Mesothelioma
By Jane Mundy
Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos comes from a greek word meaning "inextinguishable" -- it survives fire, flood and frost as fiercely as it holds onto a person's lungs. Tragically, many Mesothelioma victims won't even know what caused their death because, unlike tobacco, they didn't know what they were exposed to; the time of exposure and the onset of illness is usually longer than ten years. And mesothelioma is a creeping killer: it can remain latent for up to forty years, making this disease even more insidious. (In some cases however, the latency period has been as short as ten years.) Many people were dying to know what was killing them.
According to EPA estimates, asbestos has killed more than 259,000 people in the US alone over the past hundred or so years. And more deaths are anticipated - about 3,000 people in the US alone are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. Among all the carcinogenic products, natural and fabricated, only tobacco ranks higher in number of deaths.
Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer whereby malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. It usually attacks the pleura - the outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity - but it can also occur in the peritoneum, which is the lining of the abdominal cavity or pericardium, a sac that surrounds the heart.
Unlike other cancers, mesothelioma is preventable. It is mainly the fault of irresponsible corporations that failed to protect their workers against hazardous exposure to asbestos.
Workers may have inhaled asbestos particles; they may have unknowingly brought asbestos dust and fiber home on clothing, thereby exposing family members.
Or they could have been exposed to asbestos at home. Many houses built before 1970 contain asbestos cement and when disturbed, such as by home renovating, it begins to deteriorate, releasing asbestos fibers into the air and subsequently, inhaled. An estimated 30 million homes, schools and offices are already contaminated with asbestos; construction, repair, or demolition in older structures can lead to exposure as we witnessed on 9/11 with the World Trade Center.
A human hair is more than a thousand times as thick as one of its strands - making asbestos all but invisible. Asbestos has been part of more than three thousand products and, despite thinking that it has been banned, asbestos is still found in such ubiquitous things as insulation, clutch and brake linings, wallboard and floor tiles, oven mitts and even baby powder. NASA insulates the solid fuel boosters of space shuttles with asbestos.
On July 12, 1989, the banned most asbestos-containing products. But In 1991, this regulation was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. In other words, there isn't an actual ban on asbestos; instead there is a regulation to reduce exposure. In fact, asbestos is allowed in certain concentrations. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an employee cannot be exposed to more than 0.1 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter of air during an average eight hour work day. But how does a consumer know if a given product fits within those guidelines? Furthermore, the EPA has repeatedly stated that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
As a result of the Court's decision, the following specific asbestos-containing products remain banned: flooring felt, rollboard, and corrugated, commercial, or specialty paper. In addition, the regulation continues to ban the use of asbestos in products that have not historically contained asbestos, otherwise referred to as "new uses" of asbestos. Below are the four relevant Federal Register notices and a document that provides more detail on the status of EPA's ban on asbestos-containing products
In addition to having asbestos present in new products and materials, asbestos-containing product categories no longer subject to the 1989 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ban include the following:
asbestos-cement corrugated sheet, asbestos-cement flat sheet, asbestos clothing, pipeline wrap, roofing felt, vinyl-asbestos floor tile, asbestos-cement shingle, millboard, asbestos-cement pipe, automatic transmission components, clutch facings, friction materials, disc brake pads, drum brake linings, brake blocks, gaskets, non-roofing coatings, and roof coatings.
Countless companies that have exposed their employees to asbestos have faced multiple lawsuits and settled hundreds of millions in damages. And it's not over: many more lawsuits are being launched by men whose companies they worked for did little or nothing to protect them from asbestos exposure. For example, twelve former railroad workers who claim workplace exposure caused them to develop asbestosis and pneumoconiosis combined their claims in a suit against Illinois Central Railroad. The plaintiffs, whose residences are not disclosed, seek damages in excess of $100,000 each under the Federal Employers' Liability Act and the Locomotive Boiler Inspection Act.
A mesothelioma lawsuit can be filed by a victim of mesothelioma or, in the event that the victim has died, the lawsuit can be filed by a family member or the executor of the deceased's estate. A lawsuit can also be filed by a family member who has developed the disease through close contact with the person who was exposed to asbestos.
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