The bill titled the Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 would ban the importation, manufacture, processing and distribution of products containing asbestos into the United States. In addition, the measure, which is expected to be voted on later this year or in early 2008, calls for the creation of a $50 million asbestos-related disease research and treatment network and a public awareness campaign highlighting the dangers posed by asbestos-containing products. For more about the bill, read "Murray ReIntroduces Asbestos Bill.".
The bill initially had been introduced in 2001 and had little chance of passage until this year. On July 31, the bill passed the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) with unanimous, bipartisan support. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Diagnostic Tools for Lung and Mesothelioma Cancers to be Developed
In a recent article on Mesothelioma Cancer Diagnostic Tools, Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. announced that it has partnered with NYU Medical Center with the aim of developing a line of early detection diagnostic products for lung and Mesothelioma cancers.
The early detection test will mainly target over 45 million Americans who are at an increased risk of lung cancer due to smoking, as well as those who have been exposed to asbestos fibers. The test will utilize Rosetta Genomics' proprietary protocol to extract microRNAs from a simple blood draw.
"A test that will be able to detect cancer at an early stage using a simple blood draw will have far reaching implications on the fight against cancer," noted Dr. Harvey Pass, Professor and Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology at NYU Medical Center. "MicroRNAs have been shown to hold great potential as effective biomarkers for various cancers, and I believe that NYU Medical Center's vast experience with lung cancer and Mesothelioma, coupled with Rosetta Genomics' expertise in the microRNA field, will allow us to successfully advance this much needed test forward."
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
On 6th anniversary, one more 9/11 victim
On September 11, 2007 another victim's name will be read from the list of victims who died in the attacks of September 11.
Felicia Dunn-Jones died just five months after the towers fell. The addition of Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old civil rights attorney, to New York City's Sept. 11 death toll occurred in a year that sharply focused on post-Sept. 11 illness — and the legacy of the cleanup of ground zero — more than ever before.
Doctors published more studies establishing direct links to respiratory illnesses and the exposure to the mixture of pulverized concrete, asbestos, mercury and other toxins that wafted over ground zero for close to a year. One study showed a powerful connection to sarcoidosis — the lung-scarring disease that killed Dunn-Jones — and city firefighters.
"We are not about to abandon the men and women who helped lift our city back onto its feet during our greatest time of need," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the time.
Three months later, city Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch surprised many by adding Dunn-Jones' name to the official Sept. 11 victims' list.
Citing "accumulated scientific research" that linked sarcoidosis to ground zero exposure, Hirsch wrote in May, "the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has thus concluded that Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death and it has been ruled a homicide."
On Sept. 11, while her husband, Joseph Jones watched planes hit the towers from the Staten Island Ferry terminal, Dunn-Jones tried to escape her office a block from the north tower. She put a piece of clothing over her face but couldn't keep the choking, white dust out of her lungs, Jones said.
Dunn-Jones was added to Staten Island's Sept. 11 memorial first in 2005, but "we still hadn't given up on the 9/11 thing," he said.
After receiving letters from Feinberg, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and others, Hirsch reached a new decision on May 23.
Felicia Dunn-Jones died just five months after the towers fell. The addition of Dunn-Jones, a 42-year-old civil rights attorney, to New York City's Sept. 11 death toll occurred in a year that sharply focused on post-Sept. 11 illness — and the legacy of the cleanup of ground zero — more than ever before.
Doctors published more studies establishing direct links to respiratory illnesses and the exposure to the mixture of pulverized concrete, asbestos, mercury and other toxins that wafted over ground zero for close to a year. One study showed a powerful connection to sarcoidosis — the lung-scarring disease that killed Dunn-Jones — and city firefighters.
"We are not about to abandon the men and women who helped lift our city back onto its feet during our greatest time of need," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the time.
Three months later, city Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch surprised many by adding Dunn-Jones' name to the official Sept. 11 victims' list.
Citing "accumulated scientific research" that linked sarcoidosis to ground zero exposure, Hirsch wrote in May, "the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has thus concluded that Mrs. Dunn-Jones' exposure to World Trade Center dust on 9/11/01 contributed to her death and it has been ruled a homicide."
On Sept. 11, while her husband, Joseph Jones watched planes hit the towers from the Staten Island Ferry terminal, Dunn-Jones tried to escape her office a block from the north tower. She put a piece of clothing over her face but couldn't keep the choking, white dust out of her lungs, Jones said.
