Mr. Fluffy has caused problems for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and homeowners alike since a sole contractor used the loose asbestos insulation in territory homes beginning in 1968.

MyMeso has previously reported the physical and mental health strains Mr. Fluffy has caused for area home owners, and yet another study has shown how people who have lived in the houses are at risk. Research from the Australian National University found that men who lived in houses that contained Mr. Fluffy asbestos insulation were 2.5 times more likely to contract mesothelioma than those who had not from 1983 to 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

Ambler, Pennsylvania, has a history riddled with asbestos, as it was once home to Keasbey & Mattison Co., a building products manufacturing company in the early- to mid-1900s that extensively used asbestos. Part of the town is currently designated as a Superfund Site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other parts used to have that designation but remediation has since been completed.

Tensions are currently high in the area over the creation of a 115-unit apartment complex building on the Bast tract, an area of land that once held Keasbey & Mattison Co.’s manufacturing facilities for the creation of asbestos products. Members of the community are concerned that asbestos fibers would become airborne or be washed into a nearby creek during construction, according to The Ambler Gazette. Read the rest of this entry »

While U.S. military veterans from all wars and service branches account for just 8 percent of the U.S. population, they comprise 30 percent of all known mesothelioma deaths that have occurred in the United States, according to Military.com. Read the rest of this entry »

For the U.S. Gulf Coast, hurricane season began June 1, and not yet a month in, Tropical Storm Cindy is expected to make landfall at the end of the week. Though Cindy will likely not cause the devastating effects of a high-category hurricane, it’s important to note that cleaning up after a tropical storm or hurricane can potentially cause exposure to toxic chemicals and building materials, including asbestos. Read the rest of this entry »

A Canadian contractor  has unwittingly cast himself as whistleblower on the government’s handling of renovations containing asbestos, in an ordeal he told the Vancouver Sun amounts to a “nightmare.” Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers from the City of Hope Cancer Center and the Wake Forest School of Medicine believe they have uncovered information about how surgery success factors into peritoneal mesothelioma patients’ overall survival time. Read the rest of this entry »

Viruses are most commonly associated with illness — the 24-hour stomach bug or a cold. However, a pair of biologists from Minnesota say evidence exists that altered viruses can not only kill mesothelioma cells directly, but can be used to make immunotherapy treatments for the deadly disease more effective. Read the rest of this entry »

Back when asbestos was popular in construction and manufacturing, most asbestos-related disease cases were linked to occupation. A recent Finnish study has concluded that those whose job it was to apply spray-on asbestos insulation may be at a highest risk of asbestos-related disease, even compared to those who were employed in other types of asbestos work. Read the rest of this entry »

Breathalyzers are a staple for testing the sobriety of swerving drivers on the road, and now researchers in Belgium are trying to make a similar breath test a staple in mesothelioma treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: SeanMack/Wikipedia

For nearly three years, an area near Western Australia’s Goldfields Pipeline, one of the longest fresh water pipelines in the world, has been quarantined due to ongoing asbestos contamination, but the state’s Water Corporation recently announced the asbestos-contaminated area at one of the pipeline’s pump stations poses no threat to the public water supply. Read the rest of this entry »