Asbestos

Asbestos was hailed by many as a miracle mineral during World War II. Almost anything was able to be built or manufactured from this mineral. The building and construction industries used it profusely as an additive to strengthen cement and plastics. Asbestos fibers could be separated into thin threads which did not conduct electricity and were not affected by heat or chemicals. The four main types of asbestos are as follows: Amosite with brown fibers, Anthophyllite with gray fibers, white Christie, and blue Crocidolite. Chrysotile has curly fibers while the other three have rod like fibers. These fibers break into dust quite easily and drift in the air. They can stick on skin, clothing, and can easily be swallowed or inhaled. Asbestos use skyrocketed during World War II. Shipbuilding used asbestos extensively in freighters and support vessels to insulate boilers, steam pipes and hot water pipes. Asbestos became the miracle construction material as it was easily obtained, processed, and transported. After WWII cars used asbestos in break shoes and clutch pads. Asbestos found its way into residential and industrial building materials, water supply, sewage materials, ceiling and floor tiles, and vermiculite garden materials to name but a few products.

In the 1970’s the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of asbestos in several products that could release asbestos fibers into the environment during use, following the discoveries of the health dangers of asbestos dust inhalation. Regulations governing the use of asbestos and concern of public opinion since 1970 have created a significant drop in the use of asbestos in the United States. In 1989 all new uses of asbestos were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency while any old uses before that year were still permitted. The EPA suggested that schools should inspect for damaged asbestos and eliminate any exposure or enclose it in protective barriers. Vermiculite, widely used in horticulture, became a concern of the EPA that recommended outdoor use, limiting the amount of dust used, and keeping vermiculite damp.

Asbestos may create serious health hazards such as coughing, lung damage, shortness of breath, and lung cancer. Most people do not become sick in the early stages of development, but usually need continued exposure, often on jobs such as mining, milling, manufacturing asbestos products, and building construction. Firemen, demolition workers, drywall removers, and any other workers in trades that involve destruction of buildings, ships, and automobiles are also exposed to the hazards and risks of asbestos. Over a period of years continual exposure to asbestos can cause very serious health problems, such as mesothilioma. Mesothelioma is a rare type of carcinoma of the membrane that lines numerous cavities of the body, including the lungs, abdomen and heart, and has been associated with exposure to asbestos dust. In mesotheloma, the cells of the mesothelioma metastasize and damage adjacent organs and tissues. Risk of developing mesotyelioma takes a long period of time, often as long as twenty-five or thirty-five years before full blown symptoms appear. Not all workers who have been exposed will develop malignant Mesothelioma caused by asbestos, but workers who have been exposed to it may bring fibers on their clothing, hair, shoes, and skin home to their families. To circumvent this risk, most industries require workers to bathe and change their clothing before they leave work. Many studies have been conducted involving the risks of diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. The results of one such study involving the risks of smoking and exposure to asbestos proved extremely hazardous.

L&S Announce Steps to Protect Against Asbestos & Mesothelioma
 

Lewis and Sholnick have announced the publication of some simple precautionary steps can be taken to avoid high risk situations in regards to asbestos and mesothelioma. Mesothilioma is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. It refers specifically to a cancerous tumor which involves the mesothelial cells of an organ, usually the lungs or abdomen. Despite being classified under the rather broad category of cancer malignant  Mesothelioma is unique for a number of reasons. First is the immense devastation of the disease, and the inability for modern medical techniques to significantly slow its onset or offer a cure. Approximately 75% of patients die within 18 months of the first signs of the disease. Second, is the long latency period between exposure to the cause of the disease, asbestos, and its onset. Latency runs the gamut from 15 to 50 years, meaning that a person may have been exposed to asbestos more than a half century before the first serious signs of the disease manifest themselves. The average reported latency, however, is approximately 35-40 years.

Because of the devastating nature of the malignant Mesothelioma and because we are able to point to a single root source, namely asbestos exposure, there is significant reason for all individuals to take necessary precautions to avoid contraction of the disease. While certainly no steps taken can fully eliminate all risk of asbestos exposure, some simple precautionary steps can be taken to avoid high risk situations. For instance, a responsible parent should contact their children's local school district. In 1986 Congress passed the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, which required public and private nonprofit schools to inspect their buildings for asbestos-containing materials. Despite this, an untold number of schools either have not taken the necessary steps to eliminate the potential for asbestos exposure or the work has been done shoddily. In fact, just two years ago a New York school district was found to have high levels of asbestos despite having had a contractor "remove" the threat a mere five years before. Upon further investigation, however, the contractor used had already been cited numerous times for doing work not up to code in similar asbestos removal projects. Consequently, due to the nature of this horrific disease concerned parents should first contact their children's school district to receive a copy of documentation stating that indeed, proper steps were taken to remove asbestos from the building. After that parents should do a bit of their own research via the internet and the Better Business Bureau to ensure that the contractor hired has a stellar record.