Asbestos to blame for Nevada cancer levels: Study

Mesothelioma has been linked to
asbestos exposure.

DENVER - Malignant mesothelioma has been found at higher than expected levels in women and in individuals younger than 55 years old in the southern Nevada counties of Clark and Nye, likewise in the same region carcinogenic mineral fibers including actinolite asbestos, erionite, winchite, magnesioriebeckite and richterite were discovered.

These data, published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, suggest that these elevated numbers of malignant mesothelioma cases are linked to environmental exposure of carcinogenic mineral fibers.

Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal cancer associated with asbestos exposure that develops on the outer linings of the lungs.

The 3-year survival rate is only 8% and there are limited therapeutic options. The incidence of malignant mesothelioma is higher in locations with known industrial and occupational exposure and for similar reasons the incidence is higher in men, with a male to female ratio of 4:1 to 8:1.

The latency period for is 30-50 years so those diagnosed from occupational exposure are usually in their seventies whereas those diagnosed younger than 55 are rarely associated with occupational exposure.

Asbestos is a commercial and regulatory term applied to six mineral fibers historically mined for industrial use. Naturally occurring asbestos is a term used to describe fibrous minerals that were not used commercially and therefore were not called asbestos and their use was and still is not regulated.

Like asbestos, these naturally occurring fibers are natural components of rocks and soils and a potential source of exposure especially if these fibers become airborne through natural erosion or human activities producing dust.

Researchers from Hawaii, Nevada, and Pennsylvania examined malignant mesothelioma mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control by gender, age group, state, and counties for the period 1999-2010.

The two southern Nevada counties of Clark and Nye were grouped together and the proportion of women and those younger than 55 years old in these two southern counties were compared to those in all other Nevada counties grouped together as well as the rest of the United States.

The male to female ratio of malignant mesothelioma in all Nevada counties excluding Clarke and Nye was 6.33:1, but in Clarke and Nye counties it was statistically lower at 2.69:1 (p=0.0468), which could not be explained by population demographics, as these were the same.

The percentage of individuals younger than 55 was significantly higher in the southern Nevada counties compared to the remainder of the US counties (11.28% vs 6.21%, p=0.0249).

Tremolite and actinolite, both members of the asbestos family, as well as erionite, winchite, richterite, and magnesioriebeckite are present in southern Nevada and all have been linked to cancer in humans.

The authors acknowledge that women and children can be exposed to fibrous minerals as a result of their husband's or father's occupational exposure when bringing these fibers home on their clothes.

However, the authors conclude "in southern Nevada there are no major asbestos industries, thus this seems an unlikely hypothesis. Instead, the presence of asbestos and other fibers in the environment of Clark and Nye Counties, where a lower M:F sex ratio and an increased proportion of malignant mesothelioma are seen in young individuals, suggests that some of these malignant mesotheliomas are caused by environmental exposure which can happen when human activities and natural processes such as wind or water release fibers in the air."

Michele Carbone, senior author on the study, states "further research is needed, including epidemiological, geological, mineralogical and health-based personal exposure studies in order to characterize the residential and occupational history of the malignant mesothelioma cases we studied, to highlight the highest risk areas within Clark and Nye counties, to identify the type of fibrous minerals and their precise distribution throughout Nevada, and to identify the activities responsible for the release of fibers in the air, which may be the cause of some of the malignant mesothelioma in this region."

Source: IASLC

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Asbestors inspectors overloaded in Iowa

One inspector oversees 4,500 projects annually

Asbestos remediation needs to be
done properly to minimize health risks.

Most people were unaware of the dangers of asbestos decades ago, and many construction workers were working with materials without breathing apparatuses — something that today be considered a violation of federal regulations.

In fact, many construction workers may look the other way regarding possible asbestos violations, perhaps not comprehending the long-term ramifications of their inaction.

In Iowa, one inspector enforces U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asbestos removal regulations and oversees as many as 4,500 asbestos removal projects each year.

His job with the state’s natural resources department is primarily centered on protecting public health under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, also known as NESHAP.

Another asbestos inspector is part of the Iowa Division of Labor. That inspector focuses on worker protections under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

While the agencies frequently communicate and sometimes share information, the regulations they enforce are separate and often require separate reviews, officials from both agencies said.

City and county government officials are also responsible for assisting in asbestos oversight. State and federal regulations, for example, sometimes require an asbestos survey to be completed and those regulations may require removal of material that can become airborne prior to the issuance of a demolition permit.

