A recent study conducted among Italian asbestos cement workers demonstrates that the risk of lung cancer in people exposed to asbestos falls after exposure to the toxic substance ends.

According to a Reuters article, Dr. Corrado Magnani of the University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, Italy, and his colleagues found that the risk of mesothelioma in the pleura — the tissue lining the lung surface and chest wall — declined after exposure ended. However, the workers’ risk of malignant mesothelioma in the peritoneum — the tissue lining the abdominal cavity — continued to climb even after exposure ceased.

A total of 3,434 individuals, both men and women, were involved in the study. All had worked at an asbestos cement plant and all were working at the plant in 1950 or had been hired between 1950 and 1986, when the plant halted production.

Both men and women in the group were at increased risk of dying from any cause, any type of cancer, lung cancer, and pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, the researchers found. The women carried a higher risk of developing ovarian and uterine cancer. Other cancers that the researchers thought might be found at a higher rate among these workers were not any different than in the general population. Particularly, the researchers studied the incidence of esophageal and laryngeal cancer but found no marked difference.

The risk of lung cancer was highest for men 30 to 39 years after the end of exposure, and for women in the 20 to 29 years after exposure ended, and then began to decline, the study notes. However, the risk for peritoneal mesothelioma continued to rise even 40 years after exposure had ended.

These findings, note Magnani and colleagues, suggest that there may be different mechanisms by which asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma in the pleura and the peritoneum.

A developer from St. Louis, Missouri was indicted Thursday on federal charges of bank fraud, money laundering and violations of the Clean Air Act stemming from improper removal of asbestos from the Ford Building near the downtown area of the city.

Matthew E. Burghoff, 45, head of Mambo Development, was “allegedly engaged in a ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ type of activity,” U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway said in a news release.

Of 10 indictments, six involve allegations that Burghoff failed to notify the Environmental Protection Agency 10 days before removing asbestos from the Ford building, violations of Clean Air Act work practice standards and “negligently causing asbestos to be released into the air,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, federal authorities reported that last September, the city of St. Louis Air Pollution Control Division received an anonymous letter “stating concerns that unqualified personnel were removing asbestos-insulated piping at the Ford building.”

In October, an inspector with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted an inspection of the building and found “asbestos debris swept into piles” and “approximately 60 black bags containing dry asbestos material.”

The asbestos charges, combined with the bank fraud and money laundering allegations, could result in fines of more than $1 million for Burghoff as well as a potential 30 year prison sentence. 

A state investigation in Idaho has revealed that students, teachers and visitors to the former Albion Normal School, now an alumni museum and community center, may have been exposed to asbestos and lead.

According to an Associated Press article, a recent Idaho Department of Environmental Quality report shows contaminants were found in four campus buildings and the soil surrounding at least five structures at the Twin Falls, Idaho school, which closed in 1971 but is still used for other purposes, including youth track meets and city-sponsored social events for residents of all ages.

The article notes that the new findings will mean a slight delay for the developers who purchased the property last year. The former school is scheduled to become a retreat center, say owners Troy and Kent Mortensen. However, the asbestos and lead issues will need to be addressed before they can move forward with their plans.

The co-owners say they are now working with the state Department of Environmental Quality to determine the best procedures for removing the two hazardous materials from the buildings and surrounding grounds. Some asbestos has already been removed and the Mortensen’s hope the soil can be decontaminated by July.

Hundreds of 9/11 first responders suffering from illnesses related to asbestos exposure and inhalation of other hazardous materials during rescue and recovery efforts have asked the U.S. Congress to reopen a key 9/11 fund that would help them pay their expensive medical bills.

According to a Newsday article, House members expressed support for the reopening of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to help first responders who have developed 9/11-related health problems since the fund expired in 2003.

Many first responders said they would heartily welcome the help with expenses. Michael Valentin, age 43, a retired New York City police officer, has suffered through four surgeries and two tumors in the last six-and-a-half years and thinks it’s time for the federal government to lend him a helping hand. Valentin is just one of an estimated 40,000 first responders to develop chronic health problems after working at Ground Zero.

“Without a federal aid program in place, as many as 40,000 victims might sue New York City in the next several years because of severe illnesses the victims have suffered after exposure to toxic debris,” the article points out. More than 10,000 claims have already been filed and are awaiting settlement.

“The suffering of the living victims of 9/11 is real and cannot be ignored,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D- Manhattan), who convened the hearing in hopes of moving ahead with legislation to reopen the fund.

The original fund paid $7.1 billion in aid to 5,560 victims of 9/11 and their families, but included tight restrictions on who qualified as a 9/11 victim, said the fund’s director, Kenneth Feinberg.

Some experts at the hearing argued that revising the compensatory fund to include mental diseases and delayed illnesses would make the government vulnerable to false claims, the article explains.

After pressure from citizens’ groups concerned about Japan’s growing rate of asbestos diseases, the government released the names of more than 2,000 companies around the country where at least one employee had received compensation for an asbestos-related illness between fiscal 2005 and 2006.

According to an article in Asahi, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has been under pressure from groups supporting those suffering from asbestos-caused respiratory illnesses as well as family members of the victims to release the names quickly. The list, the article explains, would enable those who lived near the companies or who had family members who worked there to be checked for diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer for which the only known cause is asbestos exposure.

Health ministry officials defended the delay in releasing the report. “We placed priority on handling the sudden increase in applications for employee compensation, and the delay was not out of consideration for the companies involved,” said one official.

Japanese citizens became aware of the widespread dangers of asbestos use after Kubota Corporation released a report in 2005 which outlined illnesses among former workers at its plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and among residents living near the factory.

Nearly 90 percent of the companies listed on the newly-released report were in the construction and manufacturing businesses. Among manufacturing companies, there were 159 locations related to the shipbuilding industry in some way or another. Many companies on the list are in the ceramics and machinery and tool manufacturing sectors of industry.

Also on the list were a handful of department stores and financial institutions. In these instances, employees had been exposed due to damaged asbestos in the buildings that house these businesses.