Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) Announces Honorees and Keynote Speaker for the 8th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

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Recognition to be given at the 2012 event for outstanding work and dedication to the cause of asbestos awareness

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The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which combines education, advocacy, and community initiatives as a leading asbestos victims’ voice worldwide, announced its honorees and keynote speaker for the 8th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference, Asbestos: An International Public Health Crisis, to be held March 30–April 1, 2012. 

The conference brings together renowned experts and asbestos victims in a united forum to enhance asbestos awareness, education, treatment, and collaboration.  The conference is made possible with the partnership of the Environmental Information Association (EIA) and Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP).

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Decision on payouts to asbestos victims reversed

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

Victims of an asbestos-related condition will again be able to claim compensation after the Assembly reversed a decision to end payouts.

The Assembly has passed The Damages (Asbestos Related Conditions) Bill NI which restores the right to claim compensation for pleural plaques, caused by asbestos.

It could result in sufferers claiming up to £15,000 in damages.

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Mesothelioma Trials – Taking a Shot at Mesothelioma

Posted on December 16, 2011 by admin

Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City are recruiting patients for a clinical trial to test a “vaccine” under development for the mesothelioma treatment.

Unlike many well known vaccines—such as a shot to protect against onset of illnesses such as the flu or the mumps—this vaccine is intended to be given to people who already have malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung.

Very preliminary tests have suggested that the experimental vaccine can mobilize a patient’s own immune system to attack mesothelioma cells.

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American Companies Warned about Buying Improperly Labeled Asbestos Products

Posted on December 16, 2011 by admin

After purchasing products from a European manufacturer, some American companies may have unknowingly put their employees and customers at risk of asbestos exposure.

A recent news story reports that Wolseley, a European heating and plumbing products company, sold gaskets to American companies that were mislabeled as “non-asbestos-containing” when in fact they did contain asbestos.

The products were found to have significantly more than 1 percent asbestos in them, which is more than the safety threshold allowed by law. Because exposure to asbestos has been linked to various cancers and diseases, this news may prove disconcerting to those who are handlers or end-users of these tainted products.

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Wife killed by asbestos dust on clothes

Posted on December 16, 2011 by admin

A devoted wife who diligently washed her husband’s clothes after he finished work in a job which involved handling asbestos died after contracting cancer from the dust on his overalls, a coroner ruled.

Burghfield Common woman Phyllis Millson overcame bowel cancer earlier this year only to contract the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in the spring and she died on Friday, October 21.

Although Mrs Millson, of Clayhill Road, never handled the carcinogenic material, her husband of more than 60 years Howard did through work stripping ceiling tiles and removing asbestos-lined pipes.

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Photodynamic Therapy For Mesothelioma Patients Should Improve With PHOTOFRIN Approval

Posted on December 16, 2011 by admin

The photodynamic therapy that doctors are using to treat some cases of malignant mesothelioma got a boost Thursday when Pinnacle Biologics Inc. received the Orphan Drug Designation for its product PHOTOFRIN.

The Orphan Drug Designation, which is aimed at rare diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people,  provides a special FDA status for a drug, giving a manufacturer more encouragement to develop it, with tax credits and marketing incentives.

PHOTOFRIN (porfimer sodium) has shown signs of being more effective than some of the other drugs being used now in photodynamic therapy (PDT). It already has been used to treat small cell lung and esophageal cancers.

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Yard worker’s death related to asbestos

Posted on December 13, 2011 by admin

A PENSIONERS’ campaigner has railed against the “scourge of asbestos” that contributed to her husband’s death. 

Kenneth Arts, 80, died on September 30. During his life, Mr Arts, of Newby Terrace, Barrow, worked at the shipyard for Vickers and as a postman.

He was also a member of, and campaigner for, a host of pensioners, walking and political groups.

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Later Exposure Lowers Mesothelioma Risk

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

The later in life a person is exposed to asbestos, the less likely they are to develop mesothelioma, regardless of how long the exposure is. 

That is the conclusion of a large population-based control study in France aimed at calculating the risk of mesothelioma among workers based on the time and duration of their asbestos exposure. 

Asbestos is the only known cause of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer in the tissue around the lungs. Asbestos was once a common component of building materials and insulation in France, just as it was in the rest of Europe and the U.S. Most people who develop mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos at work or at home at multiple times in their lives. 

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Health campaigner loses four year asbestos cancer battle

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

A HUNTINGDONSHIRE cancer sufferer has died less than two months after calling for greater awareness of the dangers of asbestos.

David Phillips passed away on Saturday after battling with the fatal lung disease mesothelioma for four years.

The 64-year-old had never knowingly worked with asbestos, but it is thought he might have came into contact with the deadly building material while clearing out a storage cupboard in a London office 40 years ago.

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Northampton Widow Appeals for Witnesses Following Asbestos-Related Death

Posted on November 30, 2011 by admin

The widow and two children of plumber Benjamin William Smith, a former employee of Mid-Northants Water Board (now Anglian Water Authority) who died after being exposed to asbestos, is asking for witnesses to come forward to support their claim that his death was due to occupational exposure.

Asbestosis sufferer

Benjamin William Smith died aged 84 on 12th March 2011 from mesothelioma, a disease almost always associated with exposure to asbestos, a hazardous fibre he would almost have certainly have come into contact with during the course of his work. Continue reading →

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