Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma,
Tourism
And
Pending Legislation

Were you in New York City on September 11th, 2001? Have you visited New York since September 11th, 2001? Have you taken a once in a lifetime vacation to Far Off Lands?

If so, you should tell your doctor when you’re diagnosed with – Mesothelioma.

If you Google the word, “Mesothelioma” you’ll find an abundance of medical definitions that read very similar to the following:

What is Mesothelioma?

The National Cancer Institute states: "Malignant Mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, is a disease in which malignant cancer cells are found in the sac lining the chest (the pleura), the lining of the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum) or the lining around the heart (the pericardium)."

If you or a loved one is diagnosed with Mesothelioma, by Googling Mesothelioma you will also discover hundreds of attorneys offering legal services and advice.

In plain, old, everyday English, Mesothelioma is cancer. Mesothelioma is a cancer that is solely caused by being exposed to asbestos.

WHAT WE KNOW AND HOW LONG HAVE WE KNOWN IT

Written history has recorded the health hazards associated with asbestos as far back as the 1st century AD. The first century geographer Strabo noted that workers exposed to asbestos had many health problems; Pliny the Elder went so far as to recommend that quarry slaves from asbestos mines not be purchased because "they die young."

In the late 19th century large quantities of asbestos were needed for the ever-expanding textile and building industries. The first documented case of an asbestos related death was reported in 1906.

By 1918 life insurance companies were charging higher premiums for asbestos workers. (1)

It has also been known for decades that the symptoms of exposure to asbestos may not become evident from twenty to forty years after exposure, but the disease, Mesothelioma, is always fatal.

People exposed in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s are now being diagnosed with Mesothelioma because of the long latency period associated with asbestos disease. Exposure of as little as one or two months can result in Mesothelioma 30 or 40 years later. (4)

Mesothelioma requires a doctor to diagnose it. The symptoms of Mesothelioma can easily be mistaken for many other non-fatal diseases. If you are an individual that has hypochondriacal type tendencies, please forget about making a self diagnoses – it’s just not possible to diagnose Mesothelioma without a trained medical doctor.

Absolutely Everyone Is At Risk!

For decades, a wide range of occupations have been associated with the risk of asbestos related health problems, but given what is known about the continued use of asbestos in other countries, and the failure of other countries to eradicate asbestos, tourists are putting themselves at grave, unnecessary risk. We know that tourists are at risk, by using the same model that proved family members were exposed to asbestos.

It is well documented that family members of asbestos workers were exposed to microscopic asbestos fibers, because the minute asbestos fibers clung to their clothing, and were carried into asbestos workers homes.

Now, as late as November 2005, TOURISTS should be added to the list of people who are at risk to asbestos related health problems.

In Brazil, around 60 percent of houses are covered by asbestos-cement corrugated sheets/tiles and currently around 50 percent of these buildings have asbestos-cement tanks to store water for human consumption. In the early 1990s, 90 percent of homes had these asbestos-cement tanks. In the poorest areas, the percentages are even higher, with almost all homes having asbestos-cement tanks and corrugated sheets in the roofs.

Working class people in every Nation carry these cancer causing asbestos fibers on their clothing into popular tourist resorts. Asbestos fibers are undetectable to the naked eye. South Africa is only now beginning the process of moving to ban asbestos. (3)

Considering what is known about the health risk of being exposed to asbestos, even for a just a two month period, Americans will be mourning the additional lost of life from the destruction of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in another 20 or so years, after people start dying from diseases only caused by exposure to asbestos. It is well documented that the Twin Towers were filled with asbestos.

According to a November 30th, 2001 article, published in the New York Psychogeographical Association "...the Twin Towers were always money-losers...and required huge subsidies from the State...the WTC complex was ludicrously costly to heat and light...In New York City, obsolete buildings are infrequently saved...The only thing that saved the Twin Towers from demolition was the fact that they were filled with asbestos, which would be released into the air if the buildings were destroyed by controlled explosions. In 2000, the Port Authority calculated that it would cost $1 billion...to remove the asbestos..."(5)

Asbestos exposure is a global problem. The problem is not from a lack of knowledge about asbestos exposure that is endangering the world’s population. It’s simply greed that is continuing to allow people to be exposed to asbestos. The extremely long wait time between exposure to asbestos and developing asbestos related cancers and diseases is allowing world governments, and global corporations to sidestep their responsibilities to give workers a safe environment within to work.

After doing all the reading, and research I did to write this article, it seems logical that another serious problem has yet to be mentioned. Every American soldier serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other foreign countries are being exposed to asbestos, especially in widely bombed areas. It will be twenty to forty years before our unsuspecting military service men and women will develop any symptoms of Mesothelioma.


There is currently legislation being proposed that will shrink the liability of major Fortune 500 Companies, like Ford, General Motors, General Electric, Dow Chemical, Pfizer, and Viacom. It's called FAIR--the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act. Senators Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy have alerted the Senate to prepare for a vote on the bill sometime this fall, according to a recent article in The Nation titled Asbestos Liability Scam.

According to the watchdog group Public Citizen asbestos manufacturers and “Tier 2” companies have spent $145 million dollars over the course of the last two years peddling the FAIR bill to our Congress.

In America, today, right now, as I’m writing this our American Congressmen and Senators are being courted by big money corporations to pass a bill that will limit asbestos manufacturers’ liability. "If FAIR becomes law, Public Citizen estimates, the top ten asbestos corporations' liability will be slashed by 79 percent, or $20 billion. This is textbook corporate welfare under the guise of "tort reform." The FAIR bill will serve to absolve corporations of their legal responsibilities to those whom they injure, contaminate or kill."

Good Night, and good luck.

Current Asbestos News Stories:

1. January 20th, 2006

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10947608/

2. January 20th, 2006

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10946193/from/RL.2/

3. November 11th, 2005

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10003096/from/RL.1/

4. No publication date

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10826144/from/RL.5/




REFERENCES:

Please be patient with me concerning my completing citing my references properly. It was silly of me not to cite my sources while I was writing this article.

1. http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/environmental/asbestoshealthhazards2004.h...

2. http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2003/03april/april03interviewsgiannasi.htm

3. http://allafrica.com/stories/200510310903.html

4. http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma.htm

5. http://www.geocities.com/killtown/

6. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/mesothelioma

7. http://www.mesolink.org/

8. http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/OWCM.NSF/0/1892d33bca669504882566d700671e50?OpenDocu...

9. http://www.unrv.com/economy/asbestos.php

10. http://www.asbestosresource.com/asbestos/

Lawyers last line of defense:

11. http://www.asbestos-lawyers-attorneys.com/asbestos_verdicts.html

12. http://www.btinternet.com/~ibas/lka_jail_for_eternit_exec.htm

13. http://international.sp.nl/publications/asbestos.pdf


14. http://www.wxyz.com/wxyz/ys_investigations/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15949_2596116,00....

15. http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2001Q4/junkman.html

16. http://www.thenation.com/docprem.mhtml?i=20051107&s=johnsonlevin