ADAO Senate Staff Briefing "Asbestos: The Impact on Public Health, the Environment, and the Economy"

“Asbestos: Impact on Public Health, Environment and Economy” Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) www.adao.us1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Education. Advocacy. Community1.19.2012 - Reinstein www.adao.us

U.S. Senate Staff Briefing Speakers Arthur Frank, MD, PhD, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health Barry Castleman, ScD, Environmental Consultant Brent Kynoch, Environmental Information Association Marilyn Amento, Mesothelioma Widow Linda Reinstein, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization1.19.2012 - Reinstein

ADAO Congressional Meeting Dedication To Mesothelioma Victims1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Asbestos is a Proven Human Carcinogen and There is No Safe Level of Exposure.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

How Small is Asbestos? 2-3 rice grains 20,000 Asbestos Fibers 5-6 human hairs1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Update: U.S. Senate Resolution 63 (Excerpt) Designating the first week of April 2011 as `National Asbestos Awareness Week. Resolved, that the Senate urges the Surgeon General, as a public health issue, to warn and educate people that asbestos exposure may be hazardous to their health.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Arthur Frank, MD, PhD Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1. Asbestos is a group of six naturally occurring minerals that in the past was used for 3-4,000 products. 2. All forms of asbestos, including the five amphiboles and chrysotile can cause all asbestos-related disease. 3. There are two classes of disease. The non-malignant diseases are variable, but the most important, asbestosis (scarring of lung tissue), has caused up to 10% of deaths in some groups. The cancers (lung, mesothelioma, larynx, and others) are a major source of death for exposed individuals. Arthur Frank, MD, PhD1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Barry Castleman, ScD Environmental Consultant US Asbestos Product Imports and Contaminant-Asbestos1.19.2012 - Reinstein

ADAO Product Testing 5 Products Contaminated Monitoring Needed With Asbestos Once a ban is enacted, the U.S. will need to analyze imported products so that Americans will not be endangered by unlabeled asbestos products which may already be coming in (violating OSHA regulations).1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Contaminated Asbestos in Stone and Minerals  NIOSH is looking into contaminant asbestos in talc, stone, & other minerals.  The California Air Resource Board (CARB 435) limit of 0.25% asbestos in stone and gravel should be able to be met nation-wide.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Safer Substitutions Exist  No U.S. manufacturers make asbestos brake pads, gaskets, and A-C pipes. Banning imports of these asbestos products protects U.S. workers and companies.  Non-asbestos diaphragms and membrane cell technology are alternatives to discredited asbestos diaphragm and mercury cell technology.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1. The US still imports asbestos from Canada and asbestos products from a large number of countries. Monitoring of asbestos product imports for OSHA cancer labeling is needed. 2. There are safer substitutes to asbestos that provide equal functionality at comparable costs. 3. 55 countries worldwide have banned asbestos. The United States still has not. Barry Castleman1.19.2012 - Reinstein

J. Brent Kynoch Managing Director Regulatory Concerns and Violations “Our multi-disciplinary membership collects, generates and disseminates information about environmental issues in buildings and facilities.”1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Existing Regulations  TSCA • AHERA – Asbestos in Schools Rule. Accreditation requirements extended to public and commercial buildings.  NESHAP • The 1% rule. • All buildings must be inspected for asbestos prior to demolition or renovation.  OSHA – Exposure limits regardless of %.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Enforcement?  By EPA’s own admission, enforcement is “dismal.”1  Existing regulations are sufficient to protect worker and environmental health.  Budgets (for inspectors) continue to be cut, but “encouragement” can and should be pushed downhill.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Enforcement Issues  Marco Island, FL – June 5, 2010 settlement - $81,772 – neither contractor nor city take liability1.19.2012 - Reinstein

What Can Be Done?  Beef up enforcement!! • Do not need new laws. • Provides jobs. • Pays for itself. • Enforcement will stem violations that lead to exposures, disease and death.  Push enforcement to the local level through education and encouragement funding. • Demolition and renovation permits.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1) Asbestos regulation does exist, including through TSCA, NESHAP, and OSHA. 2) Existing laws to protect worker and environmental health are sufficient, but are not enforced adequately. Brent Kynoch1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Environmental Exposure: Ambler, PA Super Fund Sites Marilyn Amento Mesothelioma Widow Ambler, PA m.amento@verizon.net1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Joe Amento, Jr. Born June 19, 19501.19.2012 - Reinstein

1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Two Superfund Sites in Ambler Amento Home Park Bo-Rit Pile Present Remediation “White Mountains” Remediated 19931.19.2012 - Reinstein

Abandoned 114-year-old Keasbey & Mattison Asbestos Factory Asbestos waste in factory basement.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Ambler Bo-Rit Super Fund Site • McDonalds drive-thru Oct 7, 2011. Asbestos unearthed. Water from a garden hose?1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1) Asbestos manufacturing took place in Ambler Borough (.8 mile square) for over 100 years. 2) More than 3 million tons of asbestos waste spanning over 75 acres continues to threaten public health today. Marilyn Amento1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Trends and Challenges on Preventing Environmental and Occupational Asbestos Exposure Linda Reinstein, Co-Founder Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) linda@adao.us www.adao.us1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Alan Reinstein, Former ADAO President Pleural Mesothelioma Victim May 2005 May 20061.19.2012 - Reinstein

Building a Culture of Prevention The International Social Security Association reported that the “cost-benefit potential for investments in prevention may be as strong as 1:2.2, and even higher in some cases.1.19.2012 - Reinstein

“THE UNITED STATES IS DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS TO MEET MANUFACTURING NEEDS. Asbestos consumption in the United States was estimated to be 820 metric tons, based on asbestos imports through July 2010. Roofing products were estimated to account for about 72% of U.S. consumption and other applications, 28%.”1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Environmental and Occupational Exposure Continues1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Canadian Chrysotile1.19.2012 - Reinstein

“As many as 30 million homes and businesses are insulated lethal asbestos- tainted vermiculite.” “Ten years ago, then-EPA investigator Keven McDermott crawled through an attic in Manchester, Wash., confirming the presence of 130 bags of asbestos-containing Zonolite insulation.”1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Exposure Continues from Libby, the U.S. Capitol Tunnels and WTC1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1. The World Health Organization, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Surgeon General agree: asbestos is a human carcinogen and there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.2. 10,000 American die every year from preventable asbestos- caused diseases3. 2) In industrialized nations, nearly one in three people with mesothelioma have no history of workplace exposure to asbestos.4. The attics and walls of an estimated 30 million U.S. homes were insulated with Zonolite. Linda Reinstein1.19.2012 - Reinstein

Interagency Collaboration will Save Lives and Dollars1.19.2012 - Reinstein

1.19.2012 - Reinstein Linda@adao.us

Questions & Answers www.adao.us1.19.2012 - Reinstein

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ADAO Senate Staff Briefing "Asbestos: The Impact on Public Health, the Environment, and the Economy"

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ADAO Senate Staff Briefing "Asbestos: The Impact on Public Health, the Environment, and the Economy" Presentation Transcript