From Japan: 1 in 8 with lung cancer show asbestos exposure, study finds

Pleural plaques, or a thickening of lung membranes due to asbestos exposure, were found in one in eight lung cancer patients, according to medical research papers jointly released Monday by 12 medical institutions in Japan.

The research team said the number of people who died from asbestos-related lung cancer might amount to several thousand people a year.

About 60,000 people die from lung cancer each year in the nation.

In fiscal 2007, only 660 people were recognized as suffering from asbestos-related lung cancer and thus eligible for government aid, indicating that many lung cancer patients are excluded from the aid as the exposure has not been confirmed as the cause of their diseases.

Between 2006 and 2007, the 12 medical institutions in six prefectures, including Tokyo, Hokkaido and Aichi, examined 471 patients, aged 26 to 94 who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic lung cancer, to check if they had developed pleural plaques.

The 12 institutions belong to the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions.
The research team discovered pleural plaques in 28 patients, or 5.9 percent, through chest X-rays, and in 58 patients, or 12.3 percent, through high-resolution computer tomography.

Pleural plaques were detected through the CT scan mainly in people engaged in professions involving repeated asbestos exposure, with 14 out of 35 patients working in the construction industry and six out of 23 in the metal manufacturing and processing industry.

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Mesothelioma Cause Reconfirmed

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC) reconfirmed this week that all commercial asbestos fibers cause lung cancer and mesothelioma.

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USA Today reports: Lawsuit targets Lake County polluters

Ron Kurth grew up in Gary and worked in the steel mills, and he raised his family in the region near the outskirts of Chicago. And he always wondered about the smoke and smog that overcast the Lake Michigan shoreline.

"It's just a horrible atmosphere ... bringing a family up in this area," he said.

Kurth, who has a 16-year-old daughter who attends high school in Crown Point, decided someone ought to do something about the pollution, and Wednesday, he did.

He filed a lawsuit on behalf of his daughter against 11 northwest Indiana industries, including U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, claiming the air pollution they emit from their smokestacks endangers the long-term health of Lake County children. The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of thousands of the county's schoolchildren.

The complaint cites a study that appeared in USA Today earlier this year that reported children in the heavily industrialized county are exposed to higher levels of airborne toxins than elsewhere in the United States, based on EPA data on air quality outside 127,800 schools nationwide.

Four schools in East Chicago -- Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, East Chicago Lighthouse, and Eugene Field Elementary School -- ranked in the study's first percentile, among the most polluted air.

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USA Today reports: Granholm wants to halt Mich. asbestos inspections

Michigan's environmental regulatory agency says it no longer can afford to inspect buildings scheduled for demolition or renovation to prevent asbestos releases into the air.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed budget recommends dropping the Department of Environmental Quality program designed to ensure compliance with federal asbestos rules. Significant exposure to the fibrous mineral is believed to boost risk of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses.

If the Legislature approves, responsibility for conducting inspections and punishing violators will revert to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Chicago, which critics say lacks the resources to do an adequate job.

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The State reports: Worker alleges Smithsonian mishandled asbestos

An ill museum worker alleged in a whistleblower complaint Tuesday that the Smithsonian Institution didn't properly contain asbestos-laden dust from construction at the National Air and Space Museum and penalized him after he complained.

The federal complaint said workers weren't informed of the material's presence until March 2008, even though the Smithsonian acknowledges it knew about the asbestos in the 33-year-old building's outer walls since at least 1992.

Also Tuesday, a congressman who oversees the Smithsonian announced an April 1 hearing to examine workplace conditions at the world's largest museum and research complex.

The Smithsonian, which denies it retaliated against exhibits specialist Richard Pullman, said it has no current plans to remove the material that can cause cancer and lung disease because of prohibitive costs. It said studies show the asbestos at the museum poses no threat to workers or the its 5 million yearly visitors if properly handled or left undisturbed.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Smithsonian for violating three federal asbestos regulations in July 2008, months after Pullman first reported problems to federal officials.

USA Today: Health officials want volunteers for dust study

State health officials and the Environmental Protection Agency want to test western North Dakota residents who have had long-term exposure to erionite, an asbestos-like mineral that can collect in the lungs of people who breathe it.

Health officials say hundreds of miles of roads in western North Dakota are covered with gravel containing erionite, a mineral found in chalky white rock mined for decades in Dunn, Slope and Stark counties.

State geologist Ed Murphy notified the EPA of the erionite in the region about years ago. Federal and state officials have been testing rocks and airborne samples since then but they say more tests, including tests on humans, are needed.

In the nation of Turkey, erionite has been linked to mesothelioma, an incurable form of lung cancer commonly associated with asbestos exposure, health officials say.

The State: Jury awards $20 million to SF couple in asbestos case

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco jury has awarded $20 million to a couple who was exposed to asbestos by construction materials sold by Atlanta-based Georgia Pacific Corp.
Joan and Daniel Mahoney filed the suit in 2006, after 69-year-old Joan developed a form of lung cancer, mesothelioma, commonly associated with asbestos exposure.

Low Exposure to Asbestos-like Mineral From Montana Vermiculite May Up Lung Disease Risk as reported in ScienceDaily

Workers exposed to low levels of an asbestos-like mineral from Montana more than two decades ago are at an increased risk for lung disease today, according to research from the University of Cincinnati (UC).

The New York Times reports: "$250 Million Settlement Over Asbestos Is Announced"