Category: Asbestos Exposure

Dying Woman’s Request For Canada to Stop Exporting Asbestos

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Patients

Just over a year ago, Rachel Lee, a South Korean woman diagnosed with advanced mesothelioma accompanied an international delegation to Canada to urge Quebec provincial officials to stop the subsidy and export of cancer-causing asbestos to Asian countries.

In December 2010, Lee met with Clement Gignac, Quebec’s minister of natural resources and wildlife and called upon the minister to commit to stop subsidizing asbestos production in the province including the shuttered Jeffrey Mine.

Canada is a leading exporter of chrysotile asbestos, a mineral fiber that causes respiratory diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and abdomen. According to the World Health Organization estimates, 107,000 people die each year of asbestos-related disease, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

South Korea banned asbestos imports in 2009. But prior to that date, nearly two-thirds of the asbestos imported into South Korea came from Canada. Lee had lived close to a factory that produce cement products made of chrysotile asbestos.

During the 2010 visit, Lee spoke emotionally at a press conference at the Quebec National Assembly about the prospect of dying of asbestos disease and leaving her children as orphans and her husband as a widower. On Dec. 21, 2011, Lee died of mesothelioma, according to The Tyee, a Canadian online newspaper.

Following Lee’s death, anti-asbestos activists issued an open letter to the Quebec cabinet minister, reminding him of Lee’s dying wish and urging the provincial government to take a stand against the mining and export of asbestos. The government has not responded to the request, according to the newspaper.

In the U.S. approximately 3,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Most are older workers, retired workers and veterans who were expose to asbestos decades ago. Mesothelioma has a long latency period, with  symptoms of mesothelioma typically appearing 30 years to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.

Ten Facts About Asbestos Exposure, Asbestosis and Mesothelioma

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure

The end of the year and start of the new year are a time for list making. As we welcome 2012, here is a timeless list of important facts about asbestos and mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by inhaling asbestos:

1. When a person inhales asbestos fibers, most of the fibers are expelled, but some can penetrate deep into the lung and remain lodged there for a lifetime. Asbestos fibers can cause inflammation and scarring, which can affect breathing and gradually lead to disease.
2. People are more likely to experience asbestos-related disorders when they are exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, are exposed for longer periods of time or are exposed more often.
3. There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
4. Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of developing asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs due to retained asbestosis fibers, as well as malignant diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma.
5. The health effects of asbestos exposure may continue to progress even after a person is no longer exposed to asbestos.
6. Smoking together with exposure to asbestos greatly increases the likelihood of lung cancer.
7. Fluid around the lungs (known as pleural effusion) and changes in the lining of the lung such as thickening, plaques and calcification may be early indicators of past asbestos exposure. Pleural effusions may be an early symptoms of mesothelioma.
8. Most cases of asbestos are diagnosed 30 years or more after a worker was first exposed to asbestos. In some cases, asbestos disease appears after 40 or 50 years.
9. Asbestos-related disease has been diagnosed in asbestos workers, family members, veterans and in particular Navy veterans, people who lived near a factory that used asbestos-containing materials and many trades workers who were exposed to asbestos dust. Many older buildings in New York City contain asbestos building materials and the asbestos may be released into the air if the asbestos is disturbed.
10. Approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the U.S. The number of people diagnosed with mesothelioma has been increasing in recent decades.

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No Safe Level of Exposure to Asbestos, EPA Inspector General Warns in Report

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma

The inspector general of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a stern warning report this month saying the government’s use of unapproved methods to demolish buildings containing asbestos may expose workers and the public to the cancer-causing material.

Asbestos is closely associated with serious respiratory diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and abdomen. Demolition workers and construction workers are among the types of workers who are at higher risk of exposure to asbestos fibers today, if the material is not handled properly during removal.

“Asbestos is a human carcinogen with no safe level of exposure,” Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins Jr., said in the report.

In 1973, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued standards to protect human health from exposure to asbestos during demolition of buildings and asbestos removal. The standards require that specially-trained technicians remove asbestos-containing material prior to demolition, unless the building is structurally unsafe to enter.

According to the inspector general’s report, EPA in 1999 starting exploring alternative methods for asbestos removal. The demolition methods are known by EPA as the Fort Worth Method and the Alternative Asbestos Control Method. The methods leave some or all of the asbestos-containing material in place during demolition. Demolition equipment applies mechanical forces that shred the asbestos-containing material, potentially releasing asbestos fibers into the air and endangering public health, according to the report.

The inspector general said its preliminary investigation indicates the unapproved methods of asbestos removal are currently being used or considered at a number of demolition sites and environmental cleanup locations. The use of unapproved methods is counter to EPA regulations and may jeopardize the health and safety of the public, the inspector general said.

