Occupational Asbestos Risk - Mesothelioma Concerns

What is occupational asbestos risk? Does the Silent Killer stalk your work place? The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos risk to be identified and assessed. Employers have the explicit duty to protect employees from asbestos risk and to manage the safety of their premises.

The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is present or liable to be present, internally or externally.

Asbestos Risk in The Work Place

Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, used to be the predominant form of asbestos that was used commercially; amphiboles were of minor commercial importance. Asbestos fibers do not have any detectable odor or taste. It does not dissolve in water or evaporate and are resistant to heat, fire, chemical and biological degradation. In terms of building material, it was considered resistant to degradation by salt air, damp and heat – ideal for seaside conditions.

These properties cause the management of environmental asbestos risk to be a highly scientific and expensive effort.

Because of these properties, asbestos has been mined for use in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat-resistant fabrics. Since asbestos exposure had been identified as one of the causes of mesothelioma, all new uses of asbestos have been banned in the United States by the EPA, to lessen occupational asbestos risk.

Asbestos was also the building material of choice close to the sea. Click here to view pictures of asbestos in a seaside holiday destination.

Today, asbestos is heavily regulated and has ceased to exist in all but a few, closely monitored, products and industries. Despite this reduction in usage, a study completed in 1980 by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a subsidiary of the Centers for Disease Control's Prevention (CDC) of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, maintains that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos fibers.

Because of the difficulties in obtaining good quantitative exposure assessments, cumulative exposure expressed in fiber-years is often selected as the common metric for the levels of exposures
reported in epidemiological studies.

Asbestos Risk Management

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) requires asbestos to be identified and assessed. Regulation 4 (CAWR 2002) places an explicit duty on the employer in occupation to manage the risks from asbestos in their premises.

The new H.S.E. Regulations, requires the employer, property owner or manager to make an assessment, as to whether asbestos is or liable to be present, internally or externally.

The employer, property owner or manager must then produce a written plan to locate and manage the occupational asbestos risk and to implement the plan in an asbestos management programme.

Click here to read more about Asbestos Risk management

Occupations with Asbestos Risk

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition and are currently, or have ever been employed in the following occupations, you may be entitled to compensation from the parties responsible for your exposure.

- Bricklayers
- Carpenters
- Cement Finishers
- Construction Workers
- Electricians
- Railroad workers
- Engineers
- Insulators
- Mine workers
- Machinists
- Dry wall removers
- Mechanics
- Teachers
- Metal Workers
- Civil servants
- Pipefitters
- Renovators
- Plumbers
- Asbestos mill factory workers
- Roofers
- Shipyard Workers
- Steamfitters
- Welders
- Wives of the above and of asbestos workers

Security measures to prevent asbestos mesothelioma

The measures taken to prevent take-home contamination are varied. Operators may choose the most effective method for eliminating this hazard based on the unique conditions in the mine, including the nature of the hazard. For example, in one situation providing disposable coveralls could minimize or prevent asbestos take-home contamination. Another situation may require on-site shower facilities coupled with clothing changes to provide the same protection.

The existing standards, together with lower PELs, provide sufficient enforcement authority to ensure that mine operators take adequate measures, when necessary to prevent asbestos take-home contamination.

Commenters urged MSHA to expand the rulemaking to include specific requirements to prevent take-home contamination. NIOSH also encouraged MSHA to adopt measures included in its 1995 Report to Congress on their Workers' Home Contamination Study Conducted under the Workers' Family Protection Act.

Our work on asbestos mesothelioma and related research is published on our Mesothelioma-Junction.com website. Our asbestos picture study of asbestos in a popular seaside holiday distination, entitled: Asbestos Pictures

What does asbestos look like? Asbestos Identify Photos.

What does asbestos look like?

Free asbestos pictures can be viewed on this Asbestos identify page.

Many common asbestos products are in use today that contain the dangerous asbestos types.
Until the 1970s, building contractors used many types of building- and insulation materials in homes that contained asbestos.
Asbestos fibers were used because of its hardness, heat resistance and poor electricity conduction.
It was mostly used in thermal asbestos insulation, acoustic asbestos insulations, fire retardants, roofing and flooring.
Common household items that might have contained asbestos were also produced to be used in homes.

The asbestos photographs are free and covers the following topics:


What does Asbestos Look Like?