A contractor’s complaint has prompted closer scrutiny of possible asbestos exposure involving workers at a downtown Des Moines renovation project, but an inspector doesn’t even visit hundreds of sites across Iowa each year where workers could face risks from the cancer-causing material.

The routine lack of asbestos-handling inspections at construction sites in Iowa and across the nation represents a widespread failure to protect the public, environmental safety advocates say.

In Iowa, one inspector enforces U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asbestos removal regulations and oversees as many as 4,500 asbestos removal projects each year. Another inspector must try to enforce federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration asbestos regulations.

Some say the number of OSHA asbestos inspectors in Iowa should increase to five or 10. Minnesota’s OSHA agency, for example, has 15 inspectors who are trained to sample and assist with asbestos investigations.

This article has been edited for length. Source: Des Moines Register

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Asbestos ruling sides with company

Judge cuts company's liability by more than $1 billion

The judgment affect current and future
victims of asbestos-related diseases.

A federal judge in Charlotte has delivered a startling victory for industries that are part of the country’s long-running asbestos-liability fight, cutting more than $1 billion from what a company owes to current and future victims.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges accepted the $125 million figure proposed by Garlock Sealing Technologies, a Palmyra, N.Y., subsidiary of EnPro Industries of Charlotte.

The amount covers claims for mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs and one of a host of diseases linked to asbestos. Attorneys representing current and future mesothelioma victims had asked the court to set liability at $1.3 billion.

But in his 65-page order Friday, Hodges said the attorneys’ dollar figure did not fairly reflect Garlock’s liability. He accused asbestos lawyers and clients of withholding or manipulating evidence, as well as relying on “pseudoscience” to pump up the size of asbestos settlements and jury awards.

In regards to Garlock, Hodges said plaintiff attorneys withheld evidence about their clients’ exposure to company products, “unfairly inflating the recoveries against Garlock” for the decade leading up to the company’s bankruptcy filing.

According to the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an industry advocacy group, Hodges’ ruling marked the first time in more than 80 asbestos bankruptcies stretching back for more than 30 years that a judge refused to accept the plaintiffs’ estimate for future claims.

In his ruling, Hodges said previous settlements were not an appropriate measurement because they had been inflated by what he called “the impropriety of some law firms.”

Garlock, which makes seals and gaskets for a host of industries, has been a target of asbestos related lawsuits for some 40 years. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2010, one of dozens of otherwise solvent businesses that turned to the courts for help in settling thousands of claims of asbestos poisoning.

Asbestos is at the center of the country’s longest running liability case. And Garlock was among the last industrial targets to seek bankruptcy protection. This summer, attorneys from across the country gathered in Hodges’ courtroom for a 17-day trial to argue Garlock’s liability.

Up until the mid-1980s, asbestos was widely used in insulation and as a fire retardant. But its tiny, jagged particles can lodge in the linings of the lungs and other organs, causing cells to mutate.

Companies have been accused of knowing the risks of asbestos for decades but concealing them from their employees. One well-known Texas anti-asbestos attorney told the Wall Street Journal last year that his clients are victims of the “worst corporate mass genocide in history.”

But in his ruling, Hodges accepted company arguments that Garlock’s liability is highly limited, concluding that the concentrations of asbestos in company products are small and mostly made up of a less dangerous form of the fibers.

The article has been edited for length. 

Source: Charlotte Observer

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Hampshire schools could expose public to asbestos

Contaminated air in schools may affect teachers, staff and
students' health and well-being.

An inquest ruled teacher Marion Potts died of mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in school, although it could not pinpoint which one.

She was thought to be the first teacher in the region to die of the disease, but Lynne Squibb, co-founder of Hampshire Asbestos Support and Awareness Group (HASAG), said the problem was more wide-spread.

“This is not the first teacher in Hampshire to get mesothelioma through exposure at school. We’ve seen a handful of teachers that have been diagnosed with mesothelioma over the years," Squibb said.

"It is an ongoing problem, as around 90 per cent of schools still contain asbestos. The major concern is a child contracting it, but it can take anywhere between 20 and 60 years from exposure to asbestos to developing the disease, so we won’t see the effects for decades.”

Southampton-based HASAG was started by Lynne and her sister Diane in 2006, two years after their father Dave Salisbury was diagnosed with mesothelioma. The 71-year-old spent his entire career at Eastleigh railway works and died in December 2005.

