Residents surrounding Moline, Illinois’ former nursing school dormitory wish the decapitated building would be torn down. Although city officials have assured residents the building will be demolished, months have passed since the promised demolition date was set.
Many Moline residents built homes in the city’s new subdivision under the impression that the eyesore would fall, shortly after their arrival. Asbestos delays, however, have slowed the demolition process.
City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said: “The Illinois EPA did approve an amendment to the Design Plan to allow for a different testing method to determine the levels of residual asbestos within the building...I believe the building has been cleaned four times so far to remove as much residual asbestos as possible.”
Before the building may be demolished, the Illinois EPA must approve the most recent asbestos testing results, reports The Quad City Times. Once the EPA approves the test results, the building will be cleared for demolition.
The building must first be cleared, to protect employees, as well as neighborhood residents. Exposure to the toxic material has been known to cause several asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma--a rare cancer known to affect the mesothelium.
Symptoms of the disease lie dormant for several decades. Due to the disease’s dormant nature, mesothelioma doctors tend to diagnose patients in the later stages of their disease. Mesothelioma treatment, including mesothelioma chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, are common palliative methods.
The demolition contractor will begin the project once the building is cleared. The process is expected to last 70 days.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Australian Businessman Invents Zippered Bag for Disposal of Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos
An entrepeneur in Australia has found an innovative way to dispose of asbestos, and since March 14th when he launched his business it has become the largest skip bin (dumpster) operation in Australia. The unique design uses a bag with an internal liner that is simply zipped up and removed by a trash truck outfitted with a crane. This method prevents asbestos fibers from becoming airborne and potentially causing mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases in the handlers.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer typically affecting the lining of the lungs. Primarily caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed 30 years or more after exposure. Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments.
Aussie Skip Bins is a franchise business with close to 60 franchisees throughout Australia. Wayne Loane, the franchise creator, hopes to garner business in Melbourne after an upcoming franchise expo.
Using recyclable, pink polypropylene bags, the skip bin business got a large boost when the Cancer Council recommended this disposal method “to be the only recommended product for use by the home owner.” The bags are removed and buried at the disposal site with no potential for human contact with the asbestos.
Loane hopes to bring his business to the United States and believes that regardless of the U.S. recession, the business will take off in the U.S. as it has in Australia.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and the American Cancer Society believes there is no safe level of exposure to the mineral. Even small amounts of asbestos and infrequent exposure can create a risk for contracting mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases.
The World Health Organization estimates 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer typically affecting the lining of the lungs. Primarily caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed 30 years or more after exposure. Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments.
Aussie Skip Bins is a franchise business with close to 60 franchisees throughout Australia. Wayne Loane, the franchise creator, hopes to garner business in Melbourne after an upcoming franchise expo.
Using recyclable, pink polypropylene bags, the skip bin business got a large boost when the Cancer Council recommended this disposal method “to be the only recommended product for use by the home owner.” The bags are removed and buried at the disposal site with no potential for human contact with the asbestos.
Loane hopes to bring his business to the United States and believes that regardless of the U.S. recession, the business will take off in the U.S. as it has in Australia.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and the American Cancer Society believes there is no safe level of exposure to the mineral. Even small amounts of asbestos and infrequent exposure can create a risk for contracting mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases.
The World Health Organization estimates 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Mesothelioma treatments: What have been my options?
Clinical investigate to yield virulent mesothelioma is really active as good as nonetheless no diagnosis has nonetheless valid wholly successful, there exist a operation of treatments accessible to people diagnosed with a disease. There have been 3 sorts of customary treatments used to yield virulent mesothelioma that include: surgery, deviation therapy, as good as chemotherapy.
SurgerySurgery for virulent mesothelioma is widely separated in to a series of sub-classes, that have been specifically written to extent a mildew for people with sold strains of a disease.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a serious form of operation in that a complete lung as good as a apportionment of a backing of a chest, a diaphragm, as good as a little or a complete weal that surrounds a heart is removed.
Wide internal operation is a form of operation that targets as good as removes a cancer as good as a singular volume of a full of health hankie surrounding a carcenogenic region.
Pleurectomy as good as decortication removes partial of a covering of a lungs, as good as a backing of a chest as good as portions of a outward covering of a lungs.
The surgical procession pleurodesis is a graphic technique insofar as it employs a mix of chemicals and/or drug to emanate an conscious injure in between a layers of a pleura. Post surgery, a space combined by a injure contingency be drained, regulating possibly a catheter or chest tube, as good as is afterwards filled with a containing alkali that inhibits a accumulation of liquid in a pleura cavity.
