On March 26, the ADAO praised the U.S. Senate for passage of the sixth annual resolution establishing National Asbestos Awareness Week. Senate Resolution 427 also urges the Surgeon General to warn and educate Americans about the severe hazards of asbestos exposure.

The ADAO is the largest organization in the United States serving as the voice of asbestos victims, and lobbies for the complete ban of asbestos and asbestos-containing products in the U.S. Asbestos exposure is linked to the development of a number of diseases, including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs; and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and chest, abdomen or the heart. According to statistics compiled by ADAO, in the next decade it is estimated that 100,000 workers around the world will die of an asbestos-related disease. This equals 30 deaths each day.

ADAO co-founder and CEO Linda Reinstein said, “We are grateful to the U.S. Senate for unanimously passing S. Res. 427 that will increase public awareness about asbestos, a known human carcinogen. For the past six years, ADAO has seen that a week of awareness enables agencies, institutions and organizations to promote regulatory compliance and enforcement. Americans deserve and want to know how to prevent asbestos in their homes or in the workplace.”

Asbestos Awareness Week 2010 will be held April 1-7. Visit ADAO online for more information about asbestos and its commercial use; how to prevent exposure in homes, schools and workplaces; early warning symptoms and medical treatment options; and to find out more about why asbestos is still not a banned product in the U.S. and how it is used in common household products.

SOURCE: myMeso › Asbestos is no joke – Asbestos Awareness Week begins today

In addition to providing educational information, advocacy support, a special remembrance ceremony and networking opportunities, each year the conference honors individuals or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding work and dedication to asbestos awareness related activities. ADAO has announced this year’s honorees:

• The Honorable Richard Durbin, United States Senator – Tribute of Hope Award
• Dr. Hedy Kindler – Selikoff Lifetime Achievement Award
• Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD), Libby, Montana – Tribute of Unity Award
• Fernanda Giannasi – Tribute of Inspiration Award
• June Breit (posthumous) – The Alan Reinstein Memorial Award

At the conference, the ADAO also will announce the recipient of the Warren Zevon “Keep Me in Your Heart” Memorial Tribute.

“I’ve received countless requests for my father’s song, ‘Keep Me in Your Heart,’ to be used at memorials for asbestos victims,” said ADAO Spokesperson Jordan Zevon. Jordan is the son of Warren Zevon, acclaimed singer and songwriter, who died of mesothelioma in 2003. “You can imagine how proud it makes me to know that my father’s Grammy winning song has touched so many families, but it is bittersweet because of the nature of those requests. In his honor, I will continue to work with ADAO to ban asbestos to spare future generations from the same fate.”

“As we get closer to a full asbestos ban, we are encouraged, yet simultaneously reminded that the reverberations of asbestos exposure can last decades,” said Linda Reinstein, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ADAO. “Our annual conferences drive home the importance of the need for increased awareness, education and research.”

Additional conference details are available on the ADAO web site, and online registration is available at http://www.adao.eventbrite.com.

The International Asbestos Awareness Conference is made possible with the support and collaborative efforts of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS).

SOURCE: myMeso › Registration now open for ADAO Sixth Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference

“For every life lost to asbestos, a shattered family is left behind.”

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.

SOURCE: myMeso › ADAO founder draws from personal loss to fight asbestos disease, raise awareness

The resolution was introduced by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). Co-sponsors and key supporters are Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), and Sen. John Tester (D-MT).

In a news release, Linda Reinstein, Executive Director and co-founder of ADAO said, “Since 2005, ADAO has worked with the Senate to raise awareness through the passage of asbestos awareness resolutions. We continue to honor individuals and their families who have suffered from diseases caused by asbestos exposure through our efforts to increase awareness and prevention. ADAO will continue to work with Congress to educate Americans until we finally ban the deadly fibers once and for all.”

In recognition of Asbestos Awareness Day, the ADAO will hold its fifth annual Asbestos Awareness Conference March 27-29 in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Read SR 57.

SOURCE: myMeso › Senate establishes fifth annual National Asbestos Awareness Week

Perhaps one of the most interesting presentations at the recent Asbestos Awareness Day Conference in Detroit, at least to me, was that of Rebecca J. W. Cline, PhD, a senior scientist in Communication and Behavioral Oncology for the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Wayne State University.

Dr. Cline recently conducted a community-based focus group investigation in Libby, Montana, on psychosocial issues related to vermiculite/asbestos exposure. She also is currently leading a related population-based survey investigating that community.

She describes asbestos related disease as a “slow-motion technological disaster,” in which community and social responses have a great deal to do with how people fare, mentally and socially.

