Mesothelioma Health News

Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is asking the asbestos removal industry to make further improvements in reducing ill-health caused by work with asbestos, according to an article posted on Abeceder.com.

Though improvements in regards to safety issues have been made throughout the industry, experts note, every year more than 600 Brits die from exposure to asbestos through their work in the construction industry and its allied trades, explains the article. In all, about 3,500 individuals die in Britain each year from asbestos exposure, including those who work in fields outside the construction industry.

Individual companies and the asbestos removal business owners in general are being encouraged to identify further steps that they can take to reduce exposure to asbestos and thus lessen the incidence of disease, said Mike Williams, Asbestos Licensing Principal Inspector in HSE’s Field Operations Directorate

“We are determined to work with the industry, and our objective is to convince them that higher standards to protect health are achievable and needed. We will explore how individual license holders can make those necessary improvements and hence reduce the number of deaths from asbestos related diseases.”

Steve Sadley, Chief Executive of The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA), agrees that more needs to be done to protect British workers from the dangers of asbestos.

“The main aim of the Asbestos Liaison Group (ALG) has always been to improve standards within the asbestos removal industry. ARCA’s Site Audit Accreditation Scheme has also highlighted the need for greater management awareness in this respect. ARCA is therefore delighted that the HSE has taken this initiative.”

Six Memphis (TN) residents are suing Minneapolis-based Cargill, Inc. for $3 million, alleging exposure to asbestos at a grain elevator purchased by the company in 1999.

According to an article in the Memphis Daily News, the employees, all African-American, claim that Cargill did not complete the asbestos removal they began when they purchased the facility from Continental Grain, a New York company. Because of that, employees were exposed to the dangerous mineral on a regular basis.

“The defendant knew of the hazardous conditions since acquiring this section of what was formerly Continental Grain,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit goes on to say that an area of the facility cleared by General Construction Services in November 2000 was found to be clear of asbestos by a Tennessee Occupational Safety & Health Administration (TOSHA) investigator.

“Some six years later, as exposure conditions remained, in September 2006, a representative from the corporate office visited what is referred to as the Memphis Elevator and inquired about the status of certain tile in the elevator. Unaware of the alleged removal by General Construction Services, an asbestos sign was posted immediately after the representative noticed the disturbed floor tile,” the suit explains.

At that same time, two of the plaintiffs, acting as union stewards, began asking questions about the presence of the asbestos and what it meant to the employees working in the area,” they said.

Plaintiffs Vincent Mickens and Francois Johnson said that instead of having their concerns addressed, they were told that “for five years they’d been receiving asbestos training,” though they were perplexed as to how this “asbestos training” would have helped them avoid exposure to the toxic mineral. In addition, most denied ever receiving the training in question. The plaintiffs also allege that they were made to sign “altered” documents which stated that the training was received.

The six plaintiffs also claim racial discrimination as only black employees were made to work in the asbestos-ridden area of the Memphis Elevator.

The building slated to hold the brand new Monroe Twp., NJ library will contain more than just books, magazines, and other media, say township officials. The building, once owned by Verizon, comes complete with dangerous asbestos fibers.

According to an article in the Gloucester County Times, Monroe mayor, Michael Gabbianelli, said last Friday that he was informed on Thursday of the results of an environmental study performed at the former Verizon building and immediately authorized an extensive air quality examination, adding that township employees performed “demolition tasks” inside the structure last summer which may have resulted in the spread of asbestos fibers.

“Today, we are contacting all township employees, including our summer and student hires, in an effort to notify anyone who may have been in the building or in contact with the building this past year,” Gabbianelli said in a statement to the press.

He added that a study revealed a 3 percent asbestos rating in the joint compound used in the wallboard on the perimeter walls of the building. The federal limit is 1 percent.

Gabbianelli said officials contacted the Gloucester County Board of Health and notified other state and federal agencies about their concerns. The area where the sample was taken had not been disturbed, he added.

“While we do not believe that these circumstances warrant a public health hazard or risk, we are going to proceed with an abundance of caution,” Gabbianelli said. “I want to assure all of our employees, including our summer help, that the township is dedicated to protecting their well being.”

The township will provide concerned employees with a medical screening and answer any related questions, officials explained.

An Australian union official is questioning the wisdom of allowing fire fighters to continue fighting a smoldering blaze at a defunct meat packing plant in Patea after the detection of large quantities of asbestos and asbestos dust. There are also fears that residents are still at risk of asbestos exposure even though they have now been permitted to return to their homes.

According to a press release by the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), there is concern that the fire is likely to have spread deadly asbestos fibers for several kilometers over homes in the surrounding area.

CFMEU NSW safety coordinator Steve Keenan said the union, along with the Australian Asbestos Contractors Association, would be sending two technicians to the town to install air monitoring equipment to measure asbestos levels over the next several days.

“This freezing works was literally riddled with deadly asbestos,” he said. “Our concern is that the severity of this fire has resulted in these fibers being blown over a large surrounding area, putting the long term health of community members at risk.”

“The union is worried officials in New Zealand have allowed the return of residents too soon, and that there has not been adequate testing to identify the risks or to develop a safe cleanup plan. Asbestos risks must be taken very seriously as even minute exposure can potentially result in deadly diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis,” Keenan continued.

“The remaining asbestos on site must also be suppressed with water until a full cleanup can occur, otherwise strong winds will have the potential to stir up dust and ash, and blow more asbestos over the surrounding area.”

