Document Vmqg5xq01zQ0vyk71DxybaVj

nflated ? -i '-^f'"a#? w- By Rebecca Kolberg United 'Press International* Dr. B.T. Mossman of the Universi- ty rof yermohUMedidal 'Schobl and WASHINGTON - Asbestos'found . his cblleagu`e?sai(i:they based their in schools and other public bhildings as^effiment'bn a'review of the'iatest poses little risk for lung disease.'hhd scientific dat5 on abSfestos: The study "asbestos panic" may be leading to did?ik>tfreceive' funding from the costly and unnecessary removal asbestos industry/'they said2 . > efforts, scientistssaid Thursday:' 1 ' Asbestos' a 'fibrous'mineral' used In a study published in the journal for'insulation and-fireproofing,-be Science, a team of medical experts comes hazardous when it. crumbles concluded,. "Chrysotile asbdsbs/-the aridlts fibers'are inhaledijExposure- type of .fjber found predominantly in to^-asbestM^can cause liing cancer U.S. schbbls and buildings, is not a health risk in the nori-occupational The?:1^^iTOHmentar Protection environment," `!;r . : : `V; ' - Agepcyestimates'-ffp to;i2|000' Amer- "Clearly, the asbestos panic in the .-fcans'dle"of'asb&tos^retated cancer United States- must be: curtaiiled, jannuabyJ^ibhTnbst cases related to especially because unwarranted , on-tbe-jobexjiosure. - poorly controlled : asbestos abate The EPAijrequires schools to be ment results in unnecessary risks to inspected"forxrumbling or "friable"; young removal workers who may ast^Vos:-Lasf:summerr;it'imposed a develop asbestos-related cancers in total ban oh the.use of asbestos, that.- later decades," they wrote. 2* ?:- See tSBESTOS1] A-fc^ JHE TIMES UNION **' . Albany, N.Y.. Friday, |an. 19. 1990 *--`--------r --a----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- panic if asbestos is found ... but on that does not threaten health. `2 . the other hand to write it off as an Robert Percivak.a professor of insignificant -risk is misleading, be environmental law at the University Continued from - cause the risks are there." of Maryland, said the Science article will be phased in over seven years. Elkins said some research has contains "the same okT arguments VMossman's team argues EPA ac tions have failed to take into account-!studies;thaf indicate different forms hinted ; at differences in cancer-, causing potential among, various* types of; asbestos. But the EPA official said ndstudyhas proven any of asbestos may have "differing: power to cause disease.'The scien tists said most lung diseases appear.,; . type to be totally harmless, consider them all. hazardous." so , "we ./ , that have been made by a.lot of the asbestos Industxtes~fteia.Tcs3g'tirbe." ,When Jthe/EPA' "drew ,vup; ,'its asbestos policy, government experts concluded;.scientific evidence was not strong enough to back np claims linked to a type'of asbestos called Gee-and his colleagues contend thabooe form of asbestos is safer amphfbole, which flakes off; In rod asbestos should not be ripped out or than another, he said:" ^ '>; . like fibers, rather than a type called covered up simply because it is T^erdval also said" air ;tests for dirysotile, which prwftkies'-curly crumbling, but tests should be: con asbestos are unreliable.-!=, - -. particles that th^. said appear less ducted to see what type it is and if it -fTbeproblem with air monitoring lively topenetrate the limgs.:. - ; - isyentering, the air. Presently, the isjthat^ou can ccme'^ap with,' a the EPA relies mainly on visual inspec- reading; that makes'you think the snidy .and' a/yalemedical professor;' ' tiohsof asbestos to determine if ibis area'is safe, and two minutes later, sfid:/;."Nine,;ftimes oat firfjlO,/'the a problem. Gee said. "iv ai -T in tbs 'same place, you can. get/a asbestos you find in -America is the :2f|'11ie^vcSp: op removing asbestos wildly different reading," be said. bemgn (harmless) form."- /" from' .the ?'festimated 730,000. public Pkeivali conceded r there ' have 2Tbe, study noted the chance a child -:. "and; commercial building. contain- beat instances in .which , risk of ekposed to. Asbestos for five/years ^ing'it ranges fitrn ?S0 billion to/$150 asbestos-- exposure has been over will eventually .die of _ asbestos- -bilBogthe'scienttsttsad? ,3* ' blown. r" . i- related'disea^ is at least 300 times .USdme'..pebple: have^ 'argubtf'that less' than .hisl risk . of. drtmningf/br; : b^sirg/lasbestos actions on.air, tests Wing hit by a car before age 14. rather' than visual checks would take ^Charles Elkins, director of.:the, too.much''.work.