For example, the report said, settled dust results obtained from testing during Alternative Asbestos Control Method demolition experiments in Fort Worth, Texas and Fort Chaffee, Arkansas demonstrated asbestos fiber releases. Video footage show workers at the demolition sites without personal protective equipment. Unprotected workers in adjacent areas and any members of the public in the vicinity may have been exposed.

The inspector general’s report said EPA should retract any approval for the use of alternative asbestos removal methods that deviate from the recognized standards.

Approximately, 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the United States each year. Many are older workers, retirees and veterans who were exposed to asbestos in the workplace. The symptoms of mesothelioma take decades to appear so people recently diagnosed with mesothelioma may have inhaled asbestos fibers in the 1960s or 1970s.

Vaccine May Enlist Body’s Immune System to Kill Mesothelioma Cancer Cells

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Research

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Georgia have developed a vaccine that may offer a promising new strategy for treating various cancers including mesothelioma. An aggressive cancer associated with breathing asbsestos, mesothelioma originates most often in the lining of the lung and abdominal cavity.

The vaccine, which has shown dramatic results at reducing tumors in mice in laboratory experiments, helps a cancer patient’s immune system identify cancer cells and kill them, according to an article this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Treatments that employ the body’s own defenses are known as immunotherapy. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Scientists have long sought to direct the immune system to distinguish when cells become cancerous by the distinct changes that sugars on the cell’s surface undergo. But since cancer cells originate within the body, the immune system generally doesn’t recognize them as foreign.

The vaccine identifies a special protein that is  a signature of certain cancer cells. When malignant tumors occur, they produce the protein MUC1 at high levels, promoting the growth of tumors. Mesothelioma is among the types of cancer in which MUC1 is overexpressed, previous studies such as a 2008 study have shown.

“This is the first time that a vaccine has been developed that trains the immune system to distinguish and kill cancer cells based on their different sugar structures on proteins such as MUC1,” Sandra Gendler, a cancer researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and co-author of the study said in a press release.

The National Cancer Institute recently recognized MUC1 as one of the three most important tumor proteins for vaccine development, Dr. Gendler noted. MUC1 is found in more than 70 percent of lethal cancers including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian, multiple myeloma, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Geert-Jans Boons, a cancer researcher at the University of Georgia Cancer Center and developer of the vaccine, said the treatment, called MUC1 tripartite immunotherapy, produces a very strong immune response. The vaccine was shown to reduce tumors in mice by 80 percent or more, the researcher said.

The researchers are currently testing the vaccine’s effectiveness  against cultured human cancer cells in the laboratory to assess toxicity. Phase I clinical trials involving cancer patients to assess the safety of the vaccine could begin in 2013.

Approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States. Most are older workers, retired workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos decades ago in the workplace.

Mesothelioma has a long incubation period, typically taking 30 to 50 years for symptoms to appear. When it does appear, the cancer is stubbornly resistant to conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation and has a high fatality rate. So more effective treatments are urgently needed.

Holiday Decorations Stored in Attics May Be Contaminated By Asbestos Dust

• Nancy Meredith
• Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma

It’s the season when millions of people in New York and around the U.S. go up in their attics and dust off the holiday decorations, ornaments and boxes of lights to ready them for display. But holiday decorations may be hazardous if they are stored in an attic filled with asbestos-containing insulation. The dust may be deadly. And some vintage decorations may be dangerous too.

Asbestos, a known-cause of cancer in humans, was widely used in many products and buildings materials in the home during much of the 20^thcentury. Many asbestos-containing materials remain in houses and buildings today. An estimated 33 million houses and businesses in the United States contain vermiculite insulation tainted with asbestos, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition, asbestos, a heat-resistant mineral fiber, was used in fireproof holiday decorations to create a white Christmas effect. The asbestos was marketed as pure white snow and snow drift to sprinkle on Christmas trees, wreaths and greenery. These products are dangerous and no longer sold on the market. But people often keep holiday decorations for many years and pass them down to the next generation, so some people may still have asbestos snow among their holiday decorations.

Any disturbance of asbestos —whether in insulation or decorations—can stir up the fibers and cause them to float in the air. Inhaling asbestos fibers increases the risk of developing serious respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and asbestosis, a scarring of the lung. An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people in the U.S. die of mesothelioma each year.

People should not store holiday ornaments and decorations or let children play in an attic if it contains vermiculite insulation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Vermiculite insulation was often sold under the brand name Zonolite® as a do-it-yourself product to pour into the attic to enhance insulation in older homes. Vermiculite insulation resembles grey-brown or silver-gold pebbles. If your home as vermiculte insulation, you should assume it is contaminate with asbestos.

Asbestos-related diseases develop slowly with symptoms typically appearing 20 years to 50 years after exposure. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer, but there are treatment options including surgery, chemotherapy an radiation if the disease is diagnosed in time.

Learn more information about mesothelioma.