infirmary in Leicester, England.

Dr. Anne Thomas, a consultant oncologist at Leicester’s hospitals, told the Leicester Mercury newspaper that the new drug works by targeting cancer cells by inhibiting proteins that cancer cell rely on to grow and divide. About 40 patients will be recruited for the first round of testing on humans.

One of the recruits, Bernard Dean, 61 of Derbyshire, told the newspaper that he hoped the eight tablets a day he is taking will halt the growth of three tumors in his lungs. A father of two and a joiner by trade, Dean was diagnosed with mesothelioma a year ago from breathing asbestos. He was diagnosed after going to the doctor with what he thought was a bad cold.

Dean had to stop chemotherapy after four sessions because it was making him too ill and doctors in Nottingham said they could not operate on the tumors.

“ I know it’s the first time the drug has been used outside the laboratory, but I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity go,” Dean said. “If it buys me a few more months or a few more years, it has to be worth it.

Other locations where mesothelioma patients are being recruited for the drug trial are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, Texas and the Novartis Investigative Site in Planta Baja, Spain.

If all goes well with the phase I trial for LDE 225, there will be two more rounds of testing with larger groups of patients. Dr. Thomas said it would be at least five years before the drug is widely available.

Click for contact information about the drug trials

Labels: Mesothelioma, Research
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EPA Investigates Asbestos Exposure in Kansas Prison Renovation

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Federal environmental regulators are investigating whether employees and inmates at the Topeka Correctional Facility in Topeka, Kansas were exposed to asbestos dust during building renovations.

Renovation of older buildings that contain asbestos tiles and insulation is a common route of workplace exposure to asbestos today. Breathing tiny asbsestos fibers can eventually cause lethal respiratory diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen.

Bill Miskell, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said that EPA investigators were focused on renovation of one building, a prison dormitory, in 2005. Investigators have interviewed current and former employees of the women’s prison.

The Topeka Capital-Journal said that former workers involved in asbestos abatement activities said that improper exposure occurred during the rehabilitation of several buildings. Robert Ames, who performed heating and air maintenance at the women’s prison and supervised inmate crews involved in rehabilitating the prison, told the newspaper that asbestos dust covered clothing and clogged air filters when asbestos floor tiles were ground up with heavy machinery. Some workers wore paper masks while others had no protection.

Ames said that prison administrators received complaints about lax enforcement of asbestos safety regulations with irritation and disbelief.

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson called the allegations alarming and said he endorsed the EPA investigation. “It does alarm me anytime we have an environmental problem in one of our state building, especially asbestos, which is an issue we’ve known about as a society for 30 years,” Parkinson told the newspaper.

Read the Capital-Journal article

Labels: National News
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Defense Department Increases Funding for Mesothelioma Research

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

It’s well known that veterans are at higher risk of asbestos-related diseases because of the wide use of the dangerous mineral fiber in thousands of buildings and Navy ships from World War II until the 1970s.

Now, the U.S. Department of Defense has announced plans to increase spending on research into new ways to combat the fatal disease linked to asbestos exposure.

The Department of Defense’s effort includes funding of several million dollars for three mesothelioma research projects. The funds will support research into early detection of the disease and the development of new treatments, including clinical trials on a vaccine that could improve the prognosis for patients with mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs, caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. The microscopic fibers become lodged in the lungs and can lead to development of respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis decades later. Many veterans exposed to asbestos in the 1950s through 1970s may only now being showing symptoms of the disease.

Joseph Belluck, a partner in Belluck & Fox, a New York law firm that specializes in representing victims of mesothelioma, said the recent increase in research funding must be only the start of an effort to find a cure for asbestos-related disease that has killed thousands of veterans. “Veterans who were willing to fight for their country now must have their country fight for them,” Belluck said.

The shipbuilding acitivities from before World War II until the 1980s exposed thousands of Navy veterans to asbestos exposure on a daily basis.

During World War II, several million people employed in U.S. shipyards and U.S. Navy veterans were exposed to chrysotile asbestos products as well as amosite and crocidolite since these forms of asbestos were used extensively in military ship construction, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Asbestos was widely used in shipbuilding to insulate boilers, steam pipes and hot water pipes.

