Document 91DVwwLqqE8ja6varz7bE2Ko6

MICHAEL J. BENNETT Crying wolf about asbestos In America, the ban could cost commercial building $200 billion to $1 trillion, and actually multiply can rving J. Selikoff is something of from Mount Sinai School of Medi I a hero among American envi cine in New York, has backed away ronmentalists. His research from his earlier estimates of the "ex studies on the health effects of cess cancer" deaths caused by as asbestos spawned a nationwide efbestos annually. Those estimates fort to outlaw asbestos and mandatehave shrunk from 40,000 in 1978 to asbestos cleanups in public build 20,000 in 1980 to 10,000 in 1981 and ings. It also helped establish the doc 8,200 in 1983. Indeed, Dr. Selikoff in trine that there is no such thing as a 1986 told Environmental Action safe level of exposure to such car magazine, "If you take averages, cinogens as asbestos. there is very little risk." There are two huge problems Yet the Selikoff work continues to with the Selikoff work. One is that it have dramatic and deleterious ef no longer enjoys the support of the fects on our lives. His studies estab scientific community. The second is lished the assumption that there is that the basic medical credentials of no safe level of exposure for such Dr. Selikoff, winner of the Albert manmade carcinogens as asbestos Lasker award, the nation's most fibers. That is still the orthodox posi prestigious scientific prize, are open tion of the Environmental Protection to question. Agency and other federal regulatory Dr. SelikofFs original 1950s and agencies, and asbestos, used primar 1960s studies were based on World ily now as a fireproofing material in War II shipyard workers exposed to buildings, is the key to the EPA's ef asbestos levels literally millions of forts to ban such materials. times higher than those faced by "If we can't ban asbestos, we can't building occupants today, even in the ban anything," Dr. John Moore, for worst-case scenarios. Those early mer administrator and current studies failed to account for the fact deputy administrator of EPA, has that exposure to the common testified before Congress. EPA, act "white" asbestos found in 95 percent ing on the "one fiber can kill" theory, of all buddings is toxic only when has proposed a total ban on all uses exposures are extremely high over of asbestos, including brake linings a long period of time, as contrasted in cars, trucks and planes. to the blue and brown varieties used The proposed EPA ban of asbestos among many of the workers in Dr. has been opposed by the World SelikofFs original World War II stud Health Organization, the Interna ies. They also ignored the fact that tional Labor Organization as well as most of the World War II workers every foreign government on record. smoked, which had a tremendous The organizations fear that the ban bearing on their cancer mortality would produce a ripple effect rates. through U.S. aid that would prevent, Dr. SelikofFs early critics were for example, the use of asbestos ce overlooked or silenced by the envi ment pipe for irrigation and public- ronmental movement, unions and health uses. That would effectively the media. Over time, however, they outlaw irrigation pipes, since the became too numerous and too distin only safe alternative is cast iron, guished to ignore. They included which is prohibitively expensive. such people as Sir Richard Doll of cer cases many times over. Ripping out the mineral's inhalable fibers and dumping them in landfills causes 80 cases of cancer as opposed to one case from all uses of asbestos, according to the EPA division re sponsible for disposal. lb add to the intrigue, Dr. SelikofFs medical credentials are a mattef Of dispute, he has claimed at~ various times m his career to have earned his medical degree in Doth Great Britain and Australia, half way across a war-tom world, in the same year, 1941. The two universities cited by Dr. Selikoff, the University of Mel bourne and the Royal College, Scot land, both deny issuing such a degree in 1941. Official records, and an earlier biographical reference book, Medical Directory of the United KingdomJ962, note that Dr. Selikoff actually earned the basic British medical degree, which falls some-> where beneath the American doctor ate of medicine, at the Roval College ~vn'l945.