RadiationThe second first healing technique used to quarrel a expansion of virulent mesothelioma is radiation. Radiation therapy, as practical to virulent mesothelioma uses a same simple record as alternative forms of healing deviation insofar as a technique employs tall appetite x-rays to kill cancer cells. The routine is widely separated in to dual extended categories:
External deviation care is a technique in that a appurtenance sends deviation in a targeted tide during a sure apportionment of a body, as good as in so you do it kills a carcenogenic cells in a purview.
Internal deviation therapy, by contrast, uses not an outmost machine, though rsther than needles, seeds as good as catheters to place hot piece without delay on or nearby a cancer. While a accurate routine of you do will of march rely on a sort as good as theatre of a illness, what is consistent inside of this difficulty is that a idea is to get a deviation placed without delay onto a carcenogenic area as good as in so you do yield a some-more strong as good as destined dosage.
ChemotherapyThe third customary virulent mesothelioma diagnosis is Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drug that aim cancer cells as good as stop them from dividing as good as to illustrate forestall their growth.
In systemic chemotherapy, a drug can be taken by mouth or injected, though possibly approach a idea is to have it strech cancer cells by equates to of a body’s own red blood dissemination system. In informal chemotherapy, a drug is placed without delay onto a aim area. And finally, multiple chemotherapy involves a operate of dual or some-more anticancer drug that can be administered possibly orally or by injection.
Malignant mesothelioma is a formidable mildew for any one to bear, however, educating oneself as to a options accessible is an critical step for creation a routine some-more manageable.
SurgerySurgery for virulent mesothelioma is widely separated in to a series of sub-classes, that have been specifically written to extent a mildew for people with sold strains of a disease.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a serious form of operation in that a complete lung as good as a apportionment of a backing of a chest, a diaphragm, as good as a little or a complete weal that surrounds a heart is removed.
Wide internal operation is a form of operation that targets as good as removes a cancer as good as a singular volume of a full of health hankie surrounding a carcenogenic region.
Pleurectomy as good as decortication removes partial of a covering of a lungs, as good as a backing of a chest as good as portions of a outward covering of a lungs.
The surgical procession pleurodesis is a graphic technique insofar as it employs a mix of chemicals and/or drug to emanate an conscious injure in between a layers of a pleura. Post surgery, a space combined by a injure contingency be drained, regulating possibly a catheter or chest tube, as good as is afterwards filled with a containing alkali that inhibits a accumulation of liquid in a pleura cavity.
RadiationThe second first healing technique used to quarrel a expansion of virulent mesothelioma is radiation. Radiation therapy, as practical to virulent mesothelioma uses a same simple record as alternative forms of healing deviation insofar as a technique employs tall appetite x-rays to kill cancer cells. The routine is widely separated in to dual extended categories:
External deviation care is a technique in that a appurtenance sends deviation in a targeted tide during a sure apportionment of a body, as good as in so you do it kills a carcenogenic cells in a purview.
Internal deviation therapy, by contrast, uses not an outmost machine, though rsther than needles, seeds as good as catheters to place hot piece without delay on or nearby a cancer. While a accurate routine of you do will of march rely on a sort as good as theatre of a illness, what is consistent inside of this difficulty is that a idea is to get a deviation placed without delay onto a carcenogenic area as good as in so you do yield a some-more strong as good as destined dosage.
ChemotherapyThe third customary virulent mesothelioma diagnosis is Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drug that aim cancer cells as good as stop them from dividing as good as to illustrate forestall their growth.
In systemic chemotherapy, a drug can be taken by mouth or injected, though possibly approach a idea is to have it strech cancer cells by equates to of a body’s own red blood dissemination system. In informal chemotherapy, a drug is placed without delay onto a aim area. And finally, multiple chemotherapy involves a operate of dual or some-more anticancer drug that can be administered possibly orally or by injection.
Malignant mesothelioma is a formidable mildew for any one to bear, however, educating oneself as to a options accessible is an critical step for creation a routine some-more manageable.
Mesothelioma survivor’s uphill climb gains some traction in cancer fight
Veteran Pompano Beach runner Larry Davis has been in the toughest of races for several years, a relentless uphill climb to bring awareness and gain support for the fight against mesothelioma.
Davis is a survivor of the lethal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. He not only continues to stay a step ahead of the disease and run in road races, he is part of a group that actually had an impact in Washington recently.
Working with the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, he had a hand in securing the support of about 50 members of Congress to create National Mesothelioma Awareness Day on Sept. 26. And most important, to gain support for funding research to combat the disease.
“It’s hard to believe that a group such as ours could go to [Washington] and get the attention of Congress and get them to do something,” Davis said. “It’s huge. I feel pretty good about what we did.”
