Category: Asbestos Exposure
Asian Asbestos Tsunami Forecast
The number of people in Asia who develop mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases will increase sharply in the next two decades new research projects.
According to the study in Respirology, the journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, the increase in asbestos use in Asian countries since 1970 is likely to trigger a surge in asbestos-related disease in the next 20 years. Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, is a signature disease of asbestos. But workers exposed to asbestos typically take 20 to 50 years to experience symptoms of mesothelioma or lung cancer after inhaling microscopic asbestos fibers.
Dr. Ken Takahashi, the lead author and acting director of the World Health Organization Collaborative Center for Occupational Health, said that Asian governments should brace for an “asbestos tsunami” in the years ahead.
Asia’s share of worldwide asbestos use has steadily increased from 14 percent in the decades before 1970 to 64 percent from 2001 to 2007, the study said. Yet, the 12,882 deaths attributed to asbestos-related disease in Asia account for only 13 percent of the overall deaths linked to asbestos during the period.
In Asia, asbestos, a mineral fiber, is still widely used in building materials, roofing, cement and power plants. Many Asian countries that import asbestos have weak or non-existent workplace safety laws, leaving workers exposed to asbestos.
In the United States and Europe, most uses of asbestos have been banned since the late 1970s and workers must wear safety equipment to prevent inhaling asbestos.
The World Health Organization identifies asbestos as a dangerous workplace carcinogen and occupational hazard. It called for a worldwide ban on asbestos. An estimated 107,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases annually including approximately 3,000 in the U.S.
New York Case Serves As Reminder of Hazard of Asbestos Demolition Debris
The owner of a New Jersey solid waste management company, a New York farm owner and two associates have been arrested on federal charges of conspiring to dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated demolition debris at an upstate New York farm, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Exposure to asbestos can cause serious respiratory disease including mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen.
According to the June 3 press release, Dominick Mazza, of Tinton Falls, N.J., owner of the solid waste company Mazza & Sons Inc., Cross Nicastro II, owner of a farm in Frankfort, N.Y., and two others were arrested for illegal dumping of 30,000 tons of asbestos debris in Frankfort in 2006.
Asbestos fibers are highly toxic if inhaled and can cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. To prevent exposure, the New York Department of Labor and federal workplace safety regulations strictly prescribe how trained workers should handle asbestos materials during demolition of older buildings and disposal. Asbestos removal workers must be certified to handle asbestos safely to prevent public exposure.
The seven-count indictment details an alleged scheme to illegally dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated pulverized construction and demolition debris that was processed at Eagle Recycling and Mazza & Sons Inc,’s solid waste management facilities in New Jersey. The asbestos contaminated debris was transported to Frankfort, N.Y., and dumped at Nicastro’s farm near the Mohawk River. Much of the farm’s lands are federally-designated wetlands.
According to court documents, Julius DeSimone, of Rome, N.Y., who was also indicted, oversaw the excavation and asbestos debris dumping on the farm. Another defendant, Donald Torriero, of Wellington, Fla., concealed the illegal dumping by fabricating a New York Department of Environment Conservation permit and forging an official’s signature on the fraudulent permit.
The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, violate the Clean Water Act and environmental laws and commit wire fraud.
The defendants have entered pleas of not guilty, according to The Wall Street Journal. Earlier this year, Eagle Recycling of North Bergen, N.J., which produced most of the truckloads of asbestos-containing debris, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to pay $500,000 and comply with environmental laws. A waste trucking broker Jonathan Deck also pleaded guilty in 2009.
The use of asbestos is now strictly regulated in the U.S. But until the late 1970s, asbestos was widely used in many types of building materials. Many older buildings and factories still contain asbestos materials. Asbestos exposure is an occupational hazard of remodeling and demolition workers and a primary way that workers may be exposed to asbestos today.
What the Veterans’ Cancer Registry Reveals About Mesothelioma
Doctors still have much to learn about mesothelioma and how best to treat patients diagnosed with this aggressive cancer linked with asbestos exposure.
To better understand the causes and consequences of mesothelioma, researchers from Creighton University School of Medicine and the Thomas Jefferson School of Medicine in Philadelphia retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 924 veterans diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma between 1995 and 2009 and listed in the Veterans Affairs Cancer Registry.
The median age of the veterans with malignant pleural mesothelioma was 71, according to the researchers who presented their findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference June 3-7 in Chicago. The median age of the veterans with mesothelioma is a reminder of the typical 20-year to 50-year delay between exposure to asbestos and appearance of asbestos disease symptoms. Many veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard likely were exposed to asbestos in their 20s and 30s, but didn’t notice any respiratory symptoms for decades.
