Asbestos: A Clear and Present Danger in Home Attics, Apartments, Office Buildings, and Imported Products

Facts:

• The latency period for diseases caused by asbestos can be up to 40 years, meaning that more Americans will be stricken in the future.
• Even today more than one million workers are annually exposed to asbestos.
• Asbestos is pervasive throughout America, embedded in different products from roofing compounds to brake linings.
• U. S. Geological Survey reports that over 136 million pounds of asbestos were imported into the U.S. since 2000; and
• Estimates that 29 million pounds were used in industrial products as recently as 2001.
• The last asbestos mine in the U. S. only ceased operation last year.

As a result Americans will continue to suffer asbestos-related diseases. It is estimated that between 750,000 and 2.7 million new asbestos claims will be filed in the next 50 years.

Although it is impossible to predict how many people will get sick from exposure, the most recent proposal to bailout the Asbestos industry sets a strict cap on total funding that could leave future victims with nothing and unable to sue the companies if the fund is bankrupt.

Asbestos in Home Attics

The attics and walls of an estimated 12-to-35 million homes and other structures contain vermiculite insulation that, if disturbed, could cause exposure to asbestos according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The insulation that raises the most concern is called Zonolite, derived from vermiculite ore in a now-closed, 80-year-old mine in Libby, Montana, last owned by W.R. Grace & Co. Hundreds of Libby miners and their relatives have died of asbestos-related diseases. The ore was sent to more than 700 locations throughout North America.

The type of asbestos contained in Zonolite is known as tremolite, and the latest research done on victims from Libby, Montana has shown tremolite to be toxic at levels less than one percent.

EPA investigators have discovered that even a minor disturbance of Zonolite can release much higher levels of asbestos into the zone of air that people breathe. The insulation can also leak asbestos into a room through cracks in the ceiling, around light fixtures or around ceiling fans.

In addition, the U.S. Geological Survey found that 9,250 tons of asbestos was used in asphaltic roofing compounds in 2001.

Asbestos in Apartments and Office Buildings

An EPA report estimated that there is 2.7 billion square feet of exposed asbestos-containing floor tile in 1.5 million buildings.

The demolition or destruction of older high-rise buildings often means that people in the surrounding area are newly exposed to asbestos.

The attack on the World Trade Center spread a storm of asbestos-contaminated dust throughout lower Manhattan, creating a risk as high as one additional cancer death for every 10 people exposed. Air conditioning units on rooftops and in windows sucked in the dust, covering floors, walls, window coverings and furniture of apartments and offices within several blocks of ground zero.

The levels of asbestos measured in some apartments was as high as in Libby, Montana, the location of a notorious vermiculite ore mine that is now a Superfund site.

Asbestos on the Job

OSHA reports that more than one million American workers are still exposed to asbestos each year as it disintegrates or is removed or repaired. Heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, particularly when asbestos is removed during renovation or demolition.

More than one million tons of easily crumbled ("friable") asbestos is in place in buildings, ships, factories, refineries, power plants and other facilities.

Six hundred and eight tons of asbestos was used in 2001 in brake linings and facings, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In November 2000, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer analyzed samples of dust from 31 brake-repair garages across the country and detected dangerous levels of asbestos in 21 of the locations. In some locations the exposures were enough to cause a 10 percent cancer rate among mechanics working without protective gear.

Asbestos in Imported Goods

Over 136 million pounds of asbestos were imported into the U.S. since 2000 (USGS, p. 26). The U.S. Geological Survey, which tracks the import and export of minerals, says an additional "untold millions" of pounds of asbestos material crosses U.S. borders unlabeled and mixed with other products.

In May a blue-ribbon panel funded by the EPA called on Congress to ban the import, production and distribution of such products.

Posted January 7, 2005