What does Asbestos Look Like?

Asbestos insulation pictures

Asbestos ore picturesinsulation

Asbestos Siding pictures

Asbestos Tile pictures

Asbestos Flooring pictures

Asbestos Shingles pictures

Asbestos Homes pictures

Asbestos Fibers pictures

Asbestos actinolite pictures

Asbestos products pictures


Browsing further you will find much information about asbestos mesothelioma cancer - a much dreaded disease with very poor prognosis.

Diagnosis Malignant Mesothelioma Claims The Life of Labour MP John MacDougall

Labour MP John MacDougall died of, caused by asbestos exposure, had again highlighted the poor prognosis of mesothelioma victims. All ex-shipyard workers are cautioned by Mesothelioma-Junction.Com to immediately consult their specialist at the first sign of what may be symptoms of mesothelioma.

Labour MP John MacDougall, Labour MP and close friend of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sadly died at the age of 60, on 13 August 2008, within 24 months of receiving the diagnosis malignant mesothelioma. He passed away at the Victoria Hospital, in Kilkaldy and his funeral is set for Monday 18 August 2008. He revealed in May 2007 that he had serious health problems.

After being diagnosed with asbestosis he had one lung removed at the Guy's Hospital in London.

Labour MP John MacDougall blamed his asbestos disease on his work in the shipyards in 1960’s. That was before asbestos regulations were implemented globally by developed nations. The average asbestos mesothelioma victim normally lives for only 6 to 24 months after being diagnosed.

Many mesothelioma treatment options are currently available but they are yet unable to affectively heal asbestosis mesothelioma patients. This well loved politician had vowed to beat the disease and return to work, after undergoing a trial procedure to try and beat the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Labour MP John MacDougall contributed his education to the excellent technical training that Rosyth Naval Dockyard gave to its apprentices. A boilermaker by trade, he was employed for a period as an engineer in the dockyard and then in the mines. From 1964 John worked at the RGC oil rig construction yard in Methil.

His political career commenced in 1982 when he was elected to the Fife County Council.

Even though society at large has known about the dangers of asbestos exposure and asbestos poisoning for decades, industrial tycoons and government departments continued to use or produce asbestos products to sustain their profits, employment figures and/or economic growth.

However, lobbyists for asbestos toxin health concerns and regulation, eventually succeeded. So varying efficiencies of asbestos mesothelioma law was written and implemented globally.

Ship yards, boilermakers, dock yards, mining are all terms that are statistically stacked with a high level of occupational asbestos risk. The mesothelioma death of labour MP John MacDougall serves as yet another example in this regard.

Even a very brief asbestos exposure can lead to a range of chronic and fatal medical dispositions known as asbestos poisoning diseases.

For many years, asbestos insulation was a preferred thermal component of boilers due to its heat resistant properties.

What is asbestos and what does asbestos look like? All forms of asbestos are composed of fibers with widths less than 1 micrometer, that occur in bundles and have very long lengths. This is called fibrillar. Asbestos identify with particularly fine fibers and is sometimes also called amianthus.

So asbestos is a classification of minerals with a unique, crystalline fiber texture. The main groups are: Chrysotile (“white asbestos”), Amosite (“brown asbestos”), Crocodolite (“blue asbestos”), Tremolite (Amhibole), Anthrophyllite and Actinolite. View asbestos pictures asbestos pictures here

Why are asbestos fibers dangerous? The microscopic fibers become easily airborne. The asbestos fibers are then easily breathed in through the nose and mouth. It becomes lodged forever in the lungs or other parts of the body.

The body’s immune system targets these fibers to break it down, but the body acids excreted to dissolve the asbestos always fail. The lesion caused by the asbestos fibres, is called asbestos injury.

Asbestos symptoms begin slowly and unnoticed. Since the asbestos particles are indestructible, connective scar tissue builds up around them.

It may take between 5 to 50 years for the first symptoms to appear, gradually developing into asbestosis mesothelioma (asbestos disease mesothelioma.) For Labour MP John MacDougall it took 40 years. Shortness of breath with an absence of coughing is one of the first asbestos poisoning symptoms.

If the scar tissue is allowed to develop undiagnosed, the presence of body acids causes some cells to mutate into malignant mesothelioma cancer cells.

Once asbestosis mesothelioma cancer had advanced, other organs begin to weaken from the lack of oxygen. The heart is especially vulnerable.