The basic definition of a technological disaster is a “catastrophic event caused by humans that results in the toxic contamination of the environment.” This includes asbestos contamination, as in Libby, resulting from decades of vermiculite mining, hence “slow moving,” as well as things like oil spills, which can devastate an area fairly quickly.

Libby is the epicenter of what Dr. Cline calls “the worst environmental disaster in the United States,” with multiple generations affected. She examined in particular how stigma associated with asbestos disease can have an impact on what people do.

Dr. Cline said there are two possible responses to technological disaster – the emergence of an altruistic community, or a community in conflict. The latter, she said, is common where there is human culpability, and it was the result in Libby.

The Libby study, conducted in 2006, included focus groups and some individual interviews with adults who lived and worked in the Libby area for at least the past five years. Interview subjects included people with connections to the mine, people with no connections to the mine, people affected by asbestos disease personally, people with family affected by the disease, and people with no disease in family or person.

She found that people fell into three categories – early believers, those who immediately understood the connection of vermiculite to what was happening to the town; late believers, those who initially resisted the idea that the mine made people sick; and those in denial or conflicted, who still did not or would not believe the mine was responsible.

Dr. Cline found that there was a great deal of stigma attached to asbestos-related disease, which created a barrier to social support. People with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases were often afraid to talk about it, she said, even to close friends.

She said that the stigma came from a variety of sources. Conflicts included concerns about the economic disaster that the loss of the mine signified for the town, for which it was the main industry and source of jobs and security. People feared that if the mine were blamed for illness and deaths in the community there would be a decline in property values, loss of jobs, and a lost way of life.

As a part or a result of that, conflict also grew from a concern about what was the truth. There was a suspicion among neighbors that people claiming illnesses were phony, money-grubbing, greedy or opportunistic, making up illnesses to get a part of a financial settlement from the mining company.

People suffering from asbestos disease personally or within their family were afraid to talk about it out of fear that they would be ostracized and shunned by their neighbors and their community.

Dr. Cline told the story of two women, best friends for years, who bumped into each other in the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, which had been established in Libby to test, diagnose and treat patients. “What are you doing here?” one whispered. “I have the asbestos,” the other whispered back. “Me too,” came the whispered response. Best friends, but afraid at the core to admit to having asbestos disease.

On top of this, people who are ill or whose family members are ill fear the health and medical disaster itself, which was already upon them. They said they felt a lack of hope for survival, not just for themselves or their immediate family, but for generations.

Some of those in denial, or conflicted, still refuse to be tested for asbestos disease. They don’t want to know, Dr. Cline says, or they do not believe the mine could harm them.

There appears to be one universal in Libby.

“Across the groups, people felt like the community as a whole had been stigmatized, that everyone ‘knew about Libby’ and it had been given a bad reputation,” Dr. Cline said.

In addition to the physical toll, the mental toll of asbestos disease in Libby has been incalculable, she said.

SOURCE: myMeso › The mental toll of mesothelioma

News24.com reported, in a story compiled by the South African Press Association, that trade union Solidarity expressed its support for the ban, and called on the government to also amend its asbestos dumping requirements or find alternative options.

The union also said that South Africa “could have followed the example of the rest of the western world and enforced this prohibition years ago,” according to the news story.

A related story published by TransWorldNews on Monday, April 7, stated that “in newly published documents by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism [in South Africa], specific regulations have been introduced upon the use, manufacturing, import, and export of asbestos and asbestos containing materials.”

The report says that while some asbestos containing products, such as existing concrete shingles and ceilings, will not be immediately eradicated, the regulations call for the “phasing out” of such materials.

While the move toward this asbestos ban in South Africa is a positive step, it may be too little too late, according to Robert Jones, an environmental researcher with Rhodes University, who recently completed a study of several areas closest to now-closed asbestos mining sites in South Africa. Jones was a speaker at the recent Asbestos Awareness Day Conference in Detroit, Mich.

“South Africa is blessed with mineral resources – gold, diamonds, platinum,” he said. “And also cursed with mineral resources – asbestos.”

Between 1893-2001, South Africa mined all three types of commercial asbestos and was among the world’s leaders in asbestos mining and use.

Jones surveyed several communities within 2-5 km of the country’s largest asbestos mining sites, encompassing an area of approximately 7,000 square kilometers at each site. Assessment teams were made up of local people in the affected communities, and they targeted areas most suspect for contamination. Teams physically sampled soil and building materials from the locations.

