Today, April 1, is Asbestos Awareness Day. On a national level, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is working in Washington, D.C., and around the world, to increase awareness and secure a true ban of all asbestos in the United States. Currently, asbestos is allowable in products at 1% or less by weight.

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.

The 4th Annual Asbestos Awareness Day is set for Tuesday, April 1, 2008. The first week of April, April 1-7, also is Asbestos Awareness Week.

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.