Lynne added: “It’s something we have been campaigning on, along with the Asbestos in Schools group (AiS) which has been lobbying the Government to do something. But the Government is looking to keep it in situ and asks schools to keep an asbestos register and we don’t feel that is enough.

“We hear removing asbestos is too expensive because it is so specialist but you cannot put a price on just one person’s safety.

“Every time you hear a school is building a new block and knocking down other parts, asbestos could be released.”

Asbestos expert Michael Lees warned the problem was even more serious because children are more vulnerable to the effects of asbestos than adults.

Mr Lees, a founder member of AiS, said: “Exposure in school will contribute a significant amount of ‘lifetime exposure’ because you are looking at people who are more vulnerable.

“The lifetime risk for a five-year-old exposed to asbestos is five times greater than a 30-year-old.”

Both the city and county council have said asbestos is monitored in Hampshire schools and removed where possible.

Source: Daily Echo

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Asbestos registry law in effect in Canadian province

Saskatchewan first province to enact asbestos reporting legislation

Asbestos exposure can lead to life-threatening
illness and is a public health hazard, authorities say.

Nearly a year after the death of an advocate from cancer caused by asbestos exposure, the Saskatchewan government has officially enacted a law named after him — a law making it mandatory for public buildings containing the notorious mineral to report it.

The Public Health Amendment Act, also known as Howard’s Law, went into effect on Nov. 7. The law makes Saskatchewan the first Canadian province to enact legislation requiring a public registry of buildings known to contain asbestos.

Crown corporations, schools, health facilities and provincial government organizations must now report any asbestos content in their facilities to the Saskatchewan Asbestos Registry.

“At the present time, it’s mandatory for public buildings,” explained Don Morgan, Saskatchewan’s minister of labour relations and workplace safety. “That will include buildings owned by public sector entities, and it will be optional for building owners beyond that point. So if you are a large commercial landlord and you wish to list your buildings, you could, but we require it for hospitals, schools and that type of thing.”

The provincial government passed the act in the legislature after its third reading on April 18, five months after Saskatchewan launched a voluntary registry and an online information guide about buildings with asbestos.

Morgan anticipates that the new law will benefit the public in two ways: providing specific information about asbestos content in the province’s buildings, and raising public awareness of the general existence of the material.

The risk occurs if asbestos is accidentally disturbed
and asbestos fibers become airborne.

“It exists in a lot of buildings that were constructed before 1980,” he said. “In most of them, it’s encased and it’s not a factor. The problem arises when somebody will go in to change plumbing pipes or do electrical work and then will inadvertently disturb the asbestos, and it becomes airborne. The risk occurs if it’s accidentally disturbed or moved into the air,” Morgan said.

Howard’s Law is, in part, the legacy of the late Howard Willems, an asbestos awareness activist who worked for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency while co-chairing local oh&s committees (COHSN, Nov. 19, 2012). In 2010, Willems was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer linked to asbestos. He passed away on Nov. 8, 2012.

“We’ve accomplished everything that Howard set out to do,” said Jesse Todd, a health and safety officer in Saskatchewan and the chairman of the Saskatchewan Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (SADAO). “We’ve carried on in his name, in his honour, so it’s very gratifying to see this become law.”

Willems co-founded SADAO with fellow activist Bob Sass in 2010, out of the former Saskatchewan Ban Asbestos Committee.

Todd suggests that the other provinces — and the federal government, which has jurisdiction over a lot of buildings and facilities under the Canada Labour Code — need to consider adopting similar asbestos registries. “I believe that a registry would benefit those workers as well,” he said.

“There are some good regulations out there that do refer to how to deal with asbestos once it’s been identified. But the problem is, people do not have the tools available to them to identify where asbestos is prior to beginning a renovation of a building.”

Source: OHS Canada

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Asbestos removal worker who lost bout with cancer wins $35 million supreme court suit

The New York Supreme Court has awarded an asbestos-removal worker $35 million dollars. Ivo John Peraica, of Queens, worked for eight years for New York-area contractors removing asbestos insulation from boilers, pumps, and other equipment. He died in December from complications related to mesothelioma, a cancer whose only known cause is exposure to toxic asbestos fibers.

His legal team told the jury that Peraica’s disease was caused by years of inhaling the asbestos dust stirred up each time he stripped asbestos insulation from the equipment at his jobsites – equipment which, according to testimony, was devoid of any warnings about the dangers of asbestos.

