In a news release yesterday the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) applauded a recent decision by the American Public Health Association (APHA) to strengthen its policy against asbestos. The APHA has adopted a resolution calling on Congress to ban the manufacture, sale, export or import of asbestos containing products. ADAO co-founder Linda Reinstein says she hopes this is one more step forward in finally securing a total ban of asbestos in the United States.

According to its web site, the ADPH is the largest, oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world, and has been working to improve public health since 1872. The association “aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States.”

“We can’t let history repeat itself,” Reinstein said in the news release. “APHA renews our optimism that a federal asbestos ban is imminent.”

The APHA resolution for the elimination of asbestos includes a brief history of the known links between asbestos and adverse health effects, including malignant respiratory disease, including asbestosis, lung and other cancers, specifically mesothelioma. It also states that the organization opposes legislation that would limit the right of victims of asbestos disease to recover damages from asbestos manufacturers, and supports the Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008.

In order to strengthen its stance on asbestos, the resolution not only calls for the complete ban on the manufacture, sale, export or import of asbestos-containing products, but also recommends the U.S. Congress should direct research funding to identify public health hazards resulting from asbestos mining or excavation of minerals that occur naturally with asbestos. It urges the U.S. Surgeon General to warn and educate people annually about the public health issues related to asbestos exposure (building on a similar warning issued in April this year) and to “disseminate widely and annually its asbestos warning to all federal and state health, consumer, labor and environmental protection agencies.”

The resolution also recommends that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issue an annual statement to alert workers in high-risk occupations to the dangers and adverse health risks associated with asbestos.

Other recommendations address testing existing structures for the presence of asbestos, and asking the government to take a harder stance against asbestos manufacturing, sale and exportation by other nations, as well as by corporations, calling for a global ban on asbestos.

The ADAO news release quotes Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH, who is Chair of the ADPH Occupational Health and Safety section, as saying, “With this new policy, the ADPH is joining the World Federation of Public Health Associations and other international organizations calling for a global ban on asbestos mining and manufacturing, and the dangerous practice of exporting asbestos containing products.”

Read the ADAO News Release.

Read the full APHA Resolution.

Everyone following Debbie Brewer‘s story on this site knows that last December it was determined she was in remission from mesothelioma – a miracle! – following successful chemoembolization treatment in Germany. Then, in September, she received a worrying report that appeared to show growth in a lymph node in her chest, which showed up on a CT scan. Subsequent tests revealed that there was growth, which would require treatment.

This week, Debbie started radiotherapy on the lymph node. She tells me that the radiotherapy treatment is a 3-week course, Monday to Friday, and depending on how the lymph node responds could go to 5 or 6 weeks.

Doctors also did a biopsy on her right groin area, which was the site where Dr. Vogl introduced the chemoembolization procedure. There is some question about whether the mesothelioma could have seeded at the induction site. Debbie says Dr. Vogl – who is pioneering the chemoembolization treatment at the University in Frankfurt – is hopeful and optimistic that this is not the case. However, the treatment is still experimental, so it is hard to know what to expect, she says. The chemoembolization treatment was done six times, each time in the same area.

The biopsy was done on Tuesday, with doctors taking two samples. Debbie is now waiting on the results.

She is in good spirits and keeping a positive outlook, so I’m sure she’d appreciate the continued well wishes and encouragment. She promises to let us know when she receives the results. You can also read more about Debbie’s story, and the other goings-on in her life, at her own blog, Mesothelioma & Me.

A video that demonstrates the effects of asbestos in the lungs was recently brought to my attention by two sources. Our friend Debbie Brewer posted it to her Facebook, and then Linda Reinstein from the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization sent me a link, which I’m planning to post on my Twitter feed. This is one of the best dramatizations I’ve seen yet about how asbestos fibers enter the lungs, and how they can cause such conditions as asbestosis, pleural plaques, and mesothelioma.

If you have a Twitter account and would like to share this video, please re-Tweet @ Linda_ADAO Excellent 90 second video on asbestos fiber inhalation produced by ANROAV, AMRC and A-BAN http://tinyurl.com/yhqsdzd

A story on the Cold Truth web site published Oct. 21 reported on a recent meeting of the Manhattan Beach, Calif., City Council, during which it passed a resolution to ask the State of California to find a new “official state rock.” The state’s current stone is serpentine, which usually contains asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen that causes the deadly cancer mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs, stomach and/or heart, as well as other deadly diseases including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs.

Cold Truth is an original investigative journalism reporting site created by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Andrew Schneider, who broke the story of the asbestos poisoning of Libby, Montana, among others. According to his report, serpentine was chosen as the state rock of California in 1965, “in order to promote the then-lucrative asbestos mining industry.”