While acknowledging that samples all came from high-risk areas where contamination was expected, the results were still staggering.

75-85% of homes surveyed are contaminated.

47-59% of schools are contaminated

53% of roads are contaminated

In many cases, the soil is blue with visible asbestos dust and clumps of asbestos fibers and minerals. Sports fields and schools are built on contaminated ground, and people build homes with mud bricks made from asbestos-contaminated soil. Some of the population has 24/7 exposure to contaminated soil. The ground is dry, and homeowners sweep bare ground into clouds of dust.

Jones likens the potential future of some of these areas of South Africa to “Libby (Montana) times forty.”

SOURCE: myMeso › South Africa is ‘Libby x 40′

The article starts from the viewpoint of economics, exploring the rising costs of asbestos insurance claims, but goes on to talk with several people who were featured speakers at the recent Asbestos Awareness Day Conference, held in Detroit, touching on the human issue and the projected cost in human life.

There is some valuable statistical information in this article.

Take a look – it’s worth reading!

It’s a real shame that the issue of asbestos awareness doesn’t seem to be getting much attention in the media outside of Michigan, where the conference was held. I’d like to see some national news outlets pick up on this!

SOURCE: myMeso › Excellent story on asbestos cost, impact

SOURCE: myMeso › Canada blocks asbestos ban

The conference was held at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, which is the location of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers, co-directed by Dr. Michael Harbut and Dr. John Ruckdeschel, both of whom spoke at the ADAO conference.

While it might seem obvious, Dr. Harbut said, a key to diagnosing and treating asbestos disease is an emphasis on a medical approach.

Dr. Harbut explained that the Karmanos program “approaches asbestos disease from a purely medical standpoint, which includes taking into account any risk factors, employing state-of-the-art scanning equipment and a multidisciplinary, research-driven approach to early detection and treatment. This includes consideration of non-mailgnant or sub-clinical asbestos disease.

“Diseases that are ‘not hurting you yet,’” he said.

Focus areas at the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers include the establishment of a schema for high resolution CT (HRCT) classification, measurement of pleural plaque volume, examination of psycho-social aspects of asbestos disease, testing new treatments including osteopontin and SMRP, and compiling a comprehensive database of disease, diagnosis and treatment.

The Center encourages anyone at risk from asbestos exposure to seek testing for early detection.

Dr. Ruckdeschel said barriers to successful asbestos disease treatment include a sense of nihilism in the medical community, the idea of giving up on the patient when mesothelioma is diagnosed due to its traditionally high mortality rate. There is a sense of providing only “quick fix” supportive care, he said.

Other challenges include a lack of treatment centers with a documented track record, lack of large standardized treatment trials, and a paucity of research investment, Dr. Ruckdeschel said.

The Center predicts an epidemic of vermiculite and asbestos-related cancers in the near future, as the latency period of asbestos disease exposure is reached, and as asbestos exposure spreads around the world, particularly in third-world countries.

“One life lost to asbestos disease is tragic. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost is unconscionable,” Dr. Ruckdeschel said.

For more information, visit the Karmanos Cancer Institute online or call 1-800-KARMANOS.

SOURCE: myMeso › Karmanos tackles looming asbestos epidemic

Today, on Asbestos Awareness Day, I came across this blog post written by a student at Oregon State, about the death of a beloved uncle. He died just a little over eight months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was only 58 years old.

Take a moment to read this story, and heed the author’s plea to spread the word about the dangers of asbestos – Benjamin’s Musings.

SOURCE: myMeso › Meso breaks another heart

ADAO secured a senate resolution declaring April 1 as Asbestos Awareness Day, and April 1-7 as Abestos Awareness Week. You can visit the ADAO online.

Today also is Asbestos Awareness Day in Montgomery, Alabama, as designated by mayoral proclamation, signed by Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright. The local effort strives to bring the message of asbestos awareness and education to the community and to bring attention to the national effort to ban asbestos.

Asbestos exposure can lead to asbestos-related disease including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. Many symptoms of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases do not appear for 20 or more years, making it difficult to diagnose early. For this reason, the cancer is often diagnosed in late stages, making it too often deadly.

In the U.S. current statistics show 2,000-3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma each year, and 10,000 Americans or more die each year from all asbestos-related disease.

SOURCE: myMeso › Today is Asbestos Awareness Day

Following is a story that appeared in the Detroit Free Press about the remembrance service, and the mission of asbestos awareness. I will post some stories and images from the conference this week, but I wanted to share this excellent report.

By Amber Hunt, Free Press Staff Writer

For Andrew Manuel, it began with back pain.

