The Maine Public Broadcasting Network yesterday reported that the state has the highest rate of death resulting from mesothelioma per capita in the United States. MPBN quoted Ki Moon Bang, the senior epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, as saying Maine’s death rate is 27.5 per million population as a result of asbestos, for a total 0f 173 deaths in the state. The NIOSH study examined mesothelioma mortality rates nationwide from 1999-2005.

Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers, which when they are inhaled remain in the body. Asbestos exposure can also cause asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and, less commonly, the stomach and/or the heart.

Bang said the high rate of mesothelioma death in Maine could come from any of three sources: asbestos used in homes or other buildings as insulation prior to the substance being largely (although not completely) banned in the late 1970s; naturally occurring asbestos deposits where Maine borders New Brunswick and Quebec; or exposure in the workplace.

According to the NIOSH study, some of Maine’s largest employers used asbestos, including paper companies, chemical companies, and the shipyard inudstry. Bang says a study recently released by the National Cancer Institute places people formerly employed by the shipyard at the most elevated risk from asbestos disease including mesothelioma.

There also is danger to those working in the construction industry, as many products still contain small amounts of asbestos, as it is not yet entirely banned in the United States.

According to the MPBN report, Bang says mesotheioma deaths in the United States is expected to peak in 2010, about 40 years after companies began limiting or avoiding the use of asbestos.

Please help ban the use of asbestos in America. SIGN OUR PETITION!

A friend recently forwarded me a link to a web site that features an ad touting the wonders of asbestos for fire protection, highlighted by a photo of the World Trade Center’s twin towers. The ad was produced in 1981, so it’s not a matter of bad taste, just creepy in light of the September 11 disaster, and ironic because the presence of asbestos in the towers has been a source of health problems for the disaster’s first responders, among the many dangerous toxins released when the buildings collapsed.

The ad references fire alarms, most likely referring to a Feb. 13, 1975 fire that broke out on the 11th floor of the North Tower. But it hits a little too close to home after the events that would take place a little over 25 years later.

On the anniversary of the 2001 tragedy last year, we discussed the ongoing studies being conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygeine on the effects of exposure to the dust released in the catastrophe. The study included close to 5,000 samples of airborne asbestos collected by the EPA in lower Manhattan between Sept. 11, 2001 and Jan. 22, 2002, many of which exceeded “safety” standards.

It is ironic that the ad for asbestos prominently features the tag line “when life depends on it, you use asbestos.”

In 1981, the asbestos industry was already under scrutiny for the link between asbestos and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, and sometimes the stomach and/or heart. Most recent studies by the National Cancer Institute show that people with even brief exposure to asbestos are at risk. There is no “safe” level of asbestos exposure.

We recently have added a petition to this site urging the U.S. Congress to finally support a total ban of asbestos in the United States, and to provide funding for mesothelioma research. Please sign the petition, and add your voice to this fight.

The New York State Department of Health has been collecting information about deaths among World Trade Center responders, recovery workers and volunteers since shortly after the tragedy.

As of June 2008, the program had identified 382 people who worked at the WTC site who had passed away, and confirmed 204 causes of death, including 30 deaths resulting from respiratory and intrathoracic organ disease. In an updated report released in December 2008, the number of deaths of people who worked at the WTC had jumped to 713 people, with 548 confirmed causes of death. The number of deaths attributed to respiratory and intrathoracic organ disease is noted at 56, accounting for 14.1 percent of the deaths.

Of course, these numbers are general, and not specifically linked to asbestos inhalation, but the report does note that 30.2 percent of the confirmed causes of death of people who worked at the WTC are releated to “exposure to harmful substances or environments,” and 27.3 percent specifically related to “ingestion of substance.”

When Linda van Amerongen remembers her father, Lloyd Harloff, certainly there is sadness, and anger, at the mesothelioma that took his life. But what shines through beyond and above all that is joy, and appreciation, and celebration of a life well lived and well loved. She and her family will gather this Saturday, April 25, to celebrate Lloyd’s life on the first anniversary of his death, just four days after what would have been his 80th birthday.

“It’s a family event,” Linda explains. “We’re just going to get together and play cards, play his favorite music, just remember him. You hear a lot of times that after someone dies, their funeral should celebrate their life, and I used to think that was sort of just something people said. But with my dad, we really did. And that’s what this weekend is about. We’re going to re-celebrate him Saturday.”

In December 2007, her dad was plagued by a bad cough and cold that he couldn’t seem to shake, Linda remembers. He had suffered a few bouts of pneumonia in previous months, and had several chest x-rays during that time. When he visited the doctor in December, he had another chest x-ray, and doctors were concerned about some notable differences. They ordered further tests, and after a pleural effusion they confirmed a diagnosis of mesothelioma in January 2008.

