A state EPD official who grew up in Coweta County says many of the people who work in asbestos removal have false documents.

Don McCarty, Northeast District manager for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, told members of White Oak Golden K in Newnan that Georgia has a number of regulations regarding asbestos -- including a requirement for people who work at asbestos removal to complete certain training. A certificate program shows a person has completed that training, but McCarty told the group of about 70 at the Special Events Center that many of the people who can produce a certificate have not actually earned one.

He said that when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency checked a site in Florida where 89 people were working, the EPA found a third of the workers had authentic certificates, a third were working with a bogus certificate and/or Social Security number and a third had certificates with the names of "people who were dead."
Arlington Christian School

Fake certificates are sometimes made for illegal aliens, and sometimes workers have multiple false certificates from different states.
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Tradesmen are being warned about the dangers of asbestos after figures showed the North-East has among the highest death rates in the UK.

North and South Tyneside, followed closely by Sunderland, Newcastle, Stockton and Gateshead, saw massive increases in asbestos-related deaths between 1981 and 2005.

In the North-East as a whole, 2,087 men lost their lives to the deadly disease during that 25 years, compared to 300 women.

And while the figures were lower in North Yorkshire, the number of men who died as a result of mesothelioma in York in that period was a high 114.

The statistics were revealed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as part of it’s latest campaign – Asbestos: The Hidden Killer – which is running until mid-November and aims to reduce the rising death rate through education.

The region’s HSE principal inspector, Chris Gillies, said: “We need to educate tradesmen about how asbestos and its dangers are relevant to them.
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Students at Colorado University are still concerned about the presence of asbestos in some of the campus’ older buildings. It’s not the first time the university has had asbestos problems this year, as there were some minor asbestos issues back in April, 2008.

The problems center on the concern from students who reside on campus at College Inn. New residents are being asked to sign a waiver that indicates they are aware of the presence of asbestos in the walls. Signing the waiver also indicates the students are aware they’re safe as long as the walls aren’t broken or otherwise disturbed.

When asbestos-containing materials become damaged or disturbed, toxic asbestos fibers can be released into the air. If these fibers are inhaled, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases can develop over time.

In some cases, a person who has contracted may not even know they have the disease until it has reached the advanced stages of development. This is because mesothelioma symptoms often take several decades to appear after the initial exposure to asbestos has occurred.

While many students aren’t concerned over the asbestos on campus, some are aware of the potential cancer-causing effects. Nineteen-year-old Evan Kriensky, for example, is well aware of asbestos effects having already lost his grandfather to an asbestos-related disease.

Director of Media Relations Bronson Hilliard points out, however, that there is no risk to students unless the walls are broken. Derrick Watson, the Colorado University director of environmental health and safety, says that as long as the asbestos isn’t disturbed, there shouldn’t be any health risks.

Some students are still concerned due to the fact that inebriated students have been known to kick holes in walls or otherwise break them.

Campus administration has encouraged students to report these types of incidents, and has said that any such issues are quickly repaired.

Michael Yanker, the industrial hygienist and asbestos coordinator for the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, says there are no firm plans to remove the asbestos.

In most cases, asbestos abatement is only carried out when renovation projects require asbestos removal. Yanker also says that air quality tests carried out in dorms several times a year have never shown harmful asbestos levels.

The incidence rate of mesothelioma has steadily increased over the last several decades, but according to new research, cases of mesothelioma in the United States might be declining.

is a devastating disease almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos. It’s a rare form of cancer that has an extremely long latency period, typically lasting two and five decades. Due to this latency period, mesothelioma treatment options are usually limited to palliative treatment rather than curative.

The research was performed by a team at Health Sciences Practice in New York and appeared in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention. The study was carried out through the analysis of mesothelioma cancer rates in certain groups of people.

The research used data obtained from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registry data from 1973 to 2002. In analyzing the data, the researchers analyzed patterns of mesothelioma incidence in males and females in five different age groups.

In addition, the researchers studied the rates for people who reached working age after asbestos exposure limits were set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The data indicated that while the incidence rate of mesothelioma is still higher than normal in the expected age groups, the overall incidence rate of mesothelioma is actually declining.

For people with little opportunity to suffer occupational exposure to asbestos, the rate is approximately one case in one million people – around 1.15 for males and 0.94 for females. The background rate is around one per million for both sexes under the age of 50.

The researchers also found that incidence rates were higher than the normal rate in certain locations, including locations on the West Coast where major shipyards are situated.

The mesothelioma incidence rate is declining for the older age groups, which contain people who were most likely to have experienced asbestos exposure in the past. However, the rate remains significantly higher for males aged 60 and older.

Since the possible dangers of nanomaterials has been heavily featured in the news this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has taken its first steps towards directly regulating the possible health, safety, and environmental risks associated with the technology.

Earlier this year, American and British researchers released a study indicating that exposure to nanotubes might cause toxic reactions similar to those caused by asbestos. Since then, there have been fears about the safety of the new technology.

