Japanese companies reveal asbestos cases

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=80fd4e1a97d451a1&cat=3a8a80d6f705f8cc


Several thousand exposures acknowledged, some 300 deaths possible
Your world

Updated: 3:25 p.m. ET July 8, 2005
TOKYO - One after another, Japanese companies have come forward for the first time to reveal that hundreds of employees who handled asbestos may have died from exposure, prompting worries of widespread contamination by the powerful carcinogen.

At least a dozen companies in recent days have released reports of more than 300 deaths possibly linked to asbestos, a fibrous natural mineral commonly used in insulation and other building materials until it was found to create dust that can cause cancer when inhaled.

Experts expect the actual number of exposed workers to be much higher than that. In 2003 alone, 878 people in Japan died of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma — up from 500 in 1995. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the chest cavity, lungs or stomach, whose only known cause is asbestos
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In the early 1970s, Japan experienced a huge economic boom and built many buildings using asbestos. Now the time has come for those building to be torn down,” warned Hirotada Hirose, professor at Tokyo Women’s Christian University, and author of “Silent Time Bomb: Hazards of Asbestos.”

“There is a danger that asbestos will be released into air and cause problems when demolished,” he said. “It could become an environmental disaster.”

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Asbetos is troubling for all countries!!!

[Kagemusha]

1. Not to be cold, but at least less people have died from fires from it.

Asbestos is troubling, but so's fire. Fire used to be a big problem.

Just to clarify, it's best to not use the stuff and be real careful in handling it. Obviously. But a lot of countries (I'm assuming this means third world too?) used asbestos and had a lot of people who *didn't* die from fire because it is fire resistant material. How many? I have not the slightest clue, but it's not zero. It's not like people knew how bad it was at first. That and they had hard choices at any rate.

[lfairban]

2. It is not just used to prevent fire.

The number of products and building materials are almost endless. Asbestos is a collections of small strong fibers, so it improves the properties of many materials. Brake shoes, floor tile, insulation on steam pipes, ceiling coatings, and sometimes even paint. It was also used to make siding for homes.

Most people think the use of asbestos was banned years ago, but this is not the case. As a matter of fact, I bought some asbestos containing roofing cement a few months ago at a hardware outlet.

But in answer to your question, 3,145 died in fires in the US in 2003 according to:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/fire.htm

Estimates for the yearly deaths from asbestos exposure range around this number.

One site estimates the anual death rate at almost 10,000:

http://www.ewg.org/reports/asbestos/facts/fact1.php

For more, see My Asbestos Links