Around the world, when public health workers call for national bans on asbestos, one of the things they hear from the local asbestos industry is that the U.S. has not banned asbestos. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations to phase out the use of almost all asbestos products in 1989, and these rules were overturned in a court challenge in 1991. Industry spokesmen accordingly emphasize that the sale of almost all asbestos products is still allowed in the U.s. and point to the existence of a 1986 International Labor Organization OLO) convention on asbestos to assert that there are international standards in effect for “controlled use” of asbestos.(2)
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A local contractor and his brother have been indicted for illegally removing asbestos and transferring it to a storage facility in town. An environmental strike force uncovered 76 drums of asbestos in a storage facility in Middleboro, and alleged it came from demolition projects in North Attleboro and Attleboro, according to the state attorney general. The Environmental Protection Agency took the unprecedented step last week of declaring Libby a federal public health emergency, vowing to finally finish a cleanup that has languished for nearly a decade. Federal safety regulators want $112,000 in fines from three Baton Rouge companies for their alleged failure to protect workers properly from possible asbestos contamination during renovations at the State National Life Building. A $4.9 million study, conducted by the University of Minnesota, is under way to define the relationship between the rare cancer and taconite dust. Open house to be held June 22 by state environmental officials to inform residents of asbestos dumping sites. Other topics to be discussed include property owners’ responsibilities, environmental issues, potential health risks, proper management of asbestos to reduce potential risk of asbestos exposure, and remediation and redevelopment strategies for select sites. Patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma who have been treated with radiation may be at an increased risk for malignant mesothelioma. Two weeks after a federal jury acquitted W.R. Grace & Co. and three executives on criminal charges that they knowingly exposed residents in Libby to deadly asbestos, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced what he calls a “breath of fresh air” for the northwest Montana town: a $6 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide health care for residents stricken with asbestos-related diseases. MISSOULA, Mont. - W.R. Grace & Co. and three former executives were acquitted Friday of federal charges that they knowingly allowed residents of northwestern Montana town to be exposed to asbestos from its vermiculite mine. For patients with this type of cancer, the standard of care is treatment with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is typically not used. This is because radiation to the entire lining of the lung has many side effects that are often severe including damage to the lung (pneumonitis). There is a new radiation technique using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) that has been shown to reduce many of the side effects of standard radiation therapy. This type of radiation therapy specifically targets the lining of the lung, where you have your cancer, and reduces the risk of damaging the lung itself. The purpose of this study is to test the safety and toxicity of standard chemotherapy followed by IMRT. >>>>>This study is currently recruiting participants.<<<<< This research is being done to find out if pemetrexed and cisplatin work better when given together with an experimental drug called MORAb-009 in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. >>>>>This study is currently recruiting participants.<<<<<< |
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