Asbestos

Asbestos Still Causes Cancer. Why Is It Still Used?

More than a dozen products, from cement products to clothing to car parts, are still manufactured with asbestos. The U.S. isn’t alone in continuing to allow its use. According to a study a few years ago, just 44 out of 143 countries that used asbestos in the 2000s have since banned its use.

How Canada Changed from Exporting Asbestos to Banning Asbestos: The Challenges That Had to Be Overcome

Until recently, Canada was a major producer, exporter and propagandist for the asbestos industry. Other Western countries banned asbestos many years ago, but it was only in December 2016 that the government of Canada finally announced that it would ban asbestos by 2018.

How Freaked Out Should We Be by the Possibility That There Was Asbestos in Baby Powder?

What we know is a paradox: Asbestos shouldn’t be in baby powder. And most people will not be affected in the least by the fact that it was.

Why the Deadly Asbestos Industry is Still Alive and Well

Despite irrefutable scientific evidence calling out the dangers of asbestos, 2 million tons of the carcinogen are exported every year to the developing world, where it's often handled with little to no regulation. For this episode of VICE Reports, correspondent Milène Larsson traveled to the world's largest asbestos mine in the eponymous town of Asbest, Russia, to meet workers whose livelihoods revolve entirely around the dangerous mineral.

A Toxic Substance Has Been Found in Crayons Again

A recent detection of asbestos highlights the challenge of keeping products for kids safe online.

Asbestos Still Causes Cancer. Why Is It Still Used?

Asbestos refers to six types of minerals made from tiny, lightweight but strong fireproof fibers. That makes them tremendously useful for thousands of products—except that they kill.

Health harms of asbestos won’t be known for decades

Most problematic is that unlike, say, nuclear waste, asbestos does not have a half-life. It can be left alone for a few decades or for 30 generations and when it is disturbed it represents exactly the same health threat as it did when it was originally mined.

Photos of a Former Asbestos Mining Town That's Lost Its Identity

Before I went to Asbestos I had expected the people there to be rather full of skepticism, shame, and even anger. But they were glad that someone had come who was interested in their past and to whom they could tell their point of view.

The Moment for Congress to Fight Against Cancer and Asbestos Is Now

The debate over the health risks caused by the deadly fiber has long since ended, yet it remains legal and is still imported and used in a number of industries and products today. Even though the amount of asbestos used in manufacturing has dropped since the mid-1970s, the number of deaths attributed to it has not, with up to 15,000 Americans dying each year at the hands of the lethal dust.

What Was Asbestos Doing In Children's Makeup?

Regardless of how the Claire's situation unfolds, the take home point is, in general, do not assume that anything called a children's product is necessarily safe. While federal and consumer protection agencies can catch some unsafe products, they do not have nearly enough resources to review all products.

An Asbestos Map of the United States

If you look at the map, you'll see that asbestos-bearing minerals are spattered across the country but concentrated in the far west and in solid march through the eastern seaboard.

Asbestos at School: Is THAT What Your Child Is Breathing?

We thought the asbestos problem was solved. Thirty years ago, concern in Congress over the impact of exposure to asbestos hazards led to passage of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). While the law led to an increase in awareness of the cancer-causing toxic and resulted in rules designed to protect the 55 million children and 6 million staff in schools, the passage of time and fiscal restraints still leave people facing potential -- or very real -- exposures and costly long-term illnesses.

Busting the Asbestos Racket

The worst public scandals are often those that travel in plain sight, and a prime example is the asbestos litigation racket. We've been writing about it for years, and now a judge in North Carolina has issued a remarkable opinion exposing just how rotten it is.

Cleaning Up The Asbestos Litigation Mess: A Role For The Department Of Justice?

Asbestos litigation has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Though the plaintiffs' bar clamors for oversight of every other successful American industry, it wants a hands-off approach to asbestos litigation. The reason is obvious: they're the only ones that really profit

How many people are killed by asbestos? It's more difficult to track than you think

According to the World Health Organization, 125 million people around the world are exposed to absestos and more than 100,000 die from exposure annually. What impact does asbestos have in the US today? Let's look at two factors. First, it is still legal to import and use in the US, although the amount has gone down significantly due to regulation and litigation. Most asbestos exposure occurs when the material is disturbed during construction work in buildings, causing fibers to become airborne and inhaled — a particularly dramatic example of this happened after the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001.