The sole defendant at the time of the verdict – industrial products manufacturer Crane Co. – argued that other companies and even Peraica himself were responsible for his exposure to asbestos, but the jury ultimately heaped blame on the Stamford, Conn.-based company, saying it had acted with reckless disregard for consumers’ safety.

Peraica was unable to testify in person, but before he died on December 28, provided four days’ worth of deposition testimony that his lawyers were able to read into evidence.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that attacks the sac that lines the lungs and other internal organs. It is incurable.

Asbestos Exposure: Protein may help with earlier mesothelioma disgnosis

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have discovered the protein product of a little-known gene may one day prove useful in identifying and monitoring the development of the asbestos related cancer mesothelioma in early stages, when aggressive treatment can have an impact on the progression of disease and patient prognosis.

“This gene produces a protein, fibulin-3, that is present in levels four to five times higher in the plasma of patients with mesothelioma compared to levels in asbestos-exposed patients or patients with several other conditions that cause tumors in the chest,” said lead investigator Harvey I. Pass, MD, the Stephen E. Banner Professor of Thoracic Oncology, vice chair of research for the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and division chief of General Thoracic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center.

“We didn’t know anything about this protein’s role in mesothelioma before this study, but it may be an extremely useful tool for monitoring patients under treatment and possibly even diagnosing the development of mesothelioma at early stages. This marker is as exciting as any biomarker in mesothelioma today and warrants further research and validation by the scientific community.”

The study appears in the October 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive thoracic cancer that can develop several decades after exposure to asbestos. Diagnosis is often delayed until patients begin to show symptoms, including shortness of breath, cough, chest pain and, in advanced stages, weight loss and night sweats.
Often, patients with mesothelioma seek treatment when the shortness of breath becomes a noticeable problem. At that point, an x-ray typically reveals fluid in the chest, but many doctors fail to inquire about asbestos exposure upon receiving this report. Rather, doctors initially associate fluid in the chest with pneumonia or other inflammatory conditions, further delaying diagnosis, Dr. Pass explained.

Despite advances in chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical management for malignant mesothelioma, the median survival for patients diagnosed with mesothelioma remains 12 months.

“There is a great need for something – some marker or test – that will heighten the alarm that a patient presenting with new onset chest fluid could have mesothelioma,” Dr. Pass said. “Our findings indicate that a simple blood test may lead physicians to ask questions about asbestos exposure and consider whether the medical history and symptoms are compatible with mesothelioma.”

Asbestos alert for renovators and DIY homeowners

Do it yourselfers and contractors alike are being warned that they could become the next generation to fall victim to asbestos exposure.

That’s what’s already happening in Australia, the country with the highest recorded rate of asbestos-related deaths from the cancer, mesothelioma.

"Now we are seeing a new wave of these preventable diseases from people exposed to asbestos ... through the home-renovation boom," says Susan Wallace, CEO of Asbestos Free Tasmania.

Every house built before 1990 in that county can have some asbestos, and many renovators still have little idea of the dangers.

Tasmanian Labor senator Lisa Singh told an asbestos summit in Sydney that without a national approach, thousands of Australians would continue to be diagnosed with the condition.

"Without a co-ordinated approach to asbestos awareness and management, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Australians will be diagnosed with asbestos-related disease in the next 20 years," Senator Singh said.

"Most of these cases will result from poor management of asbestos in the home."

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Source: TheMurcury.com.au
Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Shipyard workers face multiple risks: Lobby group

Workplace health and safety report names asbestos as biggest risk, but group worries about multi-chemical exposure

An initial report on cancers among shipyard workers is falling short, the Marystown Shipyard Families Alliance says.

Report tackles occupational risks
for shipyard workers.

A report ordered by the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC) highlights asbestos exposure as long as four decades ago as the biggest risk.

The lobby group for sick former employees and surviving family members has commissioned a medical consultant to do an analysis of the report, but they criticize that the report is too generalized and does not take multi-chemical exposure into account, which is a big concern at Marystown Shipyard.

Many of the shipyard workers are forced to do their job indoors if the weather conditions and workload demand it and may be exposed to a wide range of chemicals in the process.

According to the WHSCC, the report provides a comprehensive view of the dangers and risks in shipyard workers and will help in the process of adjudicating claims from workers.