“Even now when I talk to people, nine out of 10 people have no idea what it is,” Linda says. “I probably didn’t know before my dad was diagnosed, but afterward I felt like the airwaves were inundated with ‘mesothelioma.’ It was on TV, on the backs of busses. Still, every little bit people can do to raise awareness helps.”

Despite his advanced age, her dad never thought of giving up, despite mesothelioma’s bleak prognosis, Linda says. He consulted with his oncologist and immediately began the first round of chemotherapy. His family and his love of his favorite sport, golf, motivated him to fight, Linda said.

“My dad loved golf,” she says. “He played 18 holes regularly, and he actually got a hole-in-one the year before his death. Golf was always something he used to motivate himself. He had a stroke a few years ago, and golf was a big motivator for his recovery, to get through rehab and get back out on the course. So this time, he said he wanted to do the chemo and be well enough come spring to be back on the golf course with his buddies. It was something he could use as a goal.”

Unfortunately, the first round of chemotherapy proved ineffective. Despite dwindling hopes for a positive outcome, he decided to do a second round with a different drug. But his body was weakening.

“He began to really not feel well. Between January and April – he really wasn’t feeling good a lot of that time. And yet he persevered,” Linda says.

There was a series of family events in April – she calls it the “month of Sundays” because each special activity was on a Sunday – of which her dad was determined to be a part. The first Sunday, the family had a big card party at her house, then the next week a surprise 50th birthday party for Linda’s sister and Lloyd’s middle daughter, Pam.

“He was on oxygen at this point, but he was there,” Linda remembers. “Family was so important to him, and he wanted to do everything that we had planned.”

The following Sunday, the family visited their parents, Lloyd and Maryann, for Lloyd’s 79th birthday party. Linda had noticed her dad had not been eating much for a while, and that he seemed weaker at his birthday party.

“He was in a fair amount of pain, and I don’t think we even really knew how much,” she says.

As she left her parents’ house, Linda says her mom asked her to keep her phone nearby, as she thought they might have to go to the hospital soon. That night, Lloyd was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He passed away four days later, on April 25, 2008.

“This is a sucky disease,” Linda says, a bit of her anger peeking through. “It robs you, sort of unsuspectingly. And the fact that they can’t make it better at this point, for the most part … well, I know there are more and more stories of people who do survive, and I’d have loved for him to be one of those.”

Her father’s funeral truly was a celebration of his life, she says. Her dad was dressed in his favorite Chicago Cubs t-shirt, with his golf shoes on his feet. Her brother, Keith, wrote a speech about time, which he read at the event.

“He wrote this piece about how you always think you have time,” Linda says. “My dad made time for everything – to go to a kid’s ballgame, to help you paint your house. He led by example, which I think is something we’ve all discovered since he died. He was a quiet man who loved to be around his family and friends, and we’ve all learned in the past year what a big part of our lives he was.”

The family also will host a memorial mass and brunch in honor of their father on Sunday, April 26.

A video produced by WorkSafe BC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia), which is dedicated to promoting workplace health and safety for the workers and employees of the province, provides a fascinating glimpse of how asbestos fibers affect the body. British Columbia is the westernmost Canadian province, and WorkSafe BC serves areas including Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland, BC Interior and BC North.

The short video mainly illustrates asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs caused by the inhalation of microscopic asbestos fibers. However, these fibers also can cause mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that most often affects the lining of the lungs, but which also can affect the stomach and/or the heart.

According to WorkSafe BC, since the year 2000, more workers in BC have died from asbestos disease than any other workplace injury.

Watch the video!

A new process that treats asbestos with heat and chemicals, called thermochemical conversion, could help ensure greater safety for asbestos removal projects, particularly those on a large scale. The process is being discussed in several Pennsylvania communities that are looking at ways to clean a more than 60-acre site contaminated with asbestos.

The new technology has been developed by ARI Technologies, Inc., a company dedicated to solving environmental waste management problems. The new thermochemical conversion technique has been certified by the EPA as an alternative to asbestos disposal. According to the company web site, the process can destroy PCBs, dixoin and immobilize metals.

According to a report in the the Times Herald, at a recent town meeting in Montgomery County, Penn., ARI’s president of technologies Dale Timmons said the process “involves using heat and chemicals on a rotary hearth to convert asbestos into volcanic materials.” He said the new substance does not release harmful fibers, which is the main danger of asbestos, so that it can be used in construction aggregate.

