Asbestos Mesothelioma: Five Members of One Family Dead

March 10, 2008

Washington, DC The dangers of asbestos are once again front and center, after recent reports of five members of one family losing their lives to asbestos poisoning from the use of asbestos-laced Zonolite insulation in the family home.



Worse still, the family involved is a First Nations family from Canada—and the Zonolite insulation was installed by the Canadian government through the Federal Department of Indian Affairs, which built the home in the 1960s and installed the insulation.



Zonolite has been found to contain asbestos fibers, and is the reason being touted for the five deaths, according to Raven ThunderSky, a Canadian First Nations woman who has lost both her parents and her three sisters to cancer and asbestosis. The Canadian government is said to have installed Zonolite insulation in many homes built on First Nations reserves, as well as military bases, in an effort to ward against the extreme cold consistent with the frigid Canadian climate.



However, Canada is not unique in the use of Zonolite, as the product is said to still be in as many as 35 million homes and businesses in the US.



Asbestos, once commonly used as a fire retardant and in insulation, has for decades been labeled as a known carcinogen. While it is no longer used in things such as insulation, asbestos is still used in many industrial applications, including the automotive industry. And asbestos' presence is still felt in old buildings, which often contain hazardous materials.



Asbestos is most dangerous when it is disturbed. Some experts agree that in many cases it's better to leave well enough alone, provided the asbestos can remain contained and un-disturbed. However, when asbestos must be removed, such as in a school or hospital—or within the context of a building renovation—great care must be taken to ensure fibers are completely removed and do not pose a hazard to workers, contractors, staff or even passersby.



Unprotected workers toiling around asbestos have been known to transport fibers home on their clothing, putting their own families at risk.



There is little doubt that asbestos is bad stuff, and causes asbestos mesothelioma, a lethal infection of the abdominal wall that impacts the lungs and other vital organs. It may lay dormant for years, before symptoms appear.



Various industries have sought to replace asbestos in products, and curb its use. However, while numerous countries have implemented an outright ban on asbestos, the United States has failed to make that leap. A previous attempt at an asbestos ban, pushed by the Environmental Protection Agency, was quashed.



This past fall, the US Senate passed a law sponsored by Senator Patty Murray, who spent six years battling to have her Bill passed. However, the final piece of legislation was a thin shell of the robust Bill the Senator was fighting to have made into law, including the protective language that gave the Bill its teeth.



However, it appears the Bill was decimated to appease the lobbyists and special interest groups.



Now, the US House of representatives led by the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials has introduced legislation that comes closer to the original Bill proposed by Senator Murray.



The proposed Bill will prohibit the mining and sale of asbestos-tainted vermiculite, talc and taconite. The new legislation would effectively ban all new uses of asbestos, even for the automotive industry. Asbestos is a common component used in the manufacture of brake shoes. While language in the Bill would have a grandfather clause to allow the sale of used cars containing asbestos in brake components, the proposed Bill would ban all future import, manufacture and use of asbestos in brakes for new vehicles.



The grandfather clause would also allow for the sale of any home, or business containing asbestos, or the dreaded Zonolite insulation.



Whether or not the United States Congress is successful this time in affecting a full, and outright ban of asbestos in the US remains to be seen. Lobbyists and special interests representing the asbestos industry will be most assuredly fighting the proposed Bill tooth and nail.



Meantime Raven ThunderSky is getting little satisfaction from W.R. Grace & Co, the company responsible for the Zonolite insulation. While it has been reported that its worldwide operations were doing well, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. As a result, ThunderSky may have little choice than to see her lawsuit against W.R. Grace lumped in with others in a US class action.