In a Town Called Asbestos, a Plan to Restart the Industry That Made It Prosperous

It would seem a quixotic venture. Mr. Coulombe’s proposal has been widely condemned by the medical and public health community both in Canada and abroad. The mineral’s dangers have largely eliminated the market for it in Canada as well as the United States, where the last asbestos mine closed in 2002.

What Is Talc, Where Is It Used and Why Is Asbestos a Concern?

Talc is a mineral in clay mined from underground deposits. It’s the softest mineral known to man and that makes it useful in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. Asbestos is also found underground, and veins of it can often be found in talc deposits, leading to a risk of cross-contamination, geologists say.

The End of a Once Mighty, Still Deadly Industry: the Canada Letter

Canada’s positions on issues like same-sex marriage, immigration and, most recently, recreational marijuana have given it a reputation for progressiveness. But the government’s announcement this week that it was banning asbestos, a potent cause of cancer, came decades after many other nations took the step.

Asbestos in commercial cosmetic talcum powder as a cause of mesothelioma in women

Cosmetic talcum powder products have been used for decades. The inhalation of talc may cause lung fibrosis in the form of granulomatose nodules called talcosis. Exposure to talc has also been suggested as a causative factor in the development of ovarian carcinomas, gynecological tumors, and mesothelioma.

Canada – No More Mr. Nice Guy

Asbestos exposure is the No. 1 cause of occupational death in Canada. Since 1996, asbestos-related disease has accounted for around a third of workplace deaths - Asbestos.com

How Dangerous Is Asbestos?

In the recent past, the World Health Organization linked asbestos to 107,000 lost lives worldwide in a single year. The use of asbestos is currently banned in 55 countries, including most of Europe. Despite the fact that an estimated 10-15% of those deaths occurred in the United States, asbestos is not banned in the United States or Canada.

Johnson & Johnson accused of hiding the asbestos in its baby powder for decades

Johnson & Johnson has long been the undisputed leader in baby product sales and has always tried to portray itself as a gentle, caring company. But a startling new report by Reuters suggests otherwise. The report indicates that small amounts of asbestos have been lurking in some of the company’s talc — the substance that makes baby powder powdery — going back to the 1970s. The company allegedly didn’t openly communicate results, and at times purposely obfuscated them, to both consumers and the Food and Drug Administration.

The Asbestos Mess

THE ATTEMPT TO control asbestos is a comparatively recent phenomenon, but the mineral itself has always been with us. The Romans wove asbestos into tablecloths that could be tossed into the fire for cleaning. In one of Genghis Khan's northern provinces, Marco Polo saw inhabitants weaving an indestructible cloth out of fibers dug from the earth.

The Asbestos Scam

With asbestos litigation well into its fourth decade — the longest-running mass tort in American history — you’d think the plaintiffs’ bar would have run out of asbestos companies to sue.

What Is Asbestos, And Why Did We Use It So Much?

Once loved, then reviled, and possibly loved again. Mankind has a long and sordid history with asbestos.

What's The Story On Asbestos?

Three general controversies exist with asbestos. The first has to do with the extrapolation of cancer findings to commonly encountered asbestos exposures. The second controversy is whether asbestos fibers smaller than 5 µm are considered toxic. The third has to do with whether all uses of asbestos could be banned.

Asbestos: The Invisible Killer

Asbestos kills. The cancers it causes—lung, mesothelioma, and ovarian—progress slowly and with few visible symptoms, but the link between asbestos and potentially terminal cancers has been known since 1993. Inexplicably, asbestos is still legal to use and to import.

Don’t Let My Story Become Your Story: EPA Must Ban Asbestos Now

Don’t let my story become your story. Like most Americans, I thought asbestos had been banned. Then my husband Alan was diagnosed with mesothelioma. As we searched for treatment options, we realized asbestos was not only lethal but still legal in the U.S. We were angry — and like many others — vowed to work to end the man-made asbestos disaster.