Mesothelioma is the cancer that killed singer Warren Zevon, actor Steve McQueen and recently NFL Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen. But those are just a few of the big names; this disease impacts families across the country.
Davis’ father was exposed to asbestos at a box manufacturing plant in New Haven, Conn., and died at age 56 from mesothelioma. On Labor Day, Davis and wife, Carol, plan to run in the USA 20K Championship in New Haven, which will pass within a block of that building.
Then he’ll run a meso benefit race in Illinois the weekend of national awareness day.
“The organizer told me, ‘We’ve got hills, they’ll kill you.’ I’d rather go that way,” Davis joked.
Meanwhile, the Miles For Meso 5K that Davis helped organize last winter in Boca Raton, will return Feb. 13 at Spanish River Park, he said. The race against meso goes on and on.
Davis is a survivor of the lethal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. He not only continues to stay a step ahead of the disease and run in road races, he is part of a group that actually had an impact in Washington recently.
Working with the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, he had a hand in securing the support of about 50 members of Congress to create National Mesothelioma Awareness Day on Sept. 26. And most important, to gain support for funding research to combat the disease.
“It’s hard to believe that a group such as ours could go to [Washington] and get the attention of Congress and get them to do something,” Davis said. “It’s huge. I feel pretty good about what we did.”
Mesothelioma is the cancer that killed singer Warren Zevon, actor Steve McQueen and recently NFL Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen. But those are just a few of the big names; this disease impacts families across the country.
Davis’ father was exposed to asbestos at a box manufacturing plant in New Haven, Conn., and died at age 56 from mesothelioma. On Labor Day, Davis and wife, Carol, plan to run in the USA 20K Championship in New Haven, which will pass within a block of that building.
Then he’ll run a meso benefit race in Illinois the weekend of national awareness day.
“The organizer told me, ‘We’ve got hills, they’ll kill you.’ I’d rather go that way,” Davis joked.
Meanwhile, the Miles For Meso 5K that Davis helped organize last winter in Boca Raton, will return Feb. 13 at Spanish River Park, he said. The race against meso goes on and on.
VENTURA OWNER, CONTRACTOR FACE FINES ON ASBESTOS CEILING REMOVALS
In the latter part of June, Ventura, California townhome/apartment owner Tony Biedul, and painting contractor Bill Bigler, were cited for their May removal of textured "popcorn" ceilings from some of the units in the Ventura Village Green apartments. Ceilings which, one expert says, Biedul must have known contained asbestos.
The problem started with leaking pipes in the 150-unit complex, which damaged ceilings and walls in at least 36 of the townhome units. So Biedul hired painting contractor Bigler to repair the damage and - even though Biedul denied it at the time - allowed tenants to remain in their apartments while the asbestos-containing textured ceilings were scraped off and replaced.
In fact, no one would have known about the asbestos content, had not the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District tested some of the material removed from the ceilings and discovered that samples contained significant levels of asbestos, at least according to the testing lab.
Asbestos, used during most of the last century in a wide range of building products, including floor tiles, tile glues, acoustical ceiling tiles, and textured ceiling and wall plasters, or spray-on coatings, was once viewed as a "miracle" compound, both for its superb insulative qualities and its resistance to chemical degradation.
It wasn't until about the middle of the century, or more precisely the 1970s, that public health officials, doctors and even some manufacturers began to recognize asbestos's significant, and growing, role in a type of cancer called mesothelioma.
Occurring in the mesothelial tissues that surround and protect the lungs, heart and digestive organs, though most often in the lungs (as malignant pleural mesothelioma, the cancer has always been relatively rare, and often remains undiagnosed as a result.
What distinguishes malignant mesothelioma from other cancers is its unique and very evident relationship with asbestos, the fact that it lies dormant for so long before producing definitive symptoms, and the fact that - once active - it moves so quickly to compromise large amounts of vital tissue, and usually results in death within a year of diagnosis.
There is currently no known cure for mesothelioma, which makes contracting it the same as a death sentence. For the residents of Ventura Village Green who remained in their apartments while ceilings were removed, the possibility that they will die of mesothelioma in twenty to fifty years looms large.
Both Biedul and Bigler, who owns Quality Custom Painting, have since been issued multiple citations for violations of the Clean Air Act. Each violation could cost them $10,000, according to Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Keith Duval.
Duval was quick to point out, however, that the levying of fines depends largely on whether Biedul and Bigler knew the ceilings contained asbestos, and went ahead despite the danger, or did not know, reducing violations from ‘willful' to unintentional.
