Asbestos has put another stop to Australian advances. The National Broadband Network (NBN), a government owned company, has had to halt their progress towards a nationwide fiber installation due to the presence of asbestos.  With a massive plan to include 93% of the nation, NBN set about connecting the country through fiber-optic technology. Only 7% would be left with other forms of internet and digital connectivity.

The plan included use of existing telegraph poles and underground conduits. About 25% of the new fiber would be hung from poles while the large majority would be buried in an existing underground infrastructure of ditches. However, asbestos was found to be present in the cement and building materials of included ditches and conduits.

Switching its primary focus from technology to safety, NBN administrators are now considering the best way to move forward. Exposing asbestos would threaten safety and health for workers and the public. Asbestos is known to cause severe respiratory conditions. Rare cancer mesothelioma is most associated with asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is characterized by malignant tumors in the lung ling and lining of other abdominal cavities. There are available mesothelioma treatments, but no known cure.

Costs associates with asbestos removal are high. Trained professionals with appropriate protective gear must test all potentially dangerous materials and them remove it without exposing the fibers. In this case, complexity had been added by trouble differentiating between asbestos and non-asbestos cement.

NBN spokeswoman Rhonda Griffin sounds optimistic. She said the “…costs of asbestos management has been factored in to our business case. Where asbestos is identified or suspected, NBN Co contracts the services of fully qualified asbestos experts to remove any aged asbestos-containing infrastructure and dispose of it as per all safeguards required under regulation. Independent hygienists are engaged to monitor any removal.”

Asbestos removal contractors are anticipating a busy season as this unexpected NBN situation redirects funds and efforts. Director of Sydney based asbestos removal company Alkene, Bill Snell said, “It’s going to be a major job actually.” He expects his firm and others to be busy.

There is a responsibility to the public in this case, which causes concern for many. A nationwide effort to connect a population may easily turn into a nationwide nightmare. With health and safety on the line, not all are so confident of NBN’s, and the government’s, ability to handle it.

Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union national secretary Peter Tighe said, “It’s obviously something we’ve got to be very careful about. You can’t just send somebody out and say, ‘Pull cables through’.”

As the US realizes its error of long asbestos use and attempts to correct the problems now rampant across the country, reminders consistently pop up to clarify the daunting height of such a task. Ridding the nation of just one toxic chemical could take exponentially longer than it took to spread it through homes, buildings and machinery across the country.

Smith Middle School of Chillicothe City Schools in Ohio is one such reminder. The schools facilities were closed in 2007 following the opening of a new school. Administrators are now considering all possibilities for the property’s future. Regardless of whether the school is rebuilt, sold, or razed, however, aged asbestos materials used in its original construction and remodels over the years must be removed.

Asbestos poses no threat if contained inside secure components. As an example among countless other things, many floor and ceiling tiles manufactured and installed in the US have been made with asbestos. As long as the tiles stay intact and undamaged, there is no safety or health risk. However, over time such materials begin to wear out, allowing the asbestos fibers to become airborne. This is particularly so in municipal buildings like schools where high traffic is an almost daily reality.

Smith middle School was built in 1931, well before asbestos health risks were known. It was not until the 1980’s that the US began to regulate use and removal of asbestos. The Environmental Protection Agency now outlines responsibilities regarding asbestos use in its Clean Air Act. Regulations are showing up around the world as asbestos proves its harmfulness again and again. The World Health Organization includes asbestos on its Type 1 carcinogen list along with arsenic.

Asbestos causes several respiratory conditions including asbestosis, lung cancer and the rare cancer mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is most associated with asbestos as its almost exclusive cause. Inhaled asbestos fibers can begin a mutation in lung lining cells that grow into characteristically irregularly patterned malignant tumors of mesothelioma. There are mesothelioma treatments available—surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy among them—which directly attack the cancer. Many mesothelioma patients are choosing palliative treatments which focuses on quality of life and pain management, as there is no known cure for mesothelioma and it’s prognosis includes a short life expectancy.

Chillicothe City Schools have received a grant for $200,000, which will offset the total costs of $250,000 to have asbestos safely removed from Smith Middle School. These funds were awarded form the Ohio Department of Development as part of the Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund.

