Regels asbest bij sloop niet nageleefd

01-06-2005

Stallen en schuren van boerderijen worden te vaak gesloopt zonder dat de regels voor het verwijderen van asbest worden nageleefd. Dit blijkt uit controles van het Fries milieuoverleg. De onderzoekers wijten dit aan de hoge kosten die gepaard gaan met het inschakelen van externe deskundigen.

Bron: Leeuwarder Courant, 28 mei.

Meer http://www.leeuwardercourant.nl/…

TAS niet voor vergoeding medicijn Alimta

25-05-2005

Minister Hoogervorst is niet van plan om asbestslachtoffers een voorschot te geven voor het nieuwe, relatief dure astbestmedicijn Alimta. Volgens hem is de Regeling tegemoetkoming asbestslachtoffers (TAS) hier niet geschikt voor. Dat schrijft de minister vrijdag in antwoord op vragen van Tweede-Kamerlid De Wit.

Bron: Telegraaf.nl , 29 april.

Meer

http://www.telegraaf.nl/…

Verlies voor ABB door asbestclaims

25-05-2005

Het Zweeds-Zwitserse concern ABB heeft over 2004 een verlies geleden van $ 35 mln in plaats van een winst van $ 201 mln, die het eerder heeft gemeld. De herziening van het resultaat is het gevolg van een extra storting in een fonds dat is opgericht om slachtoffers van asbest tegemoet te komen. In maart verklaarde ABB $ 232 mln extra inzake de asbestclaims te betalen.

Bron: ANP/Het Financieele Dagblad, 23 april.

Giftige sloopschepen

25-05-2005

Het slopen van schepen gebeurt in ontwikkelingslanden. Prachtige stranden in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan en Turkije zijn veranderd in scheepskerkhoven. Als ze uit de vaart zijn, worden schepen verkocht vanwege het waardevolle staal. Maar in oude schepen zitten veel gevaarlijke stoffen, zoals asbest, loodverf en PCB s. Als de schepen worden gesloopt komen deze stoffen vrij. Ze komen terecht in het milieu en in de lichamen van de arbeiders. Greenpeace roept op tot actie.Bron: Greenpeace.nl , 1 april.

Meer http://www.greenpeace.nl/campaigns/giftige-stoffen-2/giftige-sloopschepen

Malafide slopers kunnen ongestoord hun gang gaan

25-05-2005

Malafide aannemers die illegaal asbest verwijderen kunnen ongestoord hun gang gaan doordat gemeenten en inspecties geen toezicht houden. Sloopprojecten waarvoor geen vergunning wordt aangevraagd, worden niet gecontroleerd. In een vorig jaar verschenen rapport spreekt de Vrom-inspectie over een aanzienlijk handhavingstekort.

Bron: Apeldoornse Courant, 7 april.

Asbestslachtoffers hebben recht op dure medicijnen

27-04-2005

Alle mesothelioompatiënten die ziek zijn geworden door het inademen van asbest, hebben recht op het nieuwe geneesmiddel Alimta.

Het ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport heeft de FNV verzekerd dat deze patiënten nooit om niet-medische redenen het geneesmiddel geweigerd mag worden. Mocht dit wel gebeuren, dan kan de patiënt met zijn zorgverzekeraar naar het betreffende ziekenhuis stappen.

Bron: FNV e-Magazine, 27 april 2005, jaargang 6, nummer 17.

Meer http://www.fnv.nl/nieuws/renderer.do/clearState/true/menuId/9028/returnPage/8886/

Australië: doorbraak in screening van mesothelioom

25-03-2005

Australische onderzoekers hebben een bloedtest ontwikkeld die kan helpen bij het opsporen van mesothelioom. De niet invasieve test, Mesomark genaamd, werd ontwikkeld door onderzoekers van de Universiteit van West Australië. In Australië krijgen ongeveer 700 mensen per jaar deze ziekte.

Bron: The Advertiser, 20 april / The West Australian, 19 april.

The Advertiser

April 20, 2005 Wednesday

HEADLINE: Breakthrough

AUSTRALIAN researchers have developed a world-first blood test which could help people worldwide in the early detection of mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related cancer of the lung lining. The non-invasive blood test developed by University of Western Australia Professor Bruce Robinson and researchers is a breakthrough in the early detection of the disease. About 700 people each year are diagnosed with the disease in Australia, which has the highest reported incidence in the world.

The West Australian (Perth)

April 19, 2005 Tuesday

HEADLINE: Test offers hope on mesothelioma

Rockingham man David Saw believes a new blood test for mesothelioma, which is being launched today, could have saved him a three-day hospital visit and a lot of trauma.

Mr Saw went to his doctor last year believing he had pulled a muscle.

He was suffering chest pain and shortness of breath.

After a CAT scan and biopsy, it was revealed the 49-year-old had contracted the deadly lung cancer from working with asbestos as a young man.

“A test would have been a lot easier, I ended up in hospital and they had to cut me open,” he said.

The test, called MESOMARK, will be available from general practitioners or specialists who can order it from a pathology provider.