According to Duval, most contractors know that popcorn ceilings installed before 1976 - the end of asbestos's heyday - contain the hazardous mineral. Biedul, for his part, has said he didn't think there was any asbestos in the complex, which was built in 1964. And Bigler, who does not have a license for asbestos remediation, said that Biedul assured him the units did not contain asbestos.
Ventura Village Green owner Biedul has since hired a licensed asbestos remediation contractor to fix the problems, which are expected to take about a week. Affected residents have been given money by Biedul for separate lodgings until repairs are complete, and the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District presumably continues to investigate the incident to determine if Biedul (and Bigler) were intentionally negligent or merely uninformed.
The problem started with leaking pipes in the 150-unit complex, which damaged ceilings and walls in at least 36 of the townhome units. So Biedul hired painting contractor Bigler to repair the damage and - even though Biedul denied it at the time - allowed tenants to remain in their apartments while the asbestos-containing textured ceilings were scraped off and replaced.
In fact, no one would have known about the asbestos content, had not the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District tested some of the material removed from the ceilings and discovered that samples contained significant levels of asbestos, at least according to the testing lab.
Asbestos, used during most of the last century in a wide range of building products, including floor tiles, tile glues, acoustical ceiling tiles, and textured ceiling and wall plasters, or spray-on coatings, was once viewed as a "miracle" compound, both for its superb insulative qualities and its resistance to chemical degradation.
It wasn't until about the middle of the century, or more precisely the 1970s, that public health officials, doctors and even some manufacturers began to recognize asbestos's significant, and growing, role in a type of cancer called mesothelioma.
Occurring in the mesothelial tissues that surround and protect the lungs, heart and digestive organs, though most often in the lungs (as malignant pleural mesothelioma, the cancer has always been relatively rare, and often remains undiagnosed as a result.
What distinguishes malignant mesothelioma from other cancers is its unique and very evident relationship with asbestos, the fact that it lies dormant for so long before producing definitive symptoms, and the fact that - once active - it moves so quickly to compromise large amounts of vital tissue, and usually results in death within a year of diagnosis.
There is currently no known cure for mesothelioma, which makes contracting it the same as a death sentence. For the residents of Ventura Village Green who remained in their apartments while ceilings were removed, the possibility that they will die of mesothelioma in twenty to fifty years looms large.
Both Biedul and Bigler, who owns Quality Custom Painting, have since been issued multiple citations for violations of the Clean Air Act. Each violation could cost them $10,000, according to Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Keith Duval.
Duval was quick to point out, however, that the levying of fines depends largely on whether Biedul and Bigler knew the ceilings contained asbestos, and went ahead despite the danger, or did not know, reducing violations from ‘willful' to unintentional.
According to Duval, most contractors know that popcorn ceilings installed before 1976 - the end of asbestos's heyday - contain the hazardous mineral. Biedul, for his part, has said he didn't think there was any asbestos in the complex, which was built in 1964. And Bigler, who does not have a license for asbestos remediation, said that Biedul assured him the units did not contain asbestos.
Ventura Village Green owner Biedul has since hired a licensed asbestos remediation contractor to fix the problems, which are expected to take about a week. Affected residents have been given money by Biedul for separate lodgings until repairs are complete, and the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District presumably continues to investigate the incident to determine if Biedul (and Bigler) were intentionally negligent or merely uninformed.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Navy Can Be Blamed for Mesothelioma Death
A California Appeals Court says the U.S. Navy can legally be blamed for failing to protect one of its shipyard workers from the asbestos that eventually took his life.
Ulysses Collins died of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos, in 2005 at the age of 65. Collins had spent 30 years working as a welder and pipefitter in various California Naval shipyards. Collins and his family brought suit against 17 companies, including Plant Insulation, one of the major manufacturers of the asbestos insulation heavily used by the Navy. A jury found in the Collins’ favor and awarded them $10 million, but the jury questioned why the Navy was not named as one of the entities at fault.
At the time, the Navy was found to be protected from liability in such cases under ‘sovereign immunity’, the concept that ‘the king (or the government) can do no wrong’. But Plant Insulation appealed the trial court’s decision arguing that sovereign immunity means only immunity from liability, not immunity from fault when failure of duty was at stake. The Appeals court agreed and said that the Navy did have a duty to protect Collins and, because they did not do so, they could share in the blame for his mesothelioma.
The decision is significant because Navy veterans are among the most common victims of mesothelioma, a cancer that occurs in the lining around organs, especially the lungs. Asbestos was used in a wide range of materials that went into Navy ships until the 1980’s and hundreds of thousands of veterans and shipyard workers were continually exposed to the toxic mineral. According to evidence presented by Plant Insulation’s attorneys, the Navy did not warn Collins of the dangers of asbestos, train him in the proper techniques for working with it, or provide him with the necessary protective gear.
