Monday, Jan. 12, 2009, we had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Reinstein, the Executive Director and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization for our internet radio program “Keeping Your Family Safe" (see below for the website information). In our program, we discussed the dangers of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials. We covered the following points:
- More than 10,000 Americans die of asbestos caused diseases every year.
- India has the highest exposure to asbestos and is the second largest importer of asbestos.
- Worker exposure also affects family members at home.
- Asbestos – there is no ban, and has been listed as a human carcinogen for over 30 years.
- The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the World Health Organization, and the International Labor Organization, all believe that there is no safe exposure level to asbestos and that asbestos kills.
- Asbestos has a long legacy because it is virtually indestructible.
- Friable is a measure of asbestos’ ability to become airborne. Though an asbestos-containing building material may not be friable, that material can still release asbestos if homeowners work on it.
- Over 3,000 products contain asbestos.
- Once asbestos enters the body, especially the lungs, it is difficult to get the asbestos out of the body.
- Health effects – non-malignant and malignant diseases. Asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung, gastro-intestinal, and kidney cancers, pleural thickening, and pleural plaques all are life threatening. All reduce the ability to breathe.
- Construction and building trades are typically exposed to asbestos.
For more information download the podcast at http://www.voiceamerica.com/ click on the Green Talk Network and find the Keeping Your Family Safe host page. There you can download the podcast of the show and listen to it at your leisure.
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) (visit there website at http://www.adao.us/) is an all volunteer organization dedicated to offering education, resources, and support to asbestos awareness. The ADAO is working hard on establishing a ban on asbestos (visit the following website to join the ban or for more information http://www.banasbestos.us/). In addition, the ADAO is sponsoring the 5th Annual Asbestos Awareness Day Conference on March 27-29, 2009 at the Manhattan Beach Marriott, California (visit the following website for more information http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/). This Monday, January 19, 2009, we will be interviewing Dr. Harriet Burge of the Harvard School of Public Health regarding microbial sampling.
