New Jersey Town Approves Naming September 26 as Mesothelioma Awareness Day
Apparently you can fight City Hall.
At least that’s what Bonnie Anderson and her husband John found out when they attended a Township Council meeting in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where September 26th was officially named Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Anderson has survived over seven years with mesothelioma. She, along with her entire family, is working to assist senators and congressmen in obtaining funding for research to find a cure for this rare form of asbestos cancer.
Because of determined citizens like her, the states of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky and New York have already recognized September 26 as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Other places have also proclaimed an official awareness day in their own towns as well. They include Austin, Texas, Santa Barbara, California, and Seattle, Washington.
It all started when the first recognized Mesothelioma Awareness Day was declared in 2003 by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Council. Local action is vital when it comes to raising awareness and involvement. You can help raise awareness by getting Mesothelioma Awareness Day made official in your city, state and even the nation. It begins by simply contacting your local government and encouraging them to declare September 26th as Mesothelioma Awareness Day.
For more information on how you can help, visit the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.
Asbestos Removal Costs Kentucky Taxpayers $400,000
Removal of 2,450 tons of asbestos from a former manufacturing site in Kentucky has cost state taxpayers $400,000.
Chase Environmental removed asbestos contaminated material from Deena Products. The work was done to prevent further contamination. Thousands of tons of additional non-contaminated debris and a dilapidated building which remain at the site in Carlisle Count are the responsibility of the property owner, according to Shawn Cecil of Kentucky’s Superfund Branch.
Deena operated an electroplating factory at the site and manufactured lamp fixtures until 1987. The plant, which opened in 1949, employed more than 300 people at one time but closed when owners refused to invest money to prevent pollution in a nearby creek.
According to a state news release, the contamination was discovered when portions of the buildings were being torn down. The asbestos removal, paid by the Kentucky Hazardous Waste Management Fund, was expensive but still only half of the estimated cost of about $800,000.
Our mesothelioma family advocates are available to answer your questions, so please contact us to learn more about asbestos exposure and mesothelioma.
Nuclear Site Workers at Risk for Mesothelioma
A recent report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine says construction workers at four Department of Energy (DOE) sites have been exposed to asbestos and other dangerous materials. This exposure puts them at risk for mesothelioma, other asbestos cancers, and lung disease.
Beginning in 1996, the government established medical screening and surveillance programs to determine workers’ health risks at four DOE sites in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; Aiken, South Carolina, and the Amchitka site in Alaska. The programs included medical exams.
During a recent study that included a look at mortality rates among nearly 9000 construction workers at the sites, it was found that 674 workers died. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was in excess at the Tennessee site and multiple myeloma was excessive at the Washington plant. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was elevated among workers at the South Carolina site. In conclusion it was learned that workers at the four sites were found to have significant risk for asbestos-related cancers, such as mesothelioma.
When researchers looked at people in certain types of DOE nuclear site jobs, they saw a spike in death rates. Asbestos workers/insulators had a 93% risk and teamsters had a 60% higher risk. Construction workers at the sites faced a higher risk for lung cancer and mesothelioma. “Asbestos use at the sites was not controlled well,” said John M. Dement, Professor at Duke University Medical Center. “Clearly there’s a need for better asbestos control,” he added.
Dr. Dement hopes the data found during the research will help DOE sites design programs to assess workers’ exposures and put preventive programs in place. Prevention is important but workers who are already at risk must be treated.
For more information on mesothelioma, request our Mesothelioma Information Guide and Care Organizer, or contact one of our mesothelioma family advocates who will happily answer your questions.
Asbestos and Mold delay Vermont School Opening
On Aug. 27, Addison County Supervisory Union (ACSU) officials in Vermont announced an elementary school will open on Sept. 14, almost two weeks later than the originally scheduled Sept. 2 opening. In a letter to families, ACSU superintendent Lee Sease explained that the delay is due to the need to remove mold and asbestos in the school, discovered following a routine carpet cleaning in early July.
Officials explained the mold is creating air quality issues throughout the building. When the ACSU consulted an expert about the problem, the expert recommended that the carpets be replaced in affected areas.
As the replacement of the carpets got under way, however, it became clear that some of the older carpets were placed over asbestos tiles, and that the removal process would disturb the tiles. The ACSU concluded that the tiles would also need to be removed, and that all of the air systems would subsequently need to be cleaned.
Removal of the asbestos tile did not begin until late in the summer and is still under way. The new flooring cannot be laid until the contaminated tiling is completely removed and air quality tests are satisfactory.
Our mesothelioma family advocates are available to answer your questions, so please contact us to learn more about asbestos exposure and mesothelioma.
Rome Opera House Closed During Asbestos Removal
Ticketholders of 270 seats at Milan’s LaScala Opera House will be offered “upgrades” to better seats or have their money returned after the seats were closed due to the discovery of asbestos. Seats in the top loggia will be closed until workers finish their asbestos removal project. Work should be completed by the end of October, officials said.
La Scala spokesman Carlo Maria Cella said the asbestos was found in December in a very limited area of the lighting area in the vaulted ceiling. The area was immediately sealed until removal could be done during the summer break. According to Cella, Milan health officials claim there was no spread of the asbestos fibers.
Whenever asbestos is found in structure in Italy, it must be quickly put under protective cover because of the hazard to health. The asbestos can then be removed at a later date. The start of removal was slowed because Milan’s health officials requested more “mapping” of the entire area of the theater.
Within the last 10 years, LaScala received court orders to pay damages in two cases involving stagehands who contracted asbestos diseases while employed by the theater. The workers were exposed to the asbestos while handling fire retardant material protecting stage curtains. Cella said the material was used decades ago before asbestos products were banned nationwide by Italian law.
There are many products that were manufactured with asbestos throughout the years. Please check our list of asbestos products to learn more, or feel free to contact us with questions regarding asbestos products, exposure to asbestos, and information on mesothelioma. It is important that you know if you or your family was ever exposed to asbestos in order to receive appropriate medical treatment and testing.