In their opinion, the appellate court said the jury should have the right to find fault with every party who contributed to the plaintiff’s injury, regardless of whether or not that party has immunity from being sued. The higher the number of defendants found to be at fault, the less any single one of them has to pay out. In the original trial, Plant Insulation was found to be 20% at fault and so was ordered to pay 20 percent of the $10 million damages awarded. The Collins case will now be remanded to the lower court for a new finding on the issue of fault.
Mesothelioma is an incurable and aggressive cancer that can take up to 50 years to develop. About 2,000 Americans receive a diagnosis of mesothelioma every year. Many of them, like Collins, worked in various construction trades.
Ulysses Collins died of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos, in 2005 at the age of 65. Collins had spent 30 years working as a welder and pipefitter in various California Naval shipyards. Collins and his family brought suit against 17 companies, including Plant Insulation, one of the major manufacturers of the asbestos insulation heavily used by the Navy. A jury found in the Collins’ favor and awarded them $10 million, but the jury questioned why the Navy was not named as one of the entities at fault.
At the time, the Navy was found to be protected from liability in such cases under ‘sovereign immunity’, the concept that ‘the king (or the government) can do no wrong’. But Plant Insulation appealed the trial court’s decision arguing that sovereign immunity means only immunity from liability, not immunity from fault when failure of duty was at stake. The Appeals court agreed and said that the Navy did have a duty to protect Collins and, because they did not do so, they could share in the blame for his mesothelioma.
The decision is significant because Navy veterans are among the most common victims of mesothelioma, a cancer that occurs in the lining around organs, especially the lungs. Asbestos was used in a wide range of materials that went into Navy ships until the 1980’s and hundreds of thousands of veterans and shipyard workers were continually exposed to the toxic mineral. According to evidence presented by Plant Insulation’s attorneys, the Navy did not warn Collins of the dangers of asbestos, train him in the proper techniques for working with it, or provide him with the necessary protective gear.
In their opinion, the appellate court said the jury should have the right to find fault with every party who contributed to the plaintiff’s injury, regardless of whether or not that party has immunity from being sued. The higher the number of defendants found to be at fault, the less any single one of them has to pay out. In the original trial, Plant Insulation was found to be 20% at fault and so was ordered to pay 20 percent of the $10 million damages awarded. The Collins case will now be remanded to the lower court for a new finding on the issue of fault.
Mesothelioma is an incurable and aggressive cancer that can take up to 50 years to develop. About 2,000 Americans receive a diagnosis of mesothelioma every year. Many of them, like Collins, worked in various construction trades.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Response of Mesothelioma Patients’ Tumors to Chemotherapy May Offer Clues
Researchers at Columbia University report that changes in the size of tumors in patients with pleural mesothelioma who have undergone chemotherapy may be useful in predicting their response to treatment and survival. Pleural Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer of the lining of the lung associated with exposure to asbestos.
Thousands of Americans have been exposed to asbestos in building materials and manufacturing, and 2,000 to 3,000 die each year of mesothelioma. Typically, 30 to 40 years elapse between the asbestos exposure and the onset of cancer symptoms. Doctors often don’t diagnose the disease until it has reached an advanced stage. The median survival is a year to 18 months.
In a new article in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, researchers at Columbia’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center describe the outcomes of clinical trials involving 30 mesothelioma patients who were treated with chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiation.
The researchers took CT scans of the 30 patients’ lungs and calculated the size of their tumors before and after two rounds of chemotherapy. Patients diagnosed with stage III and stage IV cancer generally had larger tumors than those with less advanced cancer. The percentage change in the size of the tumor from the initial measurement to their evaluation after two cycles of chemotherapy was strongly associated with patients’ overall survival, the researchers said. They found a significant difference in the length of survival among patients whose tumors increased after chemotherapy and those whose tumors decreased.
The researchers said computer-aided measurements of tumors may offer doctors a more reliable way to assess patients’ response to treatment and could provide additional information about patients’ prognosis.
Thousands of Americans have been exposed to asbestos in building materials and manufacturing, and 2,000 to 3,000 die each year of mesothelioma. Typically, 30 to 40 years elapse between the asbestos exposure and the onset of cancer symptoms. Doctors often don’t diagnose the disease until it has reached an advanced stage. The median survival is a year to 18 months.
In a new article in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, researchers at Columbia’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center describe the outcomes of clinical trials involving 30 mesothelioma patients who were treated with chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiation.