From the 1940 through the 1970s, millions of veterans were exposed to asbestos which was widely used in building materials, automotive parts, ships and insulation. The use of asbestos was restricted starting in the late 1970s because of its toxicity to humans. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans who served in shipyards, mining, insulation work, carpentry and construction, demolition of old buildings, and the manufacture of friction products such as brakes were most likely exposed to asbestos.
In the new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers reported that the median survival for the veterans with mesothelioma was seven months. Veterans who had malignant mesothelioma that had not spread and underwent surgery or surgery combined with chemotherapy or radiation tended to live longer.
Nearly 90 percent of veterans diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma were Caucasian and about 9 percent were African American.
In the analysis, some factors observed among the veterans correlated with longer survival including younger age, diagnosis of early stage cancer, the type of cellular structure of the mesothelioma and receipt of surgery.
Approximately, 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the U.S. each year. Most are workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos for an extended period on the job decades ago.
FDNY Retirements Jump Since 9/11
The number of New York firefighters who have taken disability retirement has increased sharply since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, New York researchers report.
In a new online article in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York and New York University analyzed the increased proportion of service-connected accidental disability retirements on the Fire Department of New York pension system.
In the seven years before 9/11, 48 percent of the 3,261 New York firefighters who retired took accidental disability retirements. In seven years after 9/11, 4,502 firefighters retired and 66 percent were accidental disability retirements, nearly half of which were related to injuries or illness from the World Trade Center attacks.
The researchers said that the increase in accidental disability retirements was for the most part due to respiratory-related illnesses. Firefighters have an increased risk of exposure to airborne hazards. Additional increases were attributed to psychological-related illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries from the World Trade Center.
The researchers concluded that the 9/11 attacks affected the health of the FDNY firefighters leading to more retirements than expected and a larger proportion of retirees claiming accidental disability pensions. Pension benefits associated with World Trade Center accidental disability retirements have increased the financial burden on the FDNY pension system by $826 million.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York recently reported in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine that NY emergency personnel who responded after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks have shown an increased incidence of pulmonary inflammation. More than 50,000 men and women were exposed to products of combustion, asbestos and particulate matter after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.
A previous medical study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that New York firefighters who worked at Ground Zero still have significantly abnormal lung function nearly a decade later. Some dust from the collapsed World Trade Center towers contained asbestos and other toxics, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In December, Congress provided $1.4 billion over five years for ongoing monitoring and treatment of illnesses stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris after the 9/11 attacks. Over time, the monitoring program may help define what qualifies as a 9/11-related illness. Several groups are currently conducting studies of cancer deaths among ground zero workers.
Some dust from the World Trade Center destruction contained asbestos and other contaminants, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Inhaling airborne asbestos is closely associated with respiratory disease including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung. Symptoms of mesothelioma typically take 20 to 40 years to appear after exposure to asbestos.
Jon Stewart Mocks Canadian Town of Asbestos For Exporting Mesothelioma
The sales pitch that chrysotile asbestos is safe when handled properly sounds even more ludicrous when an unwitting Canadian asbestos mine owner tries to convince a skeptical comedian of its merits. In a recent segment, Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show served up the town of Asbestos, Quebec to international ridicule for continuing to mine and export the deadly mineral fiber to developing countries.
Exposure to asbestos, once widely used in building materials, causes an estimated 100,000 people a year worldwide to die of respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen. Approximately, 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the U.S. Most are workers who inhaled asbestos fibers in the workplace or Navy veterans exposed to asbestos in ships.
Speaking to The Daily Show, George Gagne, manager of the town of Asbestos, acknowledges that some nations have banned asbestos because it causes mesothelioma. But in the town of Asbestos, town officials and economic boosters encourage more consumption of asbestos to help the local economy.
Bernard Coulombe, head of the Jeffrey Mine, one of Canada’s last remaining asbestos mine, repeats that canard that chrysotile is safe and that industries in India handle asbestos fiber safely. Never mind the scenes from the Canadian Broadcasting Company asbestos documentary showing Indian workers wearing only bandanas tossing bales of asbestos fiber, as if working in a snowstorm. “India is buying 400,000 tons of fiber a year,” Coulombe tells The Daily Show. “In India, they are used to pollution.”
Coulombe still doesn’t realize that he is speaking to a comedian even when the Daily Show interviewer asks, “Does asbestos mean something different in French than in English because in English it means slow, hacking death?”
Only Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, deputy director of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is clear eyed about the harm asbestos causes. Stanbrook tells The Daily Show that chrysotile asbestos causes cancer and the asbestos mine should be shut down rather than given an extended operating lease with new government subsidies. “As a Canadian, I’m embarrassed that we are sending abroad this product that we’ve all learned not to use here because it’s too dangerous,” Stanbrook says.
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