__ Yet in the 1941-45 period Dr. Selikoff says he served as a fellow in pathology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, an intern at Newark, N.J., and a resident at Sea View Hospital in New York. If the British records are accurate, he participated in. these programs without thp prereq uisite doctorate. In short, if the epidemiological evidence against Dr. SelikofFs work isn't enough to persuade bureau crats to rethink our asbestos policy, perhaps the dispute about his cre dentials is. Either way, policy makers should abandon the "one fi ber can kill" theory before they discover that the alternatives are sure to be even more deadly. Oxford University, who first estab lished the link between smoking and cancer; Dr. Malcolm Ross of the U.S. Geological Survey; Dr. Morton Com of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. Patrick Sebastian of McGill Univer sity in Montreal; Dr. Andrew Chiurg of the University of British Colum bia; and Dr. John E. Craighead of the University of Vermont. Stye Hkiofjmgtmt tntcc Even Dr. Selikoff, who is retired Michael J. Bennett, whose series of articles on asbestos won the top prize ofThe Detroit News in 1985, is the author of a forthcoming book, "Asbestos Hysteria!' FRIDAY, APRIL 21,1989 HWBUI0000295 OAKLAND TUIBUHL fl A RH 16. 13 S d Asbestos risk in homes may be overblown By Catherine Schutz The Tribune The medical message is scary: iurig cancer, mesotnenoma, asbeslosis. all deadly diseases imKed to~ exposure to asbestos. ' But for a homeowner, nervously eyeing that bumpy living-room ceiling, fear of asbestos can often be worse than the asbestos itself, say Eastbay experts in the hazard ous materials field. They urge homeowners not to succumb to frightening advertis ing messages from contractors, who may use tactics ranging from the threat of lung disease to low ered property values to prod an owner into performing unneces sary -- and possibly dangerous -- asbestos work. Removal is frequently not the recommended approach to the problem," said Bruce Benike, an occupational health specialist with the Contra Costa County Health Services Department. "A large percentage of abate ment (removal) in homes should never have been done, either be cause it was not necessary or be cause, if done improperly, it cre ates a greater hazard than was present by the material that was removed." The use of asbestos in home con struction has declined significant ly since the early 1970s, as knowl edge grew about health problems related to the product. Still, thou sands of Eastbay homes contain asbestos, in acoustic tiles and sprayed-on acoustic ceilings, fur nace insulation, and other fire proofing and insulation uses. What's a responsible homeowner to do? In most cases, nothing, except be aware that the product is there and treat it with proper caution. Asbestos is only dangerous when the microscopic fibers get into the air and can be inhaled into the lungs. Drilling holes in an acoustic ceiling to hang up plants or track lighting, for example, should be avoided. CONT. ON PREV. PAGE SAN DIEGO DAILV flAPEH ~ iSBri `Litigation King': Asbestos Lawyer Is MakingMillions By DAN SHOMON Jr. UP! Legal Writer GROVES, Texas (UPI) - Medi cal records stuffed in boxes, in file cabinets and piled on the floor, make the asbestos unit of Walter Umphrey's law firm look more like a doctor's office. But the extensive filing system is vital to Umphrey, who has re presented more than 4,500 people in lawsuits alleging they were ex posed to asbestos on their jobs.auffering subsequent shortness of breath and cancer. ^tftSpErey, 52,~has earned a repu* tation as the "king of asbestos litigation" in the United States. In the process, he has won hundreds of thousands of dollars for victims and earned more than $100 million for himself. /') THE WALL STREET JOURNAL .. and stay away from scientists--they cause cancer." "If you have any kind of a claim that has any kind of legitimacy to it, he will dedicate all of his man power and resources behind it to the conclusion, either right or wrong," says Ken Bailey, an asbestos expert in Umphrey's firm, Umphrey, Swearingen and Eddings. Umphrey's law practice in southeast Texas near Beaumont is deep in the heart of. one of the na tion's foremost manufacturing areas. The so-called Golden Trian gle area is peppered with oil refineries and chemical plants. A trim, former Southern Meth odist University football player, Umphrey never wears a coat or tie to his office and puts both on reluc tantly if he has to appear in court. He entered into asbestos litiga tion in 1974 when one of his law partner's relatives was diagnosed as having asbestosis, a respiratory disease caused by exposure to asbestos dust or fibers. At that point, Umphrey was already a suc cessful personal injury lawyer who represented many local union em ployees. "We felt an obligation to take his case," Umphrey says. Umphrey Bpent the next six months working on nothing but asbestos. He says his team of 17 at torneys is so expert that it can now file dozens of asbestos cases at the same time. The asbestos cases have become the "bread and butter" of his law firm, he says. "Once you do one of them (asbestos suit), you can do a multitude of them because you don't change anything except for the dates and the names and the severity ofthe illness." In Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. in 1973 the federal court opened the way for asbestos litigation. When Umphrey takes an asbestos case, he never loses. HWBUI0000296