The proposal to ask California’s government to change the official state rock was presented and supported by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which is headquartered in California. The organization has dubbed the effort the “Drop the Rock” Campaign, and urges statewide action while building awareness about cancer-causing asbestos.

According to a news release from ADAO dated Oct. 21, Resolution 6223 is “Urging the State Legislature to repeal the designation of serpentine, the host of asbestos, as the official state rock, in support of world eradication of asbestos for public health as urged by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.”

The resolution from Manhattan Beach represents the first official request to the California legislature to remove the rock. ADAO notes that Chrysotile asbestos, which is often found in serpentine, causes cancers and respiratory diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.

“California has the dubious distinction of being the state with the highest recorded number of asbestos-related deaths and the death toll will continue until the United States Congress passes legislation banning asbestos,” said ADAO Executive Director and Co-Founder Linda Reinstein in the news release. “We have a strategic plan in place and look forward to working with asbestos victims and their families, the John McNamara Foundation, the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, and political leaders as we move throughout California to repeal serpentine as the state rock.”

The ADAO news release quotes Manhattan Beach Mayor Portia Cohen as saying, “It is unthinkable to have Serpentine as the State Rock of California when more than 7,000 people in our state alone have died from asbestos since 2007.”

Read Resolution 6223.

If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization is calling on you to help raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and to call for Congressional ban of asbestos in the United States.

Here is a sample Facebook and Twitter message the ADAO is asking you to post. Ask your friends to re-Tweet, too!

Asbestos is a carcinogen. Ban asbestos now. Send your Congressional Representatives a letter from www.banasbestos.us. Please RT!

Mesothelioma and other asbestos-releated diseases are preventable! Raise awareness and help eliminate this deadly substance in the U.S.!

“For every life lost to asbestos, a shattered family is left behind.” This is the motto and the message of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) co-founder Linda Reinstein. Linda, who now serves as ADAO’s executive director, became an activist on behalf of the victims of asbestos disease in 2003, when her husband Alan was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He passed away in May 2006.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, which Linda established in 2004 along with co-founder Doug Larkin,  is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving as the voice for all asbestos victims. Its mission includes education, outreach, networking for asbestos victims, and especially working to accomplish a complete ban of asbestos in the United States. ADAO has gotten a U.S. Senate resolution to officially declare April 1 as Asbestos Awareness Day, and hosts an annual Asbestos Awareness Day Conference to increase awareness and help prevent future exposure.

This year, the Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson supported National Asbestos Awareness Week, the first week of April, and issued a statement about the deadly health hazard posed by asbestos.

Since co-founding ADAO, Linda has globally united countless individuals and families who have been affected by asbestos related diseases, including mesothelioma and asbestosis. She also has worked to produce awareness materials including a slide show called “Asbestos Kills,” and other educational materials including an internationally distributed online book, “Reflections,” which features articles from renowned global experts.

Last week, the ADAO launched a new resource center page on its web site, and issued a call to action for those of us in the mesothelioma community to push for a complete ban on asbestos in the United States by contacting our Congressional representatives.

There is an easy way to do it – just visit www.banasbestos.us and click on the link that says “Write Your Congressman,” which is on the home page. This will take you to a form you can fill out, and it will automatically send the message to your Congressional delegates. Remember, YOU shoud be THEIR voice on Capitol Hill!

“I need them to feel our pain,” Reinstein said. “Asbestos victims – patients, families, caregivers -  are turning their anger to action, across the nation, working for the difference we can make, together.”

Pictured above, Linda Reinstein with her and Alan’s daughter Emily. The flag is in recognition of Alan’s military service to his country.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), has issued a special bulletin urging the mesothelioma community and U.S. citizens in general to step up the fight to ban asbestos in the United States. They have added a page on their web site, www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org, that provides specific information about the health hazards of asbestos, along with helpful links to educational resources, and sample Facebook and Twitter messages they are asking everyone to post who uses those social media sites.

ADAO has dedictated its National Asbestos Awareness Resource to the memory of June Breit, who is well known in the mesothelioma community, and who recently lost her battle with the disease, as well as to the thousands of other victims “silenced by asbestos.”

According to the information on the resource page, “Asbestos can cause cancer and irreversible lung damage. Asbestos has no warning properties — you can’t see it smell it or taste it. Avoid asbestos exposure, and consult the CPSC, EPA, NIOSH, ILO and WHO guidelines, regulations and laws.”

The resource page also includes information from a statement issued by Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Long in April, in commemoration of Asbestos Awareness Day, which outlines the health hazards of asbestos and which urges Americans to become more aware of these dangers and to protect themselves from asbestos exposure.

The ADAO is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to serve as the united voice for all asbestos victims, to unite asbestos victims and educate the public and medical community about asbestos-related disease, to support research that leads to early detection, prevention and a cure; to ensure equitable compensation for victims and their families, and to ban the use of asbestos.