But the seemingly benign symptom turned out to be something far more sinister, and within two years, the married father of three shed 65 pounds, underwent surgery to have a lung removed and endured chemotherapy and radiation to no avail.

At 42, he was dead. The killer: mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos.

“When I heard the diagnosis, I said, ‘Meso-what?’ ” said Manuel’s wife, Latanyta Manuel, 45, on Sunday. “All I heard was ‘lung cancer,’ and I said, ‘No, that’s not possible.’ My husband never smoked or drank, but they said this cancer is about asbestos.”

On Sunday, a group of people affected by the deadly disease, which they refer to as “meso” for simplicity’s sake, gathered at the Marriott in downtown Detroit’s Renaissance Center for a remembrance brunch.

The event was sponsored by California-based Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Michigan.

Some, such as Manuel, had lost loved ones. Others have been diagnosed with the deadly disease themselves.

They gather annually, they said, to support each other and to spread the word about asbestos-related diseases, including lung cancer and asbestosis.

Asbestos is a fiber that for decades was routinely used for fireproofing and insulation.

While the U.S. government has limited its use, asbestos still can be found in many products, including some stuccos, vinyl flooring and even theater curtains, according to the Asbestos Resource Center.

“Asbestos is still being imported. It’s still being put in products,” said Michelle Zigielbaum, whose husband, Paul, has been diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma.

By the time he was diagnosed, his stomach was so full of fluid and tumors that “I looked like a pregnant woman,” Paul Zigielbaum said.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization recently conducted a study that tested 250 products off store shelves for asbestos content. A first lab found that 18 of the products contained asbestos.

A second lab confirmed that eight of the products had asbestos, while a third confirmed that five products — including a child’s toy — contained asbestos.

Those gathered Sunday said they and their loved ones got sick in different ways.

Andrew Manuel’s father worked in a pipeline, bringing asbestos back into the home. Paul Zigielbaum said he believes he was exposed secondhand, too, but said he also believes that contact with everyday products contributed.

All blamed aggressive asbestos lobbyists as the reason the United States hasn’t banned the substance altogether.

“It’s disturbing to see how companies and politicians try to cover it up,” said Dwayne Manuel, Andrew Manuel’s 26-year-old son. “This is a preventable disease.”

Latanyta Manuel said she just wants to honor her husband’s wishes and spread awareness about the disease.

“Once it erupts, it just kind of takes over,” she said. “People need to know.”

Contact AMBER HUNT at 586-826-7267 or alhunt@freepress.com.

SOURCE: myMeso › Conference educates about asbestos

It is hoped that the local proclamation will bring attention to national efforts to completely ban asbestos in the U.S. and raise awareness about the dangers that still exist.

In Montgomery, Asbestos Awareness Day strives to educate the public about the ongoing dangers of asbestos exposure, which can lead to asbestos-related disease such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma.

Pictured is Wendi Lewis, Conversation Architect for Beasley Allen, receiving the proclamation from Mayor Bright.

SOURCE: myMeso › Mayor declares Asbestos Awareness Day

Think about it. How can we get more attention on the needs of people suffering from asbestos related disease, on a larger scale? What would you like to see? How can we get a grassroots campaign up and running? I think it’s really going to take one person interested and concerned talking to another. Literally spreading the word.Let’s get busy and tell America that asbestos is not a thing of the past, that it is a very real danger today and for their future!

SOURCE: myMeso › What do YOU want to tell America?

On October 6th, 2004, Senator Harry Reid introduced Senate Asbestos Awareness Day Resolution (S. Res. 448). This resolution, proposed by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), designates April 1st as National Asbestos Awareness Day. Then, in 2007, Senate Resolution 108 designated the first week of April as National Asbestos Awareness Week.

In conjunction with Asbestos Awareness Day, the ADAO is having a conference March 28-29, with a remembrance service on Sunday, March 30. These events will be held in Detroit, MI, with the main conference events on Saturday at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. I am planning to attend the conference and hope to put up a lot of posts about the events and speakers.

In addition to the main conference activities, Jordan Zevon, son of acclaimed singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who passed away from Mesothelioma in 2003, will be at the conference for a meet-and-greet Friday night and will speak on Saturday. He is the National Spokesperson for ADAO. Also, ADAO will present a number of awards Saturday to honor the people who have made a difference in Asbestos Disease Awareness.

For more information, or to register to attend the conference (deadline is TOMORROW, Feb. 28!) visit ADAO online.

SOURCE: myMeso › Asbestos Awareness Day April 1