Asbestos
A new analysis from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) indicates that during the period 1999 to 2013 more than 12,000 New Yorkers lost their lives to the carcinogenic mineral fiber asbestos—one of the highest totals in the country. Asbestos deaths varied significantly from county to county, with Nassau County experiencing…
Eliminating exposure to asbestos is the only sure way to prevent mesothelioma from developing. The terminal cancer is triggered when microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled or ingested where they burrow in for decades, eventually leading to cancer. Unfortunately, authorities fear the aging of the Massachusetts’ public school system may contribute…
Asbestos, known to be a human carcinogen, can be found throughout buildings built prior to the 1980s. While intact, the material does not pose a health hazard. However, once the asbestos becomes friable, or breaks apart, anyone exposed has a lifelong health risk. Ensuring proper management of asbestos is critical…
In December, the University at Buffalo, of the State University of New York, started construction on its “Heart of Campus” project designed to create “new learning landscapes.” Just a few months into the project, however, administrators received word that asbestos found in Capen Hall must be removed before continuing with…
It took a Tweet of a masked worker to alert the community to what appeared to be an asbestos abatement project being conducted at Ellet High School in Akron, OH. As is often the case with social media, the photo quickly went viral and parents inundated the school’s administration with…
Employees of Columbia University in New York City have reached out to their union for support in ensuring they are safe from asbestos exposure. The group fears that an asbestos abatement project may have sent asbestos fibers through the air ducts and into the air in the powerhouse chiller plant…
Thousands of workers at Eternit, a European cement and roofing company, have succumbed to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. As a result of this egregious loss of life, the owner of the company was found guilty of “causing an environmental disaster” and was sentenced to 16 years in Italian prison….
Mesothelioma is a unique and rare form of cancer, typically affecting the lining of the lungs, caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. Individuals primarily sickened with the asbestos-related disease were exposed to asbestos in the workplace, from asbestos on a family member’s clothes, or through home improvement projects. One fact…
The Jeffrey Mine, an asbestos mine in the small town of Asbestos in Quebec, Canada, has just had new life breathed into it with approval by Canadian officials of a $58 million loan guarantee that will support an expansion of the now inactive mine. The expansion would allow the mine to…