The study was published in Nature Nanotechnology in May, and found that longer threads of carbon nanotubes share some of the same properties as asbestos, including the ability to cause diseases such as mesothelioma. The research involved injecting mice with asbestos or with samples of various sizes of carbon nanotubes.

When the scientists examined the lining of the abdominal cavities of the mice, they found that longer carbon nanotube strands caused the same types of inflammation and lesions that were caused by asbestos fibers. However, the authors of the study emphasized the need for more research before it could be definitively concluded that carbon nanotubes are toxic and cause diseases similar to those of asbestos cancers.

In response to these studies, and to the concerns of environmental groups, the EPA agreed to launch a study to examine the technology more closely. Under the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program, the agency obtained information from several companies working with nanomaterials. The EPA will produce a report on its findings within the next couple of years.

In the meantime, the EPA has developed some initial regulations for companies using nanotechnology.

The EPA has issued a “significant new use rule (SNUR)” for nanoparticles under the Toxic Substances Control Act. With the SNUR in place, individuals or companies must provide the EPA with at least 90 days of notice before beginning the import, manufacture, or processing of any significant new use of a substance on the list, which now includes two types of siloxane nanomaterials.

In addition, the EPA has formally stated that it considers carbon nanotubes to be chemically different from other conventional carbon compounds. As a result, carbon nanotubes may be subject to regulation as “new chemicals” under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

According to the EPA website, “Companies and other entities that are currently manufacturing or importing nanomaterials must evaluate the implications of their activities under TSCA or risk enforcement action from the EPA.”

The abandoned paper mill in Milford, New Jersey is still causing problems for the town and for the Environmental Protection Agency. Currently the agency is unaware of the amount of risk the locals are facing for asbestos exposure, and doesn’t know how far the fibers might be traveling.

According to a recent report released by the federal EPA, the abandoned paper mill in is a potentially serious environmental threat. EPA officials are concerned that those living near the paper mill may be at risk for contracting lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure.

EPA on-scene coordinator Nick Magriples noted in the report that “there is a potential exposure to nearby human populations from hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.” The site in question is known simply as the Milford paper mill, and in the report the EPA has recommended that it be designated as a national Superfund site.

Once owned by the Riegel Paper Company, the mill opened in 1907 and was in operation until 2003. The mill was owned by the Curtis Specialty Paper Company at the time of its closing.

The EPA has been investigating the site since June of 2007. In their original report, the agency noted the site was frequently visited by vandals and trespassers, and that these people would be at high risk of asbestos exposure and the development of asbestos cancer.

Asbestos-related diseases can develop when toxic asbestos fibers are either inhaled or ingested into the body. In some cases, these fibers attach themselves to the mesothelial lining of the lungs, causing pleural mesothelioma.

Now, unfortunately, people living nearby may possibly be at risk too. The EPA is investigating the site and is now carrying out some emergency remediation work. However, when asked at a public council meeting whether local kids might be breathing in asbestos simply because they live near the site, project overseer Lou DiGuardia could only say, “We don’t know.”

The agency has finally agreed to carry out air quality testing, but alarmingly, the site is still accessible to the public.

Also in response to local concerns, the deadline on comments for the EPA’s proposal to designate the old paper mill a Superfund site has been extended from November 4 to January 2.

Asbestos materials in public, private, and commercial buildings is always a risk, but lately it’s one that can usually be avoided with care and attention to asbestos-handling regulations.

There are natural deposits of asbestos all over America and in other countries as well. Many of these have been mined and have served as sources of the substance for most of the twentieth century.

One of those mines, however, is causing problems for two small towns in Vermont. Recently, an old abandoned asbestos mine in Eden and Lowell has been tagged with a health warning from the state due to possible risks of asbestos exposure.

The state of Vermont is warning locals to stay far away due to the risk of airborne asbestos particles near the mine. Many officials are worried that residents who live nearby are at risk of asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Scientists have studied medical records and death certificates from people who lived in towns located within ten miles of the abandoned asbestos mine. These studies have uncovered some chilling facts about the risks of asbestos cancer for people in the area.

For those who live within ten miles of the mine, there is a statistically significant increase in the risk of developing asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and malignant mesothelioma.

The study has found that people who live close to the mine have as much as a twelve-fold increase in the likelihood they will pass away from an asbestos-related disease.

The risk at the mine is significantly high because there is a large pile of asbestos-containing waste rock at the site, and so far no moves have been made to cover or remove it.

Even worse, the abandoned mine site is a favorite location for use by all-terrain-vehicles. The use of ATV’s over asbestos-containing rock could potentially cause asbestos fibers to become airborne, thus creating a risk for the fibers to be inhaled. This kind of activity can create risks not only for those on the site, but also for those living nearby.

According to Health Commissioner Wendy Davis, it’s important that people stay away from the site to prevent the risk of asbestos exposure.