Occupational asbestos risk, even in modern day industry, can not be over emphasized. This matter is once again being brought to the attention of environment and health concious groups, by the sad loss of Labour MP John MacDougall.

He was a pillar in society, member of Scottish Constitutional Convention Vice-President and Treasurer of the Assembly of European Regions. He was also asked if he would act as liaison officer between the AER and the Conference of Periphereal Maritime Regions

For more information about the diagnosis malignant mesothelioma and to browse asbestos pictures(Including a picture study of asbestos at a popular seaside holiday town titled, "A Silent Killer Stalking Your Favorite Beach Destination?"), visit http://www.mesothelioma-Junction.Com

Symptoms of Mesothelioma - Asbestos symptoms

Early symptoms of mesothelioma are non-specific in nature. Years may pass with no symptoms at all. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to respiratory distress, a lasting cough, pneumonia, low energy levels and night-time sweating.

The “generalness” of asbestos cancer symptoms may lead to a delay in diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma.

Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 30 to 50 years after asbestos exposure - when least expected. Those affected often do not receive the proper mesothelioma diagnosis until the cancer is far advanced. Shortness of breath, pain in the chest, shoulder blades or lower back and weight loss, may also be indicative symptoms of mesothelioma. mesothelioma.

Asbestos cancer symptoms may also appear in the form of a bowel obstruction, blood clotting, lung or bowel abnormalities, anemia, fever or trouble swallowing.

Some patients complain of pain in the shoulder blade or lower back. These symptoms most often occur 2-3 months prior to a confirmed diagnosis.

Pleural mesothelioma is normally indicated by shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent cough. As mesothelioma progresses, pleural effusion (fluid build up between the two pleural layers) occurs in 95% of patients.

Patients normally visit their GP to diagnose this symptom. The doctor will us a chest X-ray to confirm the effusion. A thickening of the pleura may also be noted at this time.

If the GP finds symptoms of mesothelioma and suspects cancer is a possibility, referral may be made to a hospital consultant who specializes in lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is normally indicated by a change in normal bowel movements such as frequent diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal pain and swelling, nausea or vomiting, bowel obstruction and weight loss.

Diagnostic tests will show abdominal swelling due to thickening of the lining membranes of the gut, and accumulation of large amounts of fluid in the abdomen and normally also lumps of tissue in the abdominal.

Self diagnosis of asbestos cancer is not advised, as specialist diagnostic tests are required for diagnosis malignant mesothelioma. The symptoms above are not unique to mesothelioma, and may be symptoms of other health dispositions. Evaluation by a qualified physician is always suggested.

Tests that may show mesothelioma include the following:

• Chest x-ray
• CT scan of the chest
• Open lung biopsy

Further complicating mesothelioma treatment is the malignant nature of the cancer, for at the stage when symptoms of mesothelioma appear, current therapeutic treatments are usually no longer effective.

Asbestos cancer mesothelioma post-diagnosis survival rates typically range from 6 months to 2 years. It is important to see a doctor about any of these dispositions that may be the symptoms of mesothelioma. When your GP refer you to a specialist mesothelioma doctor or oncologist, he should provide you with the following information:

• Date and time of your appointment.
• The name of the mesothelioma center or clinic.
• The Contact person or specialist’s name.
• The mesothelioma testing procedures that you can expect.
• Time frames e.g. test result waiting period, treatment periods.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has developed the following, effective June, 2005. The guidelines implemented by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in 2005 may not apply to every individual.

It is important that you discuss the details of your individual mesothelioma case with your close family, supporting friends and your personal health care team. You have to be at peace with the proactive role that you and your mesothelioma support group are going to play in your treatment and care.

The general referral guidelines for suspected cancer requires an assessment of urgency by your GP. His asbestos cancer assessment will be based on the following criteria:

• Immediate referral: The patient needs to be seen within a few hours.
• Urgent referral: The patient will be seen within two weeks.
• Non-urgent: All other referrals.

After completing your urgency assessment, your GP will send all relevant information about your mesothelioma case to your mesothelioma doctor or your specialist for evaluation.

The prognosis associated with the diagnosis malignant mesothelioma is very poor. Any individual who experience symptoms of mesothelioma, or suspect asbestos cancer (associated with asbestos exposure in