Veterans involved in mining, milling, shipyard work, insulation, demolition of old buildings, carpentry and construction, manufacture of brake linings and clutch facings and manufacture of pipes. Veterans may be eligible for health care and disability compensation if the VA determines the asbestos exposure was related to military service.
Learn more about VA health care and disability compensation at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/benefits.asp

Read more of Belluck’s comments about DOD research on mesothelioma at http://www.prweb.com/releases/mesothelioma-help/research-belluck/prweb3615194.htm

Labels: Asbestos, National News
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Kentucky Senate Designates a Day to Reflect on Mesothelioma Disease

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

The Kentucky Senate unanimously approved a piece of legislation Wednesday designating Sept. 26 of each year as Mesothelioma Awareness Day throughout the Commonwealth.

The bill, which now moves to the House for consideration, directs the Governor to proclaim Sept. 26 of each year as a day to recognize Mesothelioma and to encourage Kentuckians to support research into effective treatments and early detection methods. Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer closely associated with asbestos exposure

If the House passes the bill, Kentucky would join a number of states that have designated Sept. 26 as Mesothelioma Awareness Day. The date was chosen because it is the wedding anniversary of a Pennsylvania widow who spent many hours making others aware of the disease that claimed her husband’s life.

New York lawyer Joseph Belluck, who represents victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, praised the vote by the Kentucky Senate and said he hoped the House would pass the bill without delay.

“For too many years, industrial workers including miners and railroad workers in Kentucky and shipbuilders in Virginia, were exposed to asbestos and weren’t informed of the risks,” said Belluck, a partner in Belluck & Fox, a firm nationally-known for asbestos litigation. “Many workers exposed to asbestos in the 1950s and 1960s are still being diagnosed with this terrible disease.”

Learn more about Mesothelioma

Labels: Mesothelioma, National News
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Increased Asbestos Use in Mexico Leading to More Mesothelioma Deaths

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Industrial uses of asbestos in Mexico are increasing the number of mesothelioma-related diseases and deaths among Mexican workers, according to a scientific study in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. The researchers say Mexico should ban the use of asbestos in all production processes as a public health policy to control the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases and safeguard the population and future generations.

Malignant mesothelioma is an incurable cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen closely associated with breathing asbestos. The World Health Organization has urged countries to ban the use of asbestos, saying there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

In their study, occupational health researchers from the Mexican Institute of Social Security and several Mexican cancer hospitals sought to identify the proportion of cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma in Mexico that were attributable to workplace exposure. Despite numerous studies around the world that have underscored the adverse effects of asbestos on workers’ health, the researchers said there was a general lack of recognition of the hazard of asbestos exposure in Mexico.

Because mesothelioma is not recognized as a work-related disease in Mexico, the country’s national health system and Mexican Institute of Social Security, which insures 30 percent of the country’s economically active population, absorb millions of dollars in costs to care for patients with mesothelioma rather than the industries that caused their disease.

In Mexico, chrysotile asbestos —also known as white asbestos—imported from Canada is the most commonly used asbestos fiber and represents the largest threat to workers, the study says. The shipment of asbestos to Mexico is part of an ongoing migration of dangerous industries to less industrialized countries such as Mexico that possess a weak framework for worker protection, the researchers noted. From 1991-2000, Mexico imported about 8 percent of Canada’s total international exports of asbestos, representing $114 million in exports.

Researchers interviewed 472 workers who lived in the Valley of Mexico, an area of central Mexico that encompasses the Mexico City metropolitan area, to assess their potential exposure to asbestos from their jobs as well as from environmental factors such as living near an asbestos factory or having parents who worked around asbestos. More than 100 of the workers had been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

The researchers attributed 82 percent of the cases of mesothelioma in the lining of the lung to workplace exposure to asbestos. They said the pattern of asbestos exposure and disease observed in more industrialized nations in the 1970s is now repeating itselt in Mexico.

“Our results show a clear relationship between industrial use of all types of asbestos and malignant pleural mesothelioma, and in Mexico the major type of asbestos is chrysotile imported from Canada,” the researchers said.

They said deaths from mesothelioma appeared to be underreported in Mexico’s official death records, suggesting the scope of the problem was even greater. Of more than 100 patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, only about a third of patients who had died had mesothelioma listed as a cause of death.

In 2006, the World Health Organization said that all types of asbestos cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis and there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. Even if use of asbestos is eliminated soon, the World Health Organization has estimated there will be 5 to 10 million additional deaths from asbestos. The World Health Organization called for a ban.

But Mexico has not banned asbestos. To the contrary, Mexico’s government supported an effort by asbestos-exporting countries, led by Canada, to block the United Nations from including chrysotile asbestos on a list of recognized toxic substances.

