A bill introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), coinciding with a massive national awareness campaign by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund may soon put asbestos exposure near the forefront of American consciousness. The goal of the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act is to modernize the 1988 Asbestos Information Act, signed by
Since the late 1800’s, medical professionals and commercial manufacturers have known that asbestos is dangerous, linked to a variety of pulmonary ailments. Since the middle of the 20th century, these groups have known that exposure to asbestos is linked to mesothelioma, a cancer of organ lining that is almost always fatal. Most often, mesothelioma results
Last month, the UK newspaper The Telegraph reported on asbestos, “the killer that still surrounds us”. It is incredibly sad that though asbestos has been know to be deadly for well over a hundred years, people are still exposed to and harmed by asbestos today. A naturally-occurring fiber with amazing heat-resistant capacity and the ability
The first thing any industry faced with negative scientific evidence does is form a trade group. And the first thing that trade group does is gin up “scientific” evidence that claims the industry is being falsely maligned. The asbestos industry did (and does) it, and of course so did the tobacco industry. Now, it’s the
In my day job, I’m an asbestos and mesothelioma lawyer. As part of that job, I have to keep track of the various significant events related to asbestos and mesothelioma. I have a database of hundreds of scientific articles, corporate studies, etc. that track the development of the knowledge that asbestos is harmful. I’ve decided not