The head of the mesothelioma research team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital which developed the test, Professor Bruce Robinson, said it would not only help in diagnoses of the disease, but also in treatment.

“Until now you could only gauge whether treatment was working effectively by doing a CAT scan, and they’re difficult to do. With this test, we can gauge treatment and also diagnose it at an earlier stage,” Professor Robinson said. Biopsy would be needed to confirm diagnosis.

The blood test measures levels of a substance called soluble mesothelin-related peptide, a distinctive biomarker released by mesothelioma cells.

About 700 Australians are diagnosed with the disease every year and WA has the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world.

Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia president Robert Vojakovic said the test could help the possible 6000 people who were children in Wittenoom when the town still had an active blue asbestos mine.

"Pleurale plaques" voorspelt asbestgerelateerde longkanker

15-03-2005

Bij mannen die geen asbestose (“stoflongen” door asbest) hebben komt asbestgerelateerde longkanker vaker voor dan was verwacht. “Pleurale plaques” (een goedaardige verdikking van het borstvlies) is een belangrijke voorspeller van asbestgerelateerde longkanker. Deze nieuwe inzichten komen uit een onderzoek van meer dan 10 jaar onder 4000 Amerikaanse mannen die aan asbest blootgesteld zijn geweest.
Increased lung cancer among asbestos workers with no evidence of asbestosis

Below, details of a new paper on asbestos and lung cancer, forwarded by Frank Mirer, director of health and safety at the US autoworkers’ union UAW.

The paper looks important for two reasons – firstly because of the lung cancer without asbestosis finding – in some jurisdictions official workers’ compensation schemes only pay benefits to lung cancer sufferers who also have asbestosis.

Secondly, the paper is valuable because it establishes the importance of pleural plaques as a predicator of lung cancer. Insurers and employers in the UK, USA and elsewhere are at this moment trying to play down the significance of the association between pleural plaques and asbestos.

Their motive is to reduce their compensation liabilities. One consequence of this might be a lower likelihood of diagnosis of pleural plaques (many of the health checks are the result of compensation inquiries), so we could lose our early warning system or “sentinel health event” for an enormous lung cancer risk. In the UK at the moment there are several thousand asbestos related lung cancers ever year – the combined annual death toll for asbestos related lung cancers and mesothelioma is expect to reach 10,000 within 20 years.

Yours, Rory

Rory O’Neill

International Federation of Journalists

Increased lung cancer among asbestos workers with no evidence of asbestosis

A very important study giving quantitative measures of risks of asbestos exposure was just published. The study is an important data source for evaluating medical criteria for compensation of asbestos exposed workers, now being discussed in Congress.

The project was a chemoprevention test whether Vitamin A – an antioxidant – protected against future effects of past asbestos exposure. The investigators had enrolled over 4,000 asbestos workers and followed them for over a decade. Recruitment must have been a huge task The chemoprevention study was terminated because Vitamin A increased the risk of lung cancer.

The study confirmed excessive rates of lung cancer among men with radiographic asbestosis, but also among workers with no evidence of asbestosis. Among workers with no evidence of asbestosis at baseline, men with more than 40 years’ exposure in high-risk trades had a risk approximately fivefold higher than men with 5-10 years. Pleural plaques on the baseline x-ray and abnormal baseline flow rate were strong independent predictors of subsequent lung cancer.

Hopefully, people with access to the full text of this study will comment further.

American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 161(3):260-270.

Predictors of Lung Cancer among Asbestos-exposed Men in the µ-Carotene and

Retinol Efficacy Trial

Mark R. Cullen1 , Matt J. Barnett2, John R. Balmes3, Brenda Cartmel1, Carrie

A. Redlich1, Carl A. Brodkin4, Scott Barnhart4, Linda Rosenstock5, Gary E.

Goodman2,6, Sam P. Hammar7, Mark D. Thornquist2 and Gilbert S. Omenn8,9

Despite numerous published studies, debate continues regarding the risk of developing lung cancer among men exposed occupationally to asbestos, particularly those without radiographic or functional evidence of asbestosis. The µ-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a study of vitamin supplementation for chemoprevention of lung cancer, has followed 4,060 heavily exposed US men for 9-17 years. Lung cancer incidence for 1989-2002 was analyzed using a stratified proportional hazards model. The study confirmed excessive rates of lung cancer among men with radiographic asbestosis. Comparison of study arms revealed a strong, unanticipated synergy between radiographic profusion category and the active intervention. In the large subgroup of men with normal lung parenchyma on chest radiograph at baseline, there was evidence of exposure-related lung cancer risk: Men with more than 40 years’ exposure in high-risk trades had a risk approximately fivefold higher than men with 5-10 years, after adjustment for covariates. The effect in these men was independent of study intervention arm, but pleural plaques on the baseline radiograph and abnormal baseline flow rate were strong independent predictors of subsequent lung cancer. Residual confounding by subclinical asbestosis, exposure to unmeasured lung carcinogens, or differences in smoking are unlikely to explain these observations better than a carcinogenic effect of asbestos per se.