The report does take the negative health effects of lead, solvents and pigments into account, which become an occupational health hazard for workers who are painting ships.

However, the biggest risk seemed to be exposure to asbestos fibers, which led to higher rates of mesothelioma and cancer of lung and larynx for shipyard workers. The highest levels of exposure to asbestos occurred before the mid-1970s, the report says.

The risk may be compounded by personal choices like smoking, the experts warn.

Source: The Southern Gazette

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Landmark ruling on asbestos compensation

Insurance companies will have to pay compensation
to families that are affected by asbestos exposure.

The Supreme Court in Britain decided that insurers who had offered coverage at the time asbestos victims inhaled fibers will have to honor that and pay compensation.

Four insurance companies have been fighting in court to pay the least amounts possible to 6,000 families, who have a family member that either died or suffers from mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos.

The Supreme Court’s decision could bring the compensation bill to more than 600 million pounds and even up to 5 billion pounds if up to 25,000 families enter their claims in the future.

The lawsuit went from High Court to the Court of Appeal and has been running since the year 2006.

Many cancer patients that initially started the claims have died, and their family members have kept pursuing the case.

Asbestos exposure has turned out to be one of the biggest killers in the British workplace even though it has been banned for a while.

The fibers can be in a person’s lungs for half a century before causing cancer, so that experts predict a peak of deaths only in 2016. Currently, about 4,000 people die of asbestos-related diseases in the UK each year.

It has been common knowledge since 1955 that inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause fatal lung cancer.

Employers or their insurers are liable to compensate those who are affected, even if it takes decades to develop.

Observers of the controversial drawn-out case say that a lot of money was wasted in the courts, which could have been given to victims’ families. The average compensation payments for mesothelioma are 200,000 pounds.

Before the lawsuit went to court, insurance companies were paying claims from 1967 until 2006.

Source: The Independent

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Asbestos exposure still remains a problem today because asbestos-containing materials were used extensively before the ban and a lot of older homes and buildings are affected.

Renovations, demolition and other work on those buildings can expose workers and occupants to the deadly fibers.

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Asbestos and air quality concerns

Asbestos exposure can lead to lung disease
and mesothelioma.

This is a guest post from Mesothelioma Center.

Air contamination occurs when unwanted or hazardous materials, such as asbestos, affect the air around us.

Asbestos is odorless, tasteless and the fibers are invisible to the naked eye. In comparison to a human hair, an asbestos fiber is about one ninth of the width.

Exposure to asbestos fibers can cause severe health problems including mesothelioma cancers, lung cancer and asbestosis, as well as other conditions.

Airborne asbestos fibers are the most dangerous because they can be easily inhaled into the lungs. The fibers can become lodged in the lining of the lungs and are unable to be broken down or expelled by the body’s natural defenses.

There are no immediate symptoms of an asbestos-related disease, in fact mesothelioma symptoms may take 20-50 years to develop.

Could you be at risk for exposure? 

Asbestos was widely used as a building material for insulation and fireproofing up until the late 1980’s.

Rooms with poor ventilation keep fresh air from circulating in, making it hazardous for people entering into rooms with asbestos such as attics and basements. Also, workers that installed asbestos-containing products are at a greater risk due to the large disturbance of loose fibers.

Concentration of fibers in homes, schools, or other buildings can range from 30 to 6,000 fibers per cubic meter. It is important to know if the buildings you spend time in contain asbestos.

The presence of loose or disturbed asbestos in your work or home creates a larger danger since you generally spend the majority of your time in those places.

Home renovations on houses built before the 1990’s can be another potential dangerous situation due to the likelihood of asbestos being present.

Go for professional inspections and removal services

If you are conducting a home renovation remember to keep your working area well ventilated, and if you come across a substance that might be asbestos or contains asbestos, stop and get it inspected. Asbestos removal should be performed by a professionally trained contractor.

As you can see, air contaminated with asbestos poses severe risks to your health. No amount of asbestos exposure is safe.

Feel free to learn more about asbestos and mesothelioma at the Mesothelioma Center and visit them on Facebook and Twitter.

Links:

• Air cleaners for mold and asbestos abatement (Electrocorp)

Asbestos fibers on worker's clothes proved fatal for wife

Inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to lung diseases.

Exposing workers to unsafe levels of airborne pollutants can have dire consequences not only for workers but also their families.