In the meantime, the fire department has offered to wash down local homes free of charge and fire fighters will continue to monitor the smoldering embers, aided by diggers who are assigned with the task of lifting heavy material so that fire fighters could aim water at deep-seated hot spots, adds an article on NZPA.

Students at a Bethel, Conn. high school had a short day yesterday after contractors unwittingly tore into a wall that contained dangerous asbestos.

According to an article in the Danbury (CT) News-Times, school officials dismissed Bethel High School students early Wednesday after workers performing renovations there inadvertently opened a wall cavity and exposed asbestos-containing fireproofing material.

The town’s environmental inspector was called immediately, notes school superintendent Gary Chesley, and arrived shortly after students were dismissed to begin air quality testing. Letters went home to parents concerning the day’s mishap.

By Wednesday evening, Chesley announced that local and school officials had received the results of the tests and that the high school would indeed open on Thursday because the tests showed no danger to students or staff.

“We’re clean, so we’ll open on time tomorrow,” Chesley said. “The (asbestos) levels are almost non-detectable.”

The contractors exposed the asbestos while working to install electrical material in the wall in question, Chesley notes. He added that the area where the asbestos was found is not frequented by students or faculty.

“You could not pick a better place, frankly, because there are no classrooms anywhere near it,” Chesley said. “It’s really an isolated location.”

Greenstone Holdings, Inc. have announced the manufacture of a new product, Crystal-Guard, developed and manufactured by M-Tec Co. Ltd. in Japan, and used to contain asbestos by spraying and encapsulating the material, often found in attics, walls, floors, or ceilings, and preventing the asbestos from releasing toxic airborne particles into the air. Crystal-Guard does not have an adverse effect on the original thermal insulation properties of the asbestos, the company said in a recent press release.

The company notes that their new product also makes proper disposal of asbestos “safer, simpler, and more economical.”

“Asbestos is usually decomposed into harmless minerals by exposing it to extremely high heat, around 1500 degree C. or 2700 degree F,” the company’s technical staff explains. “Crystal-Guard treated asbestos, however, is made harmless at much lower temperatures around 900 degree C or 1600 degree F. requiring less energy to detoxify the asbestos, which alternatively lowers costs.”

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that asbestos in various forms has been used as insulation in more than 30,000 public schools and 730,000 public or commercial buildings and remains present in most buildings posing serious health hazard. This makes asbestos a huge problem, which will be around for a long time. Crystal-Guard can help speed the clean up process and provide a much safer environment for the public. Additionally, it is cost effective, which facilitates removal projects that might otherwise be prohibitive,” said Mr. Sal Miwa, CEO of Greenstone, a company that provides a variety of unique chemical technologies that are used in the construction and building industries.

An Oregon homeowner who refused to cease the removal of asbestos-containing siding from his home in the city of Athena has been fined for his non-compliance by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

According to an article in the East Oregonian, the DEQ issued William Koskela a $6,358 penalty for the unlawful handling of asbestos-containing material at his Athena residence after a neighbor complained to the department when they spotted Koskela tearing down siding from one area of his house.

DEQ air quality inspector Tom Hack went to the residence and found shattered siding and informed Koskela the siding likely contained asbestos. He also told him that shattering the material released harmful fibers into the air. Koskela denied that the siding contained asbestos, but after laboratory testing, Hack’s suspicions were confirmed.

But even after being notified of the presence of asbestos, the homeowner refused to cease his siding renovation project. Hack said he left phone messages telling Koskela he should discontinue removing the siding in a manner that rendered the material “friable.”

“He apparently did not get the messages,” Hack said, noting that the material contained 10 percent chrysotile asbestos. The state demands that any materials containing more than 1 percent asbestos be removed by a licensed abatement professional and disposed of at a designated landfill for toxic waste.

In a letter dated Jan. 2, a department official told Koskela he was seen “digging the material with a shovel and dropping it from a ladder.” After attempted DEQ contact, Koskela allegedly removed and transported the material to the landfill, an act which resulted in further fines.

The article noted that “a number of factors are taken into consideration when assessing fines, including scope of the project, previous violation history and potential health hazards imposed on the public.”

“It’s a sensitive area where kids walk by, so you know that’s taken into consideration,” Hack added.

New parents whose babies were born at England’s Royal Alexandria Hospital late last year may have gone home with more than a new baby. They may have inhaled asbestos fibers during their time spent at the hospital, says an article in the Paisley Daily Express.

According to the article, asbestos was found several weeks ago during a renovation project at the busy maternity ward, and while hospital officials insist there is no cause for concern, worried parents say health chiefs are “keeping them in the dark” when it comes to details about the incident.

In the meantime, an anonymous source told the newspaper that asbestos samples have been removed from the hospital and sent to a lab for testing.

“Asbestos was found a few weeks ago but nothing was done to alert people, despite the fact that there are wee babies in there, as well as women who have just given birth,” explained the source. “An internal wall was pulled down as part of the renovation work and crystallized asbestos was found. It is frightening to think about the possible health implications.”

“I am a dad myself,” the source added, “and I think it is absolutely ridiculous that nobody has told patients about the asbestos problem. It’s unacceptable that they’ve been kept in the dark. There are concerns about the possibility of workmen involved in the renovation accidentally carrying asbestos into areas where mums and their babies are looked after.”

Many mothers who gave birth during the time the renovations were being carried out were also alarmed. “The work was going on all around and I wasn’t concerned - then the rumors started,” noted one patient, who wished to remain anonymous. “I have to admit it made me feel a bit anxious. I was only in for two days but was happy to get home away from any potential danger.”