Support Group Launched for Asbestos Victims

A NEW group was launched yesterday to provide help and support for North East workers exposed to asbestos.

Members of the Northern TUC marked Workers' Memorial Day in Gateshead by launching the North East Asbestos Support Group.

They were joined by other union leaders, health professionals and also by Chris Knighton, whose husband Mick died from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos.

He was diagnosed aged 59 in August 2000 and died the following March 2001, having served in the Royal Navy as a young man when asbestos products were widely used.

Mrs Knighton, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, then launched the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, which has so far raised more than pounds 350,000.

Yesterday's meeting took place at the Springfield Hotel, Gate shead, and was followed by the 100 attendees walking to Saltwell Park for a memorial ceremony and wreath-laying at the Rose Garden Park. Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC regional secretary, said: "Workers Memorial Day is an opportunity for us to highlight the ongoing challenges that we face in the region regarding the health, safety and wellbeing of working people.

"There are still far too many workers each year being killed, maimed or disabled because of their occupation.

"Much more effort must be concentrated on occupational health and wellbeing actions in order to ensure that workplaces are a source of health, not a cause of ill-health."

Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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Malignant mesothelioma with unexpected contralateral mediastinal shift: a case report

IntroductionContralateral mediastinal shift due to pleural mesothelioma tissue, rather than a pleural effusion, is an unusual clinical feature of mesothelioma.Case presentationA 63-year-old woman with a past history of treated invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast presented with breathlessness and chest pain. Her chest radiograph revealed contralateral mediastinal shift and drainage of over 3 litres of pleural fluid relieved her symptoms.

She underwent further investigations which revealed pleural mesothelioma, rather than the expected metastatic breast cancer. When she represented with breathlessness a few months later, a chest radiograph again demonstrated contralateral mediastinal shift.

A thoracic ultrasound on this occasion revealed only a small loculated pleural effusion and, unexpectedly, a large volume of malignant tissue, thereby explaining the chest radiograph appearances.

Conclusions: This case illustrates mediastinal shift away from the affected side which was caused by mesothelioma tissue itself, rather than by a pleural effusion which is the more usual cause of contralateral mediastinal shift in mesothelioma.

This article was published at 7thspace.com on 28 April 2008, 2008

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Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center: Earth Day

This Earth Day, many celebrate the enormous progress we have made in making our planet more sustainable and inhabitable not only for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren. While indeed we have made extraordinary strides toward this end, there are still environmental issues we need to deal with. These issues affect not only the health of our planet, but the health of its inhabitants.

Among the more pressing issues facing us today is the danger that asbestos exposure poses. Asbestos is a natural mineral, but is often released into the air through the environmentally unfriendly methods of strip mining for other natural resources. While mining for coal, vermiculite, and other minerals, asbestos affects miners and those in neighboring towns. It is indeed a double edged sword when these people are affected not only by the contamination of water supply by strip mining, but also in the air, where dangerous asbestos fibers can be inhaled.

The relationship between the two can easily be overlooked, but upon further examination it is clear the two are closely connected. Among those companies commonly associated with polluting, many have at least some asbestos exposure history among their employees. It is a clear and present danger when corporate interests collide with those of the people. In each case, either our environment or our population is paying the consequences.

Like the risk of environmental contamination, the risk of asbestos exposure is a real human problem. We call on lawmakers to remember the risk of asbestos contamination when introducing further environmental legislation. Like environmental conservation, asbestos exposures are not a problem of the past. We must continue to find new ways to prevent harmful exposures. Additionally, we must continue to fund research for health complications caused by asbestos exposure, such as the cancer mesothelioma.

As we celebrate our accomplishments in the advancement of conservation and a decreased risk of asbestos exposure, let us too find new solutions so that we may finally eliminate these detriments to our earth and humanity.

The Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center has long been recognized as the web’s leading information resource on asbestos, asbestos related disease, and mesothelioma treatment. Hundreds of pages of up to date content feature important information pertaining to asbestos exposure, top physicians, and ongoing clinical trials, as well as breakthroughs in the treatment of asbestos related disease.

This article was originally published at transworldnews on April 22, 2008

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Asbestos 'will kill 10% of carpenters'

One-in-10 Australian carpenters born before 1950 will die of mesothelioma, according to results of a British study to be released in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

They will be among 30,000 Australians who will die from mesothelioma between 2000 and 2050.

Cancer research specialist Professor Julian Peto made the findings during research into the lifetime occupations of 600 mesothelioma patients and an analysis of international trends in mesothelioma mortality.

Prof Peto said the cause of mesothelioma was not restricted to the deadly blue asbestos, also known as crocidolite, but to brown asbestos (amosite) which was used in building products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s.

Brown asbestos was a major component in most asbestos cement sheeting and roofing used in the building industry.

"I think that is one of the things that's largely been missed in much of the discussion on mesothelioma," Prof Peto said.

"The use of these products was completely uncontrolled.

"Carpenters would chop it up with power saws without much concern at all.

"And this was after we became aware of the dangers of blue asbestos."

Prof Peto's research also revealed that Australia and the UK have the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world, with 600 cases per year in Australia and almost 2,000 in Britain, and figures are rising.

He said that 10 per cent of Australian carpenters born before 1950 were likely to die of asbestos-related cancers.

The rate for Australia and the UK is more than five times that of the United States, mainly because of different construction methods, Prof Peto said.

Prof Peto's research also questions why it was once believed that asbestos exposure below a certain threshold would be safe.

The professor was due to deliver the Miegunyah Public Lecture at Melbourne University on Tuesday night.

This article was published at theage.com on April 22, 2008

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