- But/Gee said, he EPA's OfficeZ/of Toxic Substances," thinks'it is more foolish to spend But he added asbestos . remains a serious threat because 'no one has found a safe exposure level, and "all asbestos becomes a health, hazard at some point because it all eventually said: "We agree people should not time and money containing asbestos deteriorates." ' . b o b c d I c I I i i meeting between the .mayor and an on his schedule at the hotel Thursday unidentified friend in. a downtown night HWBUI0000360 sues tobaccomen LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Kansas City asbestos company, charging that smoking and not asbestos was to blame for lung injuries claimed by hundreds of asbestos workers, has filed an apparently unprecedented suit against the nation's majortobacco companies. Tobacco industry officials characterized the action as an attempt by one industry to shift its problems to another. "The tobacco industry has been sued and sued for 20 years by people claiming health problems, and we have never paid a dime," said one tobacco industry official who asked not to be identified. "We have never admitted liabili ty, audit's not going to happen now." Attorney John T. LaFollette, representing Standard Asbestos Manufacturing and Insulating Go. of Kansas City, tod reporters Wednesday that the suit filed in Superior Court here and in SanFrancisco was the first of its kind. "According to a report (by the American Lung Associa tion), non-smoking asbestos workers appear to have no greater incidence of lung cancer than other non-smokers never exposed to asbestos," LaFollette said, alleging that smoking caused the injuries and damages claimed by hundreds of workers in suits. LaFollette said asbestos companies, including Standard Asbestos are named in some of the suits as being solely responsible for alleged lung damage. Of 8,000 such suits nationwide, he said, 25 percent are in California. "We're just saying the great majority if not all (damages to the plaintiffs) now attributed to asbestos are actually tobacco caused," LaFollette said. Named in the suit are The American Tobacco Co.; Ameri can Brands, Inc.; Philip Morris, Inc.; E.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Inc.; Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp.; Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., Ligget Group, Inc.; Lorillard; and Loew's Theaters Inc. Dr. Alton Oehsner, head of the. Ochsner Clinic, New Or leans, and former president of the American Cancer Soci ety, joined LaFollette at the news conference. "I am taking this opportunity to lend my expertise and my support to this legal endeavor," Ochsner said. "The tobacco industry is the principal cause of death in the Unit ed States. "I have seen or operated on more cancer cases than any other living person," he said. "No patients I have operated onhad lung cancer from asbestos." Ochsner said smoking causes lung cancer, heart trouble, strokes, aneurysms, and emphysema. "There's not one damn thing good about tobacco except that it kills bugs," the 84-year-old doctor said. "No one profits by it except the people who make it andsell it." LaFollette said the suit was a response to complaints initiated as a result of prior court actions holding the asbestos industry responsible for all lung damage detected in asbestos workers. Citing cancer studies, LaFollette said, "Asbestos workers who smoke have approximately 92 times the risk of death from lung cancer as asbestos workers who do not smoke."' More turmoil in school order LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Public school officials were hustl ing today to comply-with a state Supreme Court order that added thousands of students to a mandatory desegregation busing plan. . . The Supreme Court's ruling- adds 96 schools to the 57 'previously, contained in desegregation plan. The district, the nation's second largest public school system,, has more than 700 schools serving 540,000 students. Thp T.ns Angeles Roard of Education was informed of the STAFF OF N0RTHWAY MGMl SH0 From left to right: Stan LaPart, Dan C Michael, Rev. Richard Brasser, Kevin Br Rulison-Pres. and Betty Rulison. 2 Pilgrim Bridgeport Mills (Hew) SPIQIM Was S5250 Serial #79124 WWI '#79173 9" x 42" table FOR SALES A! Pilgrim.'Machinery MORTSfWM 11 HEW a USED E GALL----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 NORTHVILLE." Reed Street (518)863-6114 HWBUI0000361