A coroner ruled that a woman who washed her husband’s clothes died after contracting cancer from the asbestos dust from his overalls.

The woman contracted mesothelioma in the spring of 2011 and died in October the same year.

Her husband of more than 60 years was a carpenter and was working for a construction and renovation company, doing work that often involved handling asbestos-containing building materials such as ceiling tiles and asbestos-lined pipes.

His wife shook out his dusty clothes each day before washing them, which exposed her to asbestos fibers.

Asbestos fibers can be harmful when they are disturbed and inhaled.

They can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause lung disease such as asbestosis or cancer such as mesothelioma years after the exposure occurred.

The woman’s husband was arguably exposed to larger amounts of asbestos fibers, but never developed cancer.

Source: Reading Post 

Keeping the air clean a health and safety priority

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Canada’s ongoing affair with asbestos

Asbestos tarnishing Canada’s international reputation

The medical community agrees that asbestos
can scar the lungs and cause illness.

It seems to be a question of profits vs. conscience.

At this point, everyone has to admit that asbestos is a dangerous product.

According to WHO (World Health Organization), more than 100,000 people die every year from lung cancer and other respiratory diseases due to asbestos exposure.

The numbers will continue to grow because 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces today and every day.

While Canada has banned asbestos from being used, it still happily exports it to other countries where the health standards still have to catch up.

Canada’s province of Quebec was operating two asbestos mines, but a recent CBC article says both have halted production for the first time in the industry's history (see link below).

The industry has changed a lot over the years. Once touted as a miraculous substance that could not be burned or damaged by fire, asbestos soon appeared everywhere – in homes, at workplaces, in cars, in industrial and household products. It seemed to be the perfect material - until the first illnesses became apparent.

It takes up to 40 years after exposure to asbestos fibers to affect people’s health, but the tiny fibers can scar people’s lungs and lead to asbestosis, mesothelioma and other cancers.

For an in-depth look at the history and current state of the asbestos industry in Canada, read the Globe and Mail article.

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Asbestos and indoor air quality

Asbestos becomes an exposure hazard when asbestos fibers become airborne during demolition, renovation and construction processes.

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Related posts:

• Construction company exposed workers to asbestos
• Police questioned about asbestos scandal
• Asbestos still a health risk in many countries
• Asbestos and chemicals - a toxic mix
• Asbestos industry comes to halt (cbc.ca)

Asbestos still a health risk in many countries

Factories processing asbestos often
neglected health and safety precautions.

Years after asbestos factories are shut down, the onset of asbestos-related diseases continues to plague countries where people were exposed to the dangerous asbestos fibers.

One such example is Egypt.

A recent in-depth article about the impact of asbestos on Egypt’s population cited studies by the National Cancer Institute and Abbasseya Hospital that revealed a rise of asbestos-related cancer diagnoses in the past few years – despite the fact that Egypt’s asbestos factories were officially shut down in 2005.

The numbers are expected to continue to rise, since there is often a 20- to 30-year time span between exposure to asbestos fibers and the onset of asbestos-related disease.

What is asbestos?

Asbestos describes a group of naturally occurring minerals that can be mined and used in thin, durable threads in a wide variety of materials to make them more resistant to heat, fire and chemicals.

Because of these qualities, asbestos was a common material in home construction and other industries throughout the 20th century.

The health risk is linked to inhalation of minuscule asbestos fibers when the material is disturbed or processed.

The tiny fibers of blue and yellow asbestos (another type of asbestos, white asbestos, is not as harmful to human health, experts say) can penetrate deep into the lungs and stay there, causing the growth of malignant tumors decades later.

Asbestos often causes mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer of the thin membranes lining the chest and abdomen. Symptoms include chest pain, dry cough, shortness of breath and tightness of the chest.

A lack of health and safety measures

Even after many western industrialized countries had become aware of the dangers associated with asbestos, they continued to export it to developing countries.

At least 14 cement factories located around Cairo were using asbestos in the manufacture of water pipes, and failed to introduce security measures - such as the wearing of a mask - to protect their workers, the article says.

Asbestos waste was often carelessly disposed of close to the plant, near residential areas or schools.

Removal of asbestos-containing materials in buildings is difficult because it’s not known or documented where the dangerous asbestos was used, the article says.

And even though asbestos has been banned, companies continue to import the material under the names of subcategories (crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile for blue, yellow and white asbestos), which are not mentioned in the legislation.

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