Archive for category Mesothelioma

Asbestos, Quebec mayor cancels town-wide Relay For Life fundraising event

Posted by John in Mesothelioma on August 26, 2010

The town of Asbestos, Quebec has once again found itself at the center of controversy as it continues to defend the mining operations of asbestos fibers that detractors contend are continuing to kill people around the world.

The most recent flap between the town – which is the home to an asbestos mine – and anti-asbestos organizations came in July when the town elected to cancel a Relay For Life fundraising event  sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society in order to support its mining industry.

“It’s our past, it’s our history, therefore the population is united in support of the mining industry,” Asbestos’ Mayor Hugues Grimard said, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.

The decision comes after the CCS authored a letter to Premier Jean Charest asking him to not pledge a loan for the town’s mine that would enable it to stay in business. The mine had previously filed for bankruptcy protection.

“For sure, it’s a shame because we won’t be giving back to a cause for cancer research,” Grimard added.

André Beaulieu, a spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society, told the CBC that the organization would not adjust its stance on the mine in Asbestos and hoped that Canadian officials would choose to use the money in other ways to help the town.

“We are concerned about the fact that asbestos is a fiber that is killing people,” Beaulieu said. The CCS has said that 90,000 people are killed every year from asbestos that is mined in Quebec.

“Our mandate is really public health and right now, obviously, the community’s looking from an economic point of view and we understand,” he added.

Since it was first initiated four years ago, the Asbestos leg of the 12-hour overnight fundraising event had raised nearly $350,000.

For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer that can be linked to asbestos exposure caused by a product or former employer, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney to learn more about your rights, and to see if pursuing a mesothelioma settlement is in your best interest.

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LA Times weighs in on the California serpentine / asbestos debate

Posted by Katy in Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma on August 25, 2010

Although it’s stirring up fierce debate on the internet, California state Sen. Gloria Romero’s (D-Los Angeles) quest to kick the state rock serpentine from its pedestal has resulted in little more than yawns over at the LA Times.

Romero sponsored the bill under pressure from a trio of mesothelioma awareness groups that argue that sometimes asbestos-containing serpentine is a poor choice to symbolize the state with some of the highest instances of mesothelioma in the nation. Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly whose only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos is a killer, but serpentine’s designation as the state rock has zero impact on the ongoing mesothelioma tragedy. And did we mention that while the Legislature is gathering moss on the rock issue, the budget is now 13 days overdue?

Read the full article on the asbestos / serpentine article here.

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Putting a human face on the California serpentine asbestos debate

Posted by Katy in Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Industry, Asbestos Legal Help, Mesothelioma on August 25, 2010

A debate has been raging since June when Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) introduced Bill SB 624, which would strip the California state rock designation from serpentine, a rock that can contain naturally-occurring chrysotile asbestos.
Does serpentine, or more specifically the asbestos it contains, cause cancers such as mesothelioma as the bill’s sponsor argues? Or is serpentine a fascinating but misunderstood symbol for California’s unique landscape, with no ties to cancer, as the rock’s defenders argue? The debate is playing out across Twitter (where the discussion is tracked under the hashtag #CAserpentine) and in newspapers, blogs, and no doubt gem shows across the country.

No matter who wins the debate, there’s no denying that the story has brought a new level of awareness to asbestos exposure and the very real problem of mesothelioma. And it was a very real case of mesothelioma that started the ball rolling on Bill SB 624.

Alan Reinstein died in 2006 from mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer whose only known cause is exposure to asbestos. Now his widow Linda wants to prevent more needless mesothelioma deaths by making people aware of the dangers of asbestos. Linda Reinstein founded the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) after her husband’s passing to help ban the use of asbestos and promote awareness. Sen. Romero sponsored the “symbolic” bill SB 624 as a way to continue to expand the debate. The bill is still being considered in the California legislature.

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Are carbon nanotubes the next asbestos?

Posted by Katy in Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Research on August 19, 2010

Carbon nanotubes, one of the more promising materials for the future of technology, might cause the same deadly diseases as asbestos when inhaled.

Impossibly small (1/50,000th of the width of a human hair) and considered to be the strongest and stiffest materials ever discovered, carbon nanotubes are similar in appearance and behavior to asbestos fibers when inhaled. According to a study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology in 2008, inhaled carbon nanotubes caused troubling inflammation in animal studies, the same inflammation that can eventually lead to mesothelioma cancer and other serious health issues.

Like asbestos was for many decades, carbon nanotubes are unregulated and quickly finding their way into a growing number of products and applications. Also like asbestos, carbon nanotubes add amazing strength and durability to any material that they are added to, making them a tantalizing addition for high tech items such as touch screens. Carbon nanotubes are used today for a wide variety of applications, such as reinforcing high tech plastic components in solar cells and touch screens. They can also be found in airplanes, bicycles, and sporting goods such as tennis rackets and baseball bats. Carbon nanotubes have been proposed for everything from elevator cables that could life payloads into Earth’s orbit to tiny computers smaller than living cells.

Although it’s far too early to know if exposure to carbon nanotubes can cause mesothelioma or other health issues, they should be approached with extreme caution, especially by workers involved in the processing or manufacturing of the nanotube material. If the pattern of scarring from carbon nanotubes is similar to asbestos, symptoms of disease might not show for decades.

Another major concern is what happens once the products containing carbon nanotubes are broken, burned, or otherwise disposed of. No one knows if the nanotubes would be released into the environment and what effect that could have.

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Another mesothelioma survival story

Posted by Marc in Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Treatment on July 29, 2010

In another amazing tale of survival from a disease that takes so many, a Beaumont, Tex. television station profiled local firefighter David Chesser — who is now back on the job after battling mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

Having a tough time recovering from a shoulder injury, doctors discovered something far worse. Up for promotion, Chesser was named the new fire chief at the time of his struggle fighting the disease but could not make the ceremony for obvious reasons. His wife stood in his honor to receive the award.

On leave for fourteen months getting treatment in Nebraska, he vowed to return to the department.

“I wanted to be back with these guys. I didn’t want the cancer to make me quit my job,” said Chesser to Beaumont’s KFDM news.

A 36 year veteran at the department, he’s amazingly back on the job fulfilling the duties he vowed to fulfill when he was appointed chief — an act Chesser acknowledges helped him in his fight against meso.

Also giving him strength was a woman he responded to while on the job before his diagnosis:

“I made a run on a sick person she was in her 20′s. I can’t even tell you her name but she reminds me of, probably of an angel. She was so sick she had a brain tumor, but she smiled. She knew she may never come home and that made an impact on my life,” said Chesser.

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