Australia continues to face rising mesothelioma cases as past asbestos use is now taking its toll. A Queensland woman wishing to remain unnamed has been diagnosed with mesothelioma decades after her exposure to asbestos in a State pre-school.

Shailer Park State Pre-school was in prime condition in the early 1980’s. However after a quick double in class size administrators moved forward with an expansion of the facility. Regular classes were kept while construction was done. It is during this time that the unnamed woman, working as a pre-school teacher’s aid, was exposed to asbestos fibers.

Asbestos is known to cause several severe respiratory conditions including lung cancer, asbestosis, and the rare cancer mesothelioma from which this lady is now suffering. Mesothelioma begins when asbestos fibers are inhaled. Once in the lungs, they can start a mutation in cells of lung lining and lining of other abdominal cavities. Mesothelioma is characterized by irregularly patterned tumors which remain latent for years, most often twenty to fifty years. When symptoms are demonstrated mesothelioma can be easily mistaken for pneumonia or other treatable respiratory conditions.

There are mesothelioma treatments available which include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and palliative care. Palliative care focuses on pain management and quality of life without directly fighting the cancer. Life expectancy of mesothelioma patients following diagnosis averages eighteen months.

A worker’s comp claim was filed on behalf of those present and involved in Shailer Park State Pre-school construction. Hoping for additional evidence in the event of a class action lawsuit, the firm on the case asked people involved to register with their online database.  Trent Johnson, associate at Maurice Blackurn Lawyers said additional evidence would make future claims go smoother. He said, “Education facilities in Shailer Park were at a premium in the early 1980s and just a year after the original preschool was built, it needed to double its size to meet demand. Normal classes were conducted while the preschool extensions were under construction and everyone who was at the site during the building works in early to mid-1983 would have been exposed to the asbestos dust. Not everyone who’s exposed to asbestos will come down with an illness … but if we had a large number of people suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, anything is possible.”

Although the unnamed lady was a part of this worker’s comp claim, she is considering filing against Queensland’s government directly for past and future damages.

New cancer research may prove helpful in the fight against mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused almost solely by toxic asbestos fibers. These fibers, once inhaled, can start a mutation process in cells of lung and abdominal cavity lining. Mesothelioma can take decades to demonstrate symptoms making it hard to detect. Once it has been diagnosed, typical prognoses include an average life expectancy of eighteen months.

Although many mesothelioma patients are choosing palliative care, which focuses on pain management and bettering quality of life, there are many aggressive mesothelioma treatments available. A combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and rehabilitative therapies are typically administered in a mesothelioma case. However, mesothelioma has proved somewhat chemotherapy resistant and continues to be considered incurable.

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, grants have been distributed to further cancer research. Agios Pharmaceuticals, a recipient of such a grant through the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Program (QTDP), has been studying cancer metabolism. Following an exciting discovery of a connection between slowed growth in lung cancer cells and the diabetic drug metformin, cancer metabolism testing is proving positive.

With $488,000 in funding from QTDP, Agios Pharmaceuticals is one of the leading groups in metabolism research. Chief executive David Schenkein said, “Nutrient supply and deprivation is becoming potentially the next big wave.”

Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is another company to receive funding through QTDP for cancer treatment research. Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals said, “Just as the body needs nutrients to survive, cancer cells depend on certain nutrients to make energy and to proliferate.”

Until now, typical cancer treatment has focused on removal of the malignancy and attack on remaining cancerous cells. This approach often leaves surrounding healthy tissues vulnerable to the same attack, allowing patients’ quality of life to suffer as well

Cancer metabolism research is taking a new approach. Like other living organisms, cancer needs an energy source to continue growing. Glucose is a primary food, or energy source, for cancer. Researchers are testing the potential of cutting of a cancer’s glucose supply in hopes this will render the cancer unable to continue growing and spreading.

New cancer research is welcome as mesothelioma cases in America and worldwide are thought to be rising. Three thousand Americans suffer with mesothelioma each year, while the numbers worldwide are believed to be as much as ten times higher. The World Health Organization estimated ninety thousand mesothelioma cases as we head into what may be the peak of this fatal disease.