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FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1978 Dec 3 DOC NMA130 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Kansas City Star - Millions Infected by Cruel Patient Killer - Part 1 of 3 -The Kansas Millions Infected By Rick Lyman ! Alheimber Alheimber Alheimber of the Staff a It's Sunday morning time for little quiz What do the following people have in com- . " by Cruel PatienKiltler . .rey t . @ Your uncle who was a shipbuilder dur- Ing World War II i 4 Your aunt who washed his clothes : Your sister who visited them on week- { Your father who worked even if only * for one day long ago in an insulation factory . Your brother who grinds and fits his own brake linings Your child who goes to school in an old building where the insulation is flaking off @ You just for being around the rest of Give an - ee en Well federal officials say they all share a risk much higher than the average person of developing either asbestosis known as or stormach white lung canoc f the e r lunlugngss rectum rectum colon Asbestos is the key ingredient h^'reAu- thorities are convinced that it can be danger- ous even kill Federal officials this year estimated that * as many as 5.6 million workers could die from cancer or other disease as a direct result of . their exposure to asbestos : And it's a cruel and unusual killer they charge because the disease doesn't even show up until anywhere from 15 to years after exposure A person could breathe asbes .-, tos fibers and decades later develop a tumor - or lung ailment happen- It can happen scientists say It's ing now to hundreds of thousands of Ameri- cans . Although there is unanimity in the belief exposure to asbestos can contribute to : the later development of cancer and asbes H . tosis some scientists and industry officials . disagree with the alarming government sta- : ve See ASBES onTPaO geS11 Asbestos Restrictions Too Late for Many | Continued From Page LA the lungs of workers shoppers and also concluded that there is no such tion are being produced The asbestos tistics There are too many factors in the development of a cancer to single out asbestos is the primary cause They say Government and industry officials schoolchildren _ Asbestos is described by the Nation- al Safety Council as a hydrated mag- nesium silicate in fibrous form Among toxic substances it classified as a pneumonoconosis dust thing as a safe level of asbestos fi- bers The Asbestos Workers Union headquartered in Washington has long been aware of what it considers to be the dangers of asbestos They charge that the asbestos industry also knew of being produced and sold today is well within federal regulations they say safely prevented from escaping into the atmosphere by a layer of sealant While asbestos has not been out- lawed a number of regulations now govern its use believe they have most of the problem under control the future Asbes- That means the tiny asbestos fibers lodge in the lungs and remain there the dangers as long as 50 years ago The Environmental Protection and covered them up until conclusive Agency has rules specifying what pre- tos no longer being widely used as an forever grinding away at the lung tis- medical research was released in 1964 cautions must be taken when an old trailstor and most of its current ap- sue They can scar the lungs causing The union now is seeking national building containing asbestos Insula- plications are considered safe because asbestosis or they can increase the legislation banning asbestos charging tion is torn down prevent the wind ! the fibers are exfectively sealed and body's susceptibility to cancer Re- that safer alternatives are readdy from carrying the deadly fibers into | can't escape float around and end up centy it has been shown that the fibers available The union also is battling to the lungs of passersby your in lungs also can lodge in the stomach or intes- force the asbestos industry to aid Also the EPA has ruled that | But there are fears that problems tines or pass through the bloodstream workers who have been stricken by el of asbestos in construction mater | - and lodge in the body's inner lining cancer or asbestosis als must be lower than 1 percent . | crop up from its past use Millions of people who were exposed to the fi- In each case asbestos is a stubborn Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed The Food and Drug Administration =, to bers before their danger was widely menace refusing to deteriorate or by former asbestos workers now doesn't want see asbestos showing | pass away and significantly increasing stricken who seek compensation or up in food known are only now entering the criu- the risk of cancer according to sever- aid in paying their medical bills At * The Consumer Product Safety gf period when the illness is most like. al research studies least one action suit asking the Commission has banned at least two | develop + thousands of buildings that do The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH says court to force an asbestos company to relinquish every cent of profit it has products that contained asbestos filler used to repair cracks and chips have asbestos constructed there is conclusive evidence that ex- ever made on asbestos in plaster or dry wall and asbestos back when it was considered safe and posure to asbestos fibers causes can- For their part industry officials say treated fireplace logs : practical practical e now starting to deterios rate Tiny particles of asbestos cer and asbestosis in man NIOSH an agency within the De- they were aware of some evidence of health risks over the decades no Monday In The Star A brief historoyf | when and where Asbestos has been flaking away from the building's misu- adhesive lation adhesive adhesive corrodes are fiating into the atmosphere and into partment of Health Filucation and Welfare that does research on workrelated issues of safety and health conclusive medical evidence 433 available Now that the evidence has surfaced alternative forms of inawa used when the first signs of health hazards appeared and what the intervening years of research have shown BMA 02773