For One Asbestos Victim, Justice Is a Moving Target

When Bill McQueen sought medical treatment for a dull chest pain he couldn't seem to shake, he hoped it was just an old rib fracture flaring. The actual diagnosis was devastating: mesothelioma, an incurable and fatal cancer that was encasing his left lung.

Ford Spent $40 Million to Reshape Asbestos Science

The brake studies have had global reach. The "chrysotile-is-safe" argument has been used to stave off asbestos bans and preserve markets in developing nations such as India and China, where building materials and other products containing asbestos are widely used. "The real nefarious part of this research … is that a lot of people who live in those countries are continuing to be exposed under uncontrolled conditions to asbestos," Egilman said. "That's the real horror story here."

How many people are killed by asbestos? It's more difficult to track than you think

According to the World Health Organization, 125 million people around the world are exposed to absestos and more than 100,000 die from exposure annually.

In Silver Case, U.S. Cites Link to Litigation Tied to Asbestos

In the criminal complaint against Sheldon Silver, he is identified simply as “Doctor-1.” But Dr. Robert N. Taub, who headed a Columbia University center dedicated to curing a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos, is no ordinary doctor. With a reputation as a devoted clinician intent on trying out innovative therapies, Dr. Taub is something of a hero in the world of mesothelioma, a devastating cancer that is nearly always fatal. Specializing in abdominal cases, a particularly horrific form of the disease, Dr. Taub, 78, attracted last-chance patients from across the country and the world.

The Basics of Post-Sandy Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos has a long, weird history. The shorthand is that if you're clearing away old housing debris, you could be at risk.

The Trump Administration Is Not Bringing Back Asbestos

All that said, it’s extremely unlikely that companies will be chomping at the bit to put asbestos back into your house. They have been free to use the stuff for decades. But the last U.S. asbestos producer shut down in 2002.

Why the health threat from asbestos is not a thing of the past

Such headlines occur with monotonous regularity. Widespread asbestos use throughout much of the 20th century has ensured that the next contamination scandal is never far off. Despite this, asbestos has not captured the public imagination as a public health threat – at least, not in comparison with other threats such as excessive sun exposure and drink driving.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

People are more likely to experience asbestos-related disorders when they are exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, are exposed for longer periods of time, and are exposed more often. The time lag between significant inhalation of asbestos and any adverse health manifestations can be as long as 30 or more years.

Asbestos and Disease

This is an outline account of the risk of disease associated with asbestos exposure. A companion page deals with other occupational and environmental lung diseases.

Asbestos still haunts those exposed as kids in mining towns

So although all types of asbestos have been found to cause asbestos-related diseases, some types lead to more of these diseases than others. Blue asbestos (the type that was mined at Wittenoom, Western Australia) is the worst for human health, followed by amosite, and then chrysotile.

Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is the largest independent asbestos victims’ organization in the U.S. It was founded in 2004 to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice, to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and to work towards a global asbestos ban.

Asbestos Watchdog

Our FREE asbestos advice service has answered over 10,000 queries saving UK businesses and homeowners in excess of 40 Million.

Asbestos.com

Our mission is two-fold: to educate the public about how to avoid the dangers of asbestos and to assist people who have already been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

IBAS provides a conduit for the exchange of information between groups and individuals working to achieve a global asbestos ban and seeking to alleviate the damage caused by widepsread asbestos use.

CDC

This topic page provides links to existing NIOSH recommendations for controlling work-related exposures. It also offers information about "Asbestos and Other Mineral Fibers: A Roadmap for Scientific Research".

EPA

This page provides access to information about asbestos. On this Web site, you may access general information about asbestos and its health effects. You may also read about what to do if you suspect asbestos in products, in your home or in your school.

Health and Safety Executive

The information on this website will be of particular interest to employers, asbestos contractors and others with duties under asbestos regulations, together with those workers currently at greatest risk from exposure to asbestos.

National Cancer Insitute

Individuals who have been exposed (or suspect they have been exposed) to asbestos fibers on the job, through the environment, or at home via a family contact should inform their physician of their exposure history and any symptoms.

Toxic Substances Portal

This fact sheet answers the most frequently asked health questions about asbestos. This information is important because this substance may harm you.

U.S. Department of Labor

Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard and is highly regulated. An estimated 1.3 million employees in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job.