Usually, when asbestos is crushed or otherwise disturbed, it releases microscopic fibers that can be inhaled and that lodge themselves in the body. These fibers can cause asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, or mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, stomach or heart. Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma.

The Times Herald says that while the EPA has signed off on thermochemical conversion for asbestos destruction, it is unclear at this time if the agency has given full approval for the process for asbestos removal projects.

ARI officials said the Pennsylvania project would require that between 150 and 300 tons of asbestos would need to be processed every day, 24 hours per day, to clean up the affected site, and that it would take nearly 10 years to process the estimated 3 million TONS of asbestos in the affected area, which covers three municipalities.

Asbestos handling would be conducted in an air-locked structure that would have to be built over the affected area, and the company would do constant air monitoring, the Times Herald reports. Cost would be about $135 per ton, with funds for the project likely coming from the federal government, according to the report.

If you live in the area of East Meadow, New York, on Long Island in Nassau County, there is still time to register for the Fourth Annual 5k Walk for Hope, which is set for this Sunday, April 19. The event will raise funds for the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) and raise awareness of mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos.

The 5k Walk for Hope was established in 2006 by Janice Malkotsis, who lost her father, Joseph Lombardo, to mesothelioma in 2005. Mr. Lombardo was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in 2004 and his family suffered with him as they watched him lose his fight to this deadly cancer, caused by exposure to asbestos.

Janice says she promised her father in his final weeks that she would work to educate people about mesothelioma, which is still largely unknown and unreported in the United States. Through MARF, Janice partnered with Erica Iacono, who also lost her father to mesothelioma, and the two created the 5k Walk for Hope. Together, they’ve raised nearly $50,000 for mesothelioma research through this event. They also are sponsored by Joe Fox of Belluck & Fox, LLP, who represented Mr. Lombardo before his death.

The 5k Walk for Hope will be held at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, NY, with sign-in at 9 a.m. and the the walk beginning at 10 a.m. Registration is $15. Download the online registration form.

If you are unable to attend the walk, but would like to support this effort, you can send a donation that will go to MARF. The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is the nonprofit collaboration of patients and families, physicians, advocates and researchers dedicated to eradicating the life-ending and vicious effects of mesothelioma.

You can send your donation to the following address:

5k Walk for Hope
c/o Janice Malkotsis
130 Taft Avenue
Merrick, NY 11566
(checks should be payable to 5k Walk for Hope)

An interview published Sunday, April 5, by the Boston Globe featured an interview with popular country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, and his daughter Miley Cyrus, who is probably more famous now than her father was in his heyday. Billy Ray is known to a generation of 1980s country music fans for his hit single “Achy Breaky Heart” but is probably better known among a younger generation of teens and ‘tweens simply as the father of their idol, Disney superstar Miley Cyrus, of the network’s “Hannah Montana” series.

Discussing the atmosphere of celebrity in which Miley grew up, as the daughter of a performer, the interview veers off to mention Billy Ray’s roots as the son of a steelworker father, Ron Cyrus, who went on to serve 21 years in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Almost offhandedly, the story mentions that Ron Cyrus passed away of mesothelioma, which he almost certainly contracted through his exposure to asbestos in the mills.

Perhaps the paper felt this tidbit was relevant to its Boston audience because the elder Mr. Cyrus visited Boston for treatment of his mesothelioma, and son Billy Ray wrote a colorful country tune, “I Want My Mullet Back,” in honor of a former Red Sox baseball player. In his day, Billy Ray was famous for his own long mullet haircut, a style cropped short on top and sides but long in the back (“business in the front, party in the back”).

The mention of mesothelioma seems random, but there’s more to the story.

Ron Cyrus passed away on February 28, 2006. He had served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for Kentucky’s 98th Legislative District, beginning in 1975, and was elected to 11 consecutive terms before retiring in 1996. He was 70 years old when he passed away, and old reports from that time list his cause of death simply as “lung cancer.”

In March 2006, at the end of its regular session, both houses of the Kentucky State Legislature observed a moment of silence in honor of Ron Cyrus’s passing.

But now, in its 2009 session, the Kentucky legislature is once again recognizing the issue of mesothelioma and asbestos awareness, and, along with it, Ron Cyrus.

First, on Feb. 6, Representative Ancel Smith and Rep. Sannie Overly introduced HR95, a resolution to recognize September 26 as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day, as designated by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) and supported by U.S. Congressional resolution.