For more information and to participate in this awareness outreach effort, please visit the National Asbestos Awareness Resource page today, and make use of the many tools available there!

Among the many wonderful speakers at the 2009 International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, presented by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation in June, was Dr. Jill Ohar of Wake Forest University. She has been researching mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases for more than 20 years, and currently is heading a study to determine if there could be a genetic predisposition between asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma.

Dr. Ohar told conference attendees that her goal is to try to discover why some people may be exposed to asbestos and never develop any type of asbestos disease, while others may develop asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma. She had already collected blood samples and DNA from 6,000 people exposed to asbestos for an epidemiologic study. Of that number, she said, 250 people developed mesothelioma.

“What is different in those people?” she wondered.

The next phase of the study is a genome study involving the 250 patients who did develop mesothelioma. In addition, Dr. Ohar is seeking additional participants.

A news release on Oct. 5 announced that FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a comprehensive health care network serving 15 counties in the mid-Carolinas, will partner with the Wake Forest School of Medicine to encourage participation in the study, which is investigating the development and progression of asbestos-related lung diseases and cancers. The FirstHealth Clinical Trials Department will work on this project.

Dr. Ohar is the study’s principal investigator. In the news release she says, “Families have been devastated by this disease, but what is surprising is that despite the strong association of asbestos exposure to mesothelioma, only a small number of people exposed to asbestos actually develop mesothelioma. Over years of research, we have determined that there is a strong tendency for mesothelioma to run in families and it tends to be associated with a family history of cancer, which suggests a genetic susceptibility.”

The mesothelioma study requires the collection of one ounce of blood from the participant and the completion of a tw0-page survey, both to be conducted at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital’s Chest Center of the Carolinas.

The study will examine associated environmental factors and genetic markers of people diagnosed with mesothelioma, basically identifying how frequently encountered environmental pollutants affect the body and determining the genetic factors that make some families more susceptible than others to mesothelioma and other forms of cancer.

If you or a a friend or family member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma and are interested in participating in this study or have questions, please call FirstHealth Clinical Trials at 910-715-2200 or Dr. Jill Ohar at 866-487-2344 or 336-716-8426.

University of Minnesota researchers made a call in mid-September for more participants in its study of a possible link between Iron Range taconite mines and mesothelioma. The five-year reserach program received $4.9 million in funding from the Minnesota state legislature in April 2008, and is being directed by the university in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health.

The study was conceived as a result of an unusually high incidence of mesothelioma in taconite mine workers. Mesothelioma is currently linked exclusively to asbestos exposure. To day, more than 58 Iron Range mine workers have been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

In July, researchers began health screenings of former taconite workers and their families. To date, a little more than 100 people have participated in the screenings, although reserachers hope to examine around 1,200 people during the course of the study.

The call for more participants apparently raised some concerns among area residents about the program’s success. However, a report by KQDS Fox 21 News assures the public that the study is progressing as planned, and that the call for more participants is a natural part of the process.

The news report quotes Nancy Tekautz, who is a field supervisor for the taconite workers respiratory health study, as saying her clinic is nearly booked. “We believe the response has been very good and we just want to encourage it to continue,” she told KQDS.

KXMB News reports study director Dr. Jeffrey Mandel has sent about 300 letters to a random sampling of current and former Iron Range taconite workers, asking them to participate in the study. Participants will provide a medical and occupational history and submit to simple medical tests.

Researchers assure miners and their families that all study participants and individual medical information will remain confidential. For more information, visit the Minnesota Taconite Workers Health Study web site, or call the University of Minnesota toll free at 1-888-840-7590.

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has issued a news release announcing the resolution introduced last week in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Patty Murray to designate September 26 as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day has passed! The resolution introduced simultaneously in the House of Representatives by Rep. Betty McCollum, designated as H.Res. 771, is still pending.

The Meso Foundation is urging the mesothelioma community to contact their House Representative to urge him or her to co-sponsor the bill. Representative McCollum still needs 13 more co-sponsors to complete the passage of National Mesothelioma Awareness Day in both the House and the Senate.

The news release quotes Chris Hahn, Executive Director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, “Thanks to the concern of Sen. Murray and Congresswoman McCollum, and their introduction of the federal ‘National Mesothelioma Awareness Day’ resolution, we hope that mesothelioma will finally become part of a broad national conversation about its tragic impact in our society and the critical need to fund reserch to develop treatments and, ultimately, find a cure for mesothelioma.”

Your help is urgently needed to encourage House Representatives to co-sponsor this resolution. Visit the Meso Foundation’s “Action Center” at www.curemeso.org/action to send an email to your congressional representative.