Mesothelioma 13 articles

Tween clothing store Justice, formerly known as Limited Too, is under fire as an investigation has uncovered asbestos in its makeup. WTVD, an ABC affiliate in Durham, North Carolina, worked with the Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro to test samples of the store’s makeup and their results found that “Just Shine Shimmer Powder” contains four heavy metals, barium, chromium, lead, and selenium, as well as asbestos, according to Buzzfeed News. “I would treat it like a deadly poison, because it is,” Sean Fitzgerald, the director of research and analytical services at the institute said of the product, which is marketed ... Read More

Federal regulators have ordered a Michigan school district to compensate a janitor who allegedly was branded a “troublemaker” and punished for complaining about job orders and conditions that exposed her and others to harmful asbestos dust. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered the Dearborn Heights School District to pay the former janitor more than $193,000 in back pay, damages, and other compensation. The agency found that the school district violated the whistleblower provisions of the Clean Air Act when it retaliated against the janitor for raising valid concerns over asbestos exposure. In June 2012, the janitor objected when the ... Read More

A new federal bill introduced Feb. 25 aims to improve understanding of the links between cancer and firefighting and would require the Health and Human Services Secretary “to develop a voluntary patient registry to collect data on cancer incidence among firefighters.” According to the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2016, which was introduced by Rep. Richard L. Hanna, (R-NY) and referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, a number of studies conducted since the 1990s have indicated a strong link between firefighting and an increased risk for several major cancers. The cancers identified as most common among firefighters according ... Read More

The risk of developing cancer from the use of talcum powder products may be a new buzz in courtrooms around the country but it is a hazard consumer health care companies have known for decades but refused to warn users of their products. That was the message from an attorney for Judith Winkel and her husband John, who sued Colgate-Palmolive Co. alleging Judith developed a type of cancer after using the company’s Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder for several years. A Los Angeles jury awarded the Winkels $12.4 million in damages. The lawsuit alleged Colgate-Palmolive’s Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder came from ... Read More

Federal authorities have hit two Illinois-based construction companies with nearly $2 million in fines for knowingly exposing their workers to deadly asbestos fibers during the renovation of a school building. Kehrer Brothers Construction and owner Joseph Kehrer, and D7 Roofing, a Kehrer-affiliated company, made their workers rip up old asbestos-laden tiles, insulation, and other materials at the old elementary school without warning them of the asbestos hazards, providing them with the required protective gear, or training them on proper asbestos-removal methods. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, (OSHA), Kehrer even threatened workers with termination if they spoke with ... Read More

The Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled in favor of an asbestos lawsuit filed against Jackson County, Mo., and a contractor in 2010, allowing the case to move ahead after it was struck down by a Jackson County judge last year. The appellate court’s ruling opens the door to potentially thousands of courthouse workers, county employees, and others who spent significant amounts of time in the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City since 1983 – the year that the county and its contractor allegedly mishandled asbestos removal during a courthouse renovation. Citing the lawsuit, the Kansas City Pitch reports that ... Read More

A Pennsylvania contractor will spend one year and one day in prison for asbestos violations after failing to notify the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about an asbestos-removal project at a former Philadelphia church. Anthony Biello II, 56, ran D&E Solutions LLC when he was hired in 2009 to remove asbestos from inside the former Church of the Assumption, a vacant nineteenth-century church on Spring Garden Street that was slated for demolition. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond ordered Mr. Biello to pay a $100 fine, $12,000 in restitution to the City of Philadelphia, a $100 ... Read More

Three Michigan residents have pleaded guilty to federal Clean Air Act violations and await sentencing for their roles in what environmental investigators say could be the biggest release of deadly asbestos in Michigan since the substance was declared a hazardous air pollutant in 1971. LuAnne LaBrie of Kalamazoo, Mich. pleaded guilty to the felony offense of failing to notify federal or state environmental authorites about an asbestos removal project at a former power generation facility in Comstock Township, Mich. Cory Hammond of Hastings, Mich., and Robert “Mike” White of Kalamazoo both pleaded guilty for their failure to adequately wet asbestos ... Read More

Pathologists, cancer specialists and experts in lawsuits have warned that products like baby powders and body powders containing talcum powder can cause deadly mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has no legal grounds to protect consumers from these products. Talcum is derived from talc, a natural mineral composed of other minerals such as asbestos, a known carcinogen which has been linked to the deadly form of lung cancer, mesothelioma. Talcum powder is found in cosmetics and body and baby powders. It also has been used in the manufacturing of tires, paper, thermoplastics, polymers, paints, and ... Read More

When a mineral is broken down into smaller and smaller particles, or nanoparticles, its biological makeup can be affected, turning a seemingly harmless mineral into a potential lethal threat. Understanding which minerals’ nanoparticles pose risks is the work of a group of researchers at Northwest Nazarene University. Chemistry professor Jerry Harris refers to the book, “Asbestos: Silk of the Mineral Kingdom,” which was published in 1946 and touted the benefits of abestos. Asbestos became widely used in the United States throughout the 20th century as insulation because of its affordability and sound absorption. What researchers didn’t learn until decades later ... Read More