HR95 was established in Kentucky to honor “those who have fallen victim to this disease in the Commonwealth” and names “former legislator Ron Cyrus; Todd Hall, a bright, young University of Kentucky graduate who had started a successful business; [and] Allen Conley, a naval architect and marine engineer exposed to asbestos in the Yorktown, Virginia Naval shipbuilding yards…”

The resolution was adopted in the House by voice vote on Feb. 9.

Then, on Feb. 23, HB519 was introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives, sponsored by Representatives Ancel Smith, Keith Hall,  Tom Burch, Leslie Combs, Ted Edmonds, Jeff Greer and Brent Housman. The Act would designate Sept. 26 of each year as Mesothelioma Awareness Day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and would be known as “The Ron Cyrus and Todd Hall Mesothelioma Awareness Act of 2009.”

The bill passed the house by a vote of 97-0 on March 10, with 3 not voting.

The bill was introduced in the Senate designated as SB58, sponsored by Johnny Ray Turner, where it passed unanimously by a vote of 36-0 on March 3.

Read SB58.

Read HB519.

Read House Resolution 95.

As Asbestos Awareness Week – April 1-7, 2009 – draws to a close, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is encouraging the mesothelioma and asbestos awareness community to recognize the victims of asbesots disease around the world.

Tonight, on Tuesday, April 7, everyone is encouraged to join in a candle-lighting at 6 p.m. PST (8 p.m. CST). The event will signify Unity, Hope and Remembrance of those we love, and will be a time to honor those who have been lost to asbestos disease.

Many people are surprised to learn that asbestos is still not completed banned in the United States. It is allowable at contents of 1 percent or less, despite studies that show that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. The only known cause of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer most often affecting the lining of the lungs, is exposure to asbestos.

Tonight, join us in remembering those who are struggling with mesothelioma and other asbestos disease, and those who have lost their fight. One of the greatest tragedies of asbestos disease is that it doesn’t have to happen. How many more have to suffer before this deadly substance is finally eradicated?

The folks who run this web site were excited to take part in a special event on Saturday, April 4, to raise awareness of mesothelioma, and share information about the dangers of asbestos exposure. The event was the “Bite the Tail Off Cancer” crawfish boil, and it was sponsored by the Junior Executive Board of the American Cancer Society here in Montgomery, Ala.

The timing of this event was perfect, as it coincided with Asbestos Awareness Week, which is April 1-7. The week has been recognized nationally by U.S. Senate Resolution, and also locally by Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange. Thank you, Mayor Strange, for supporting Asbestos Awareness in the Capital City! The Mayor signed a proclamation on April 1 in recognition of the special week.

At the crawfish boil event, which was held in Downtown Montgomery at Riverwalk Park, we were able to provide information about asbestos exposure and safety, as well as information about mesothelioma. I talked to two gentlemen who have been exposed to asbestos, both in their jobs. We also visited with a woman who recently lost her husband to lung cancer, as a result of smoking and also asbestos inhalation in his work.

Many people were surprised to learn that asbestos is still not completely banned in the United States. We provided a petition they can sign, which I will take to Washington, D.C., in June when I attend the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s International Mesothelioma Symposium. During that event, I will have the opportunity to meet with my Congressional delegates to lobby for an asbestos ban.

We’re adding an online petition to this site, too, which should be up in the next couple of days. I’ll let you know when it’s active, and I would love to have everyone sign!

The folks from this web site, www.myMeso.org, are excited that we will have a table this weekend at the American Cancer Society “Bite the Tail Off Cancer” Crawfish Boil event. The event is presented by the ACS Junior Executive Board and Riverfront Facilities, City of Montgomery. If you are going to be in Central Alabama on Saturday, please come by and see us!

The event is planned to be held at Riverwalk Amphitheater in Downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, April 4, from 2 p.m.-8 p.m. and will feature all the crawfish and sides you can eat, live music, and activities for children. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, with proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society. (Advance tickets can be purchased through etix.xom)

myMeso’s sponsor, Beasley Allen Law Firm, is also a sponsor for this event, along with Alfa, Alfa Dental, Morgan Keegan, Jackson Thornton, Dr. Kynard Adams, Price Trailer Sales, Southeast IV, ServisFirst Bank, Harmon Dennis & Bradshaw, Cumulus Broadcastin, Seay Seay & Litchfield, AKD Printing, and AAF-Montgomery.

It is particularly fitting for myMeso to present information about mesothelioma and asbestos awareness during this event, as April 1-7 has been declared Asbestos Awareness Week both in the City of Montgomery and nationally, by U.S. Senate Resolution.

In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the historic Train Shed, which is located adjacent to the Riverfront and Riverwalk. Come see us, rain or shine!