The researchers took CT scans of the 30 patients’ lungs and calculated the size of their tumors before and after two rounds of chemotherapy. Patients diagnosed with stage III and stage IV cancer generally had larger tumors than those with less advanced cancer. The percentage change in the size of the tumor from the initial measurement to their evaluation after two cycles of chemotherapy was strongly associated with patients’ overall survival, the researchers said. They found a significant difference in the length of survival among patients whose tumors increased after chemotherapy and those whose tumors decreased.
The researchers said computer-aided measurements of tumors may offer doctors a more reliable way to assess patients’ response to treatment and could provide additional information about patients’ prognosis.
No mesothelioma asbestos found in Canadian Power Station
The Victoria EPA has disproved employee claims that asbestos can be found in the smokestacks of Australia’s Hazelwood Power Station. An asbestos investigation of Australia’s Hazelwood Power Station, located in Latrobe Valley, Victoria, has come to a close after about a month.
ABC News reports that, despite claims made by a former employee, asbestos material is absent from the power station’s smokestacks. The Authority and Workcover both inspected the power station’s records, and discovered that asbestos in the boilers could not, feasibly, make its way to the smoke stacks.
Prior to this discovery, employers were concerned asbestos fibers were in the stacks. Asbestos is a particularly dangerous material, known to pose a serious health risk to those exposed. Many diseases, such as malignant mesothelioma, are related to such exposure. Mesothelioma forms from the protective lining of many of the body’s internal organs, and affects nearly 3,000 Americans each year.
Symptoms of mesothelioma tend to lie dormant for 10 to 50 years, following exposure. Because of this,mesothelioma doctors struggle to diagnose patients in the early stages of their disease.
The EPA’s Gippsland manager has said, however, that asbestos testing of the power station’s emissions has yet to be done. The manager also noted, “A sample could be conducted, but first of all we’re very confident that it’s not there.”
If such sampling were conducted, however, test results would only display a “snapshot” of the power station’s emissions.
ABC News reports that, despite claims made by a former employee, asbestos material is absent from the power station’s smokestacks. The Authority and Workcover both inspected the power station’s records, and discovered that asbestos in the boilers could not, feasibly, make its way to the smoke stacks.
Prior to this discovery, employers were concerned asbestos fibers were in the stacks. Asbestos is a particularly dangerous material, known to pose a serious health risk to those exposed. Many diseases, such as malignant mesothelioma, are related to such exposure. Mesothelioma forms from the protective lining of many of the body’s internal organs, and affects nearly 3,000 Americans each year.
Symptoms of mesothelioma tend to lie dormant for 10 to 50 years, following exposure. Because of this,mesothelioma doctors struggle to diagnose patients in the early stages of their disease.
The EPA’s Gippsland manager has said, however, that asbestos testing of the power station’s emissions has yet to be done. The manager also noted, “A sample could be conducted, but first of all we’re very confident that it’s not there.”
If such sampling were conducted, however, test results would only display a “snapshot” of the power station’s emissions.
Expansion of Asbestos Mining in Canada Sparks Global Outrage
Plans by the Quebec provincial government to finance expansion of the Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos, named for its most valuable asset, have spurred outcries across the globe. Protesters are citing concerns long known to medical researchers andmesothelioma lawyers: Asbestos exposure can cause grave health problems, including forms of cancer that are almost always fatal.
As conceived, the new underground mine would generate some 200,000 tons of asbestos a year starting in 2010. Most of that asbestos—a heat- and fire-resistant material that had been widely used in the Canadian and U.S. construction industries before it was linked to significant health risks—would be exported to developing countries.
Protests in South Korea, Hong Kong, Belgium, and several U.S. cities underscore the severity of asbestos-related diseases.
Exposure to asbestos can trigger lung cancer as well as mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body’s internal organs. Though it can take years—even decades—to develop, mesothelioma is incurable in almost all cases.
While the risks of inhaling asbestos fibers have long been known, manufacturers, employers, and property owners have often been negligent in using or removing asbestos, failing to provide sufficient protective gear or warning, or taking appropriate preventive steps. That’s resulted in unnecessary deaths—and countless asbestos lawsuits.
Over the years, mesothelioma lawyers have had great success in obtaining large verdicts and settlements, often in the multimillion-dollar range, for victims of asbestos-related diseases. But medical researchers have not made equal strides. A diagnosis of mesothelioma is as grim today as it was decades ago—a fact not lost on the demonstrators.
In Hong Kong, protestors assembled outside the Canadian consulate to call for a ban on asbestos exports from Canada to Asia. Asbestos mining—let alone its expansion—is a hot-button topic in the Asian city, due to its increasingly troubling experience with mesothelioma.