Dunn-Jones was added to Staten Island's Sept. 11 memorial first in 2005, but "we still hadn't given up on the 9/11 thing," he said.
After receiving letters from Feinberg, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and others, Hirsch reached a new decision on May 23.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Ex-Deutsche site worker: Boss said no to asbestos gear
According to an article on asbestos gear, an asbestos worker at the former Deutsche Bank building told the Daily News she quit her job at the unsafe, underprotected site after her boss berated her for wearing an asbestos mask to protect herself.
Helen Rocos was one of a handful of handpicked workers chosen for the lucrative job of searching for human bone fragments amid gravel on the roof of the toxic 130 Liberty St. in spring 2006.
She said she and other employees were assured the roof had been cleaned of asbestos, so they wore ordinary work clothes as they shoveled stones and pawed through the roof debris to find the remains of those killed on 9/11.
"They told us they got rid of the asbestos, but as I'm digging, I'm thinking, 'How did they magically get rid of the asbestos, but still leave all this healthy dirt behind?'" said Rocos, 57, a tough-talking certified asbestos handler with haz-mat training.
After lunch the first day, Rocos came back to work wearing an asbestos mask. She said her Bovis Lend Lease supervisor was furious.
"He yelled, 'Helen! Take that mask off your face! You are spooking everybody, spooking the people from the medical examiner's office!'" Rocos recalled.
Staff from the medical examiner's office was overseeing the bone search as TV helicopters circled overhead filming the dust plumes.
"I said, 'No!' I said I doubted they could clean the asbestos on the roof and leave all this other dirt untouched. You had people picking through the dirt for bones, then getting up and eating a Dunkin' Donut, licking their fingers," she said. "It was insane."
When she balked at taking off her mask, the Bovis supervisor called her a "loudmouth" and a "troublemaker" in front of the rest of the crew, though he later suggested she wear a cloth mask as a compromise, she said.
The fight over the mask was the last straw, she said, so she quit. Days later, by the end of April, the Environmental Protection Agency had suspended the search for bone fragments because the roof was "not properly cleaned" and asbestos particles were discovered in the dust, officials said.
Helen Rocos was one of a handful of handpicked workers chosen for the lucrative job of searching for human bone fragments amid gravel on the roof of the toxic 130 Liberty St. in spring 2006.
She said she and other employees were assured the roof had been cleaned of asbestos, so they wore ordinary work clothes as they shoveled stones and pawed through the roof debris to find the remains of those killed on 9/11.
"They told us they got rid of the asbestos, but as I'm digging, I'm thinking, 'How did they magically get rid of the asbestos, but still leave all this healthy dirt behind?'" said Rocos, 57, a tough-talking certified asbestos handler with haz-mat training.
After lunch the first day, Rocos came back to work wearing an asbestos mask. She said her Bovis Lend Lease supervisor was furious.
"He yelled, 'Helen! Take that mask off your face! You are spooking everybody, spooking the people from the medical examiner's office!'" Rocos recalled.
Staff from the medical examiner's office was overseeing the bone search as TV helicopters circled overhead filming the dust plumes.
"I said, 'No!' I said I doubted they could clean the asbestos on the roof and leave all this other dirt untouched. You had people picking through the dirt for bones, then getting up and eating a Dunkin' Donut, licking their fingers," she said. "It was insane."
When she balked at taking off her mask, the Bovis supervisor called her a "loudmouth" and a "troublemaker" in front of the rest of the crew, though he later suggested she wear a cloth mask as a compromise, she said.
The fight over the mask was the last straw, she said, so she quit. Days later, by the end of April, the Environmental Protection Agency had suspended the search for bone fragments because the roof was "not properly cleaned" and asbestos particles were discovered in the dust, officials said.
New Clinical Trial to Test Effectiveness of Vorinostat (Zolinza) on Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
The National Institute of Health Clinical Center has started to test the efficacy of vorinostat and the treatment of patients who have been diagnosed with pleural malignant mesothelioma. The trial is testing for toxicity levels and any side effects that may come about.
Dr, Raffit Hassan is the protocal chair of the, “A Phase III, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (L-001079038) in Patients With Advanced Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Previously Treated With Systemic Chemotherapy
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