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July 7, 2022 Asbestos, a known carcinogen, is widely used in the construction industry. Federal regulations are in place to protect the public from dangerous exposure to airborne asbestos particles. But sometimes these regulations hinder rather than help, as is happening in Sulphur, Louisiana, where cleanup of a potentially hazardous property is being hampered by concerns over asbestos. What Is Asbestos? Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring minerals that are durable and…

June 22, 2022 In the past two years, asbestos has been found in two Cedar Rapids, Iowa, schools, exposing construction workers, students, and staff to this dangerous material. Because these schools, like many others throughout the United States, were constructed when use of asbestos was common, they and their contractors should have taken precautions during these projects to protect workers and students from these harmful fibers. Unfortunately, two of those schools and the…

June 2, 2022 Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion. It is one of the most important occupational carcinogens and causes about half of the deaths from occupational cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Thousands of lives are lost to asbestos-related disease every year. Asbestosis and mesothelioma are two diseases brought on by asbestos exposure, but they are not the…

May 11, 2022 Johnson & Johnson has dominated the talc powder market for more than 100 years with sales outpacing all competitors combined, according to Euromonitor International data. The health products giant’s iconic Johnson’s Baby Powder brand has been around since 1893. Its Shower to Shower brand, since 1972. The popularity of these and other Johnson & Johnson talc-based products has made the company billions of dollars a year. Now, the products are…

April 12, 2022 The lawsuit, brought originally by Douglas Strobel and his wife, Jo Ann, was dismissed by a trial court on the basis that the Strobels failed to present evidence that Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder product contained asbestos, which Strobel alleged was a substantial contributing cause of his mesothelioma diagnosis. Strobel was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February of 2019 and died at age 68 in April of 2020. His wife renewed…

March 30, 2022 Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion. It is one of the most important occupational carcinogens and causes about half of the deaths from occupational cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Thousands of lives are lost to asbestos-related disease every year. Asbestosis and mesothelioma are two diseases brought on by asbestos exposure, but they are not the…

March 3, 2022 Asbestos is a well-known toxic substance now, but the origins of its usage date back thousands of years before it was known to cause diseases like mesothelioma. Some countries like the U.S. have continued to use it in a lesser capacity despite this risk. The start of its use in other durable products such as pottery mixes dates back to 2500 B.C. in Finland. However, the first discovery of its…

February 16, 2022 Early diagnosis is essential for a positive outcome with any disease. As we learn more about mesothelioma, survival rates improve. For aggressive cancer like mesothelioma, the prognosis is closely monitored. Simply put, mesothelioma’s survival rate is defined as the percentage of patients who live for a given time period following a diagnosis. One of the challenging aspects of mesothelioma is how little time patients tend to have due to the…

February 1, 2022 When it comes to asbestos, there is no safe level of exposure. Asbestos was used in a variety of products from the 1930’s through the 1970’s, and many of those products ended up in landfills once they had outlived their usefulness.  It is widely known that natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and blizzards can disturb forgotten asbestos materials in older structures and create hazardous conditions which could lead to exposure. …