“Hong Kong itself is in the midst of an asbestos disease epidemic,” according to the Asia Monitor Resource Center—a labor organization in the former British dependency. “Many workers continue to die every year due to lung cancers and mesothelioma—a deadly lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Due to its long latency period, sometimes over 30 years, the asbestos-related diseases will continue to kill exposed populations for many years more.”
In Seoul, demonstrators gathered outside both the Quebec trade office and the Canadian embassy. They, too, called on Quebec not just to stop the asbestos mine’s expansion—which is to be funded in large part by a $58 million loan guarantee from the Quebec government—but to close the Canada’s mines permanently.
Similar protests were held in Brussels; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, while a California-based asbestos victims group urged Ottawa, the Canadian capital, to oppose the loan guarantees.
“After a century of knowledge concerning the health effects of asbestos and its devastating trail of disease and death around the world,” [this] initiative by Canada is a giant misstep backwards,” said Richard Leman, former assistant surgeon general of the United States and cochair of the science advisory board for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.
Meanwhile, a member of the European Parliament, Stephen Hughes, has urged the European Commission to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization claiming that Quebec’s loan guarantee would contravene WTO rules.
In Canada, the expansion of the Jeffrey asbestos mine is seen from another perspective. Local organizations in the town of Asbestos—viewing increased operations of the mine as a boon to the faltering local economy and employment—have raised $2 million to help finance the project.
But protestors, mesothelioma lawyers, and medical researchers worry that increased asbestos mining could be a boon to something else, too: needless disease, death, and tragedy.
As conceived, the new underground mine would generate some 200,000 tons of asbestos a year starting in 2010. Most of that asbestos—a heat- and fire-resistant material that had been widely used in the Canadian and U.S. construction industries before it was linked to significant health risks—would be exported to developing countries.
Protests in South Korea, Hong Kong, Belgium, and several U.S. cities underscore the severity of asbestos-related diseases.
Exposure to asbestos can trigger lung cancer as well as mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body’s internal organs. Though it can take years—even decades—to develop, mesothelioma is incurable in almost all cases.
While the risks of inhaling asbestos fibers have long been known, manufacturers, employers, and property owners have often been negligent in using or removing asbestos, failing to provide sufficient protective gear or warning, or taking appropriate preventive steps. That’s resulted in unnecessary deaths—and countless asbestos lawsuits.
Over the years, mesothelioma lawyers have had great success in obtaining large verdicts and settlements, often in the multimillion-dollar range, for victims of asbestos-related diseases. But medical researchers have not made equal strides. A diagnosis of mesothelioma is as grim today as it was decades ago—a fact not lost on the demonstrators.
In Hong Kong, protestors assembled outside the Canadian consulate to call for a ban on asbestos exports from Canada to Asia. Asbestos mining—let alone its expansion—is a hot-button topic in the Asian city, due to its increasingly troubling experience with mesothelioma.
“Hong Kong itself is in the midst of an asbestos disease epidemic,” according to the Asia Monitor Resource Center—a labor organization in the former British dependency. “Many workers continue to die every year due to lung cancers and mesothelioma—a deadly lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Due to its long latency period, sometimes over 30 years, the asbestos-related diseases will continue to kill exposed populations for many years more.”
In Seoul, demonstrators gathered outside both the Quebec trade office and the Canadian embassy. They, too, called on Quebec not just to stop the asbestos mine’s expansion—which is to be funded in large part by a $58 million loan guarantee from the Quebec government—but to close the Canada’s mines permanently.
Similar protests were held in Brussels; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, while a California-based asbestos victims group urged Ottawa, the Canadian capital, to oppose the loan guarantees.
“After a century of knowledge concerning the health effects of asbestos and its devastating trail of disease and death around the world,” [this] initiative by Canada is a giant misstep backwards,” said Richard Leman, former assistant surgeon general of the United States and cochair of the science advisory board for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.
Meanwhile, a member of the European Parliament, Stephen Hughes, has urged the European Commission to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization claiming that Quebec’s loan guarantee would contravene WTO rules.
In Canada, the expansion of the Jeffrey asbestos mine is seen from another perspective. Local organizations in the town of Asbestos—viewing increased operations of the mine as a boon to the faltering local economy and employment—have raised $2 million to help finance the project.
But protestors, mesothelioma lawyers, and medical researchers worry that increased asbestos mining could be a boon to something else, too: needless disease, death, and tragedy.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Pittsburgh University Focuses Research on Mesothelioma and Other Environmental Hazards
In 2004 the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) broke new ground in environmental cancer research by establishing the Center for Environmental Oncology (CEO) – the first program of its kind in the United States. The Center focuses on “improving the scientific understanding linking environmental exposures to adverse health outcomes.” The leading-edge Lung and Thoracic Malignancies Program (LTMP) of the CEO focuses on improving both therapy and early detection of lung cancer, esophageal cancer and mesothelioma.