Based of their findings, the researchers called on Mexico to ban the use and commercialization of all forms of asbestos to protect future generations and to require asbestos manufacturers and importers to pay the medical expenses and pensions of diseased workers. The researchers said if asbestos is not banned at once in Mexico, the incidence of mesothelioma would continue to increase in the population for 50 years.

Labels: Asbestos, International News, Research
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Public Health Scientists Condemn Hypocrisy of Asbestos Exports to Developing Nations

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

While Quebec Premier Jean Charest was visiting India, the largest importer of Canadian asbestos, public health scientists from 28 counties called on the Quebec leader to support ending all exports of the cancer-causing mineral fiber.

The scientists, organized by the Environmental Health Trust, a U.S.-based environmental health advocacy group, and the Cancer Association of South Africa, urged Charest to listen to the recommendations of prominent health experts in Canada, the Canadian Medical Association, the Quebec Cancer Society and the World Health Organization. All the groups have called for an end to use of asbestos because of its hazards to human health.

Canada is the world’s fifth largest exporter of asbestos, and all of it is mined in Quebec. Much of Canada’s exported mineral fiber goes to developing countries where weak or non-existent workplace safety rules expose workers to breathing asbestos dust. Asbestos is no longer widely used in Canada.

“Your government is spending millions of dollars to remove chrysotile asbestos and other forms of asbestos from Quebec’s schools, hospitals and buildings, while at the same time, exporting it to developing countries and telling them it is safe,” the scientists said in the Jan. 28 letter to Charest. “This seems to represent a high level of hypocrisy.”

The scientists noted that in Quebec, exposure to asbestos through mining is the leading cause of death among workers. Statistics for 2009 from the Quebec Workers Compensation Board show that 60 percent of occupational death were caused by asbestos.

“We call on you not to export this same public health tragedy to developing countries, where surely there is more than enough suffering and injustice already,” the scientists said.

The scientists condemned the Charest government for embracing the position of the asbestos industry’s advocacy group, the Chrysotile Institute, that exposure to 1 fiber of chrysotile asbestos per cubic centimeter of air is safe. The scientists said that stance conflicted with the views of the Canadian Cancer Society, the U.S. Surgeon General and the World Health Organization that all held that there was no safe exposure level to chrysotile asbestos.

“We find it shocking that the exposure level you endorse for people overseas is ten times higher than the level permitted by all other provinces in Canada, by the U.S., by the European Union and by other Western industrialized nations,” they said.

The World Health Organization estimates that 90,000 people die every year of asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs and asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs.

Read the letter

World Cancer Day

Labels: Asbestos
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Higher Mortality Among Chrysotile Asbestos Miners in Italy, Study Says

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Italian researchers found an elevated incidence of mesothelioma in a study of more than 1,000 miners who worked at an asbestos mine near Turin, Italy. Their findings were reported in the scientific journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The Balangero mine, located near Turin, Italy, used to be Europe’s largest open pit asbestos mine. By the 1970s, the mine produced 130,000 to 160,000 tons per year of chrysotile asbestos. It closed in 1990, two years before Italy banned the mining, marketing and use of all types of asbestos because of the human health hazards.

Medical researchers have been tracking the mine’s former workers to understand better the long-term health effects of breathing asbestos dust. Asbestos-related diseases such as malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen closely linked to inhaling asbestos fibers, typically don’t appear until decades after exposure.

In the 2009 study in the scientific journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers from four Italian medical institutions reported a significantly higher than expected death rate from pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma among the Balangero miners. All of the cases of mesothelioma occurred more than 30 years after exposure, and two occurred more than 50 years later. Four of the five cases involved miners exposed to asbestos dust for more than 20 years.

The study expands on earlier published research that found an increased risk of oral, laryngeal and pleural cancers among the Balangero asbestos miners, based on health information and mortality data through 1987. The new research tracks 1,056 miners for 16 additional years —through 2003.

The researchers computed expected mortality rates from certain cancers and other causes of death in the province of Turin and throughout Italy. They then compared the expected rates to the actual mortality among the workers employed at the mines starting in 1946 and later. They found four times as many deaths from pleural mesothelioma as expected and increased mortality for pleural and peritoneal cancer combined.

The study also supports a recent conclusion by the U.S. Institute of Medicine that there is sufficient evidence to support an association between asbestos and laryngeal cancer. The study found a greater than 80 percent increased number of deaths from larynegeal cancer above the norm.

Overall, the researchers found excess mortality among the Balangero mine workers from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis as well as other alcohol-related conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver.

Labels: Asbestos, International News, Mesothelioma
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Wade Rawlins is a former environmental reporter with the Raleigh News & Observer.

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