Pleural Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and is most commonly found in the outer lining of the lungs called the mesothelium. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, findings from the latest research and clinical trials have improved the survival rate for mesothelioma patients.
The CEO focuses on “developing strategies to reduce cancer by translating scientific findings about avoidable, environmental causes of cancer into effective ways to minimize risks.” Currently, the only way to eliminate mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease is to avoid exposure to asbestos. While the use of asbestos is restricted in the United States, it is not banned.
The LTMP program includes research areas such as hormone growth factors, DNA repair enzymes that could affect lung cancer risk, biomarkers, as well as mechanisms of induction of radiation damage.
Other LTMP research highlights include:
New therapeutic targets and novel therapeutic delivery
Common mechanisms of inflammation and lung cancer
Early detection/biomarkers for thoracic cancers
Genetic susceptibility to thoracic cancers
Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer
The LTMP is home to several multi-investigator grants including the Mesothelioma Virtual Tissue Bank and an Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) U01 grant.
Pleural Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and is most commonly found in the outer lining of the lungs called the mesothelium. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, findings from the latest research and clinical trials have improved the survival rate for mesothelioma patients.
The CEO focuses on “developing strategies to reduce cancer by translating scientific findings about avoidable, environmental causes of cancer into effective ways to minimize risks.” Currently, the only way to eliminate mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease is to avoid exposure to asbestos. While the use of asbestos is restricted in the United States, it is not banned.
The LTMP program includes research areas such as hormone growth factors, DNA repair enzymes that could affect lung cancer risk, biomarkers, as well as mechanisms of induction of radiation damage.
Other LTMP research highlights include:
New therapeutic targets and novel therapeutic delivery
Common mechanisms of inflammation and lung cancer
Early detection/biomarkers for thoracic cancers
Genetic susceptibility to thoracic cancers
Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer
The LTMP is home to several multi-investigator grants including the Mesothelioma Virtual Tissue Bank and an Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) U01 grant.
Mesothelioma widow files asbestos lawsuit following husband’s death
Donna Stinson, in the wake of her husband’s asbestos-related death, has named 98 defendants in a case filed June 4th. The fifteenth asbestos lawsuit of the year has been filed in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Donna Stinson, of Virginia, filed the complaint on June 4. Stinson has named 98 defendant companies in her case, all of whom allegedly contributed to her husband’s death.
Due to Gerald P. Stinson’s career-long exposure to asbestos, he developed lung cancer. Gerald worked as a boilermaker from 1963 until 2001.
Asbestos is a highly hazardous, fibrous material. It is most commonly found in older homes, within drywall, tile flooring, roofing and a slew of other construction materials. When the material is disturbed, the toxic particles become airborne, and may be inhaled by anyone near the material.
Once the material is inhaled, those exposed are put at risk for contracting several asbestos related diseases. For Gerald, his exposure to asbestos resulted in lung cancer. However, asbestosis and mesothelioma are two known forms of diseases to also arise from asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma develops from the protective lining of many of the body’s internal organs. Due to the diseases’ dormant nature, mesothelioma doctors struggle to diagnose patients in the early stages of the disease.
Donna Stinson’s complaint notes that due to the asbestos-related disease, Gerald became disabled and disfigured, and was unable to work. Donna blames the defendants for knowing the harmful affects of the toxic material, and failing to provide reasonable care to Gerald, as well as her family.
Donna Stinson and her children are seeking a judgment of more than $475,000.
Due to Gerald P. Stinson’s career-long exposure to asbestos, he developed lung cancer. Gerald worked as a boilermaker from 1963 until 2001.
Asbestos is a highly hazardous, fibrous material. It is most commonly found in older homes, within drywall, tile flooring, roofing and a slew of other construction materials. When the material is disturbed, the toxic particles become airborne, and may be inhaled by anyone near the material.
Once the material is inhaled, those exposed are put at risk for contracting several asbestos related diseases. For Gerald, his exposure to asbestos resulted in lung cancer. However, asbestosis and mesothelioma are two known forms of diseases to also arise from asbestos exposure.
Mesothelioma develops from the protective lining of many of the body’s internal organs. Due to the diseases’ dormant nature, mesothelioma doctors struggle to diagnose patients in the early stages of the disease.
Donna Stinson’s complaint notes that due to the asbestos-related disease, Gerald became disabled and disfigured, and was unable to work. Donna blames the defendants for knowing the harmful affects of the toxic material, and failing to provide reasonable care to Gerald, as well as her family.
Donna Stinson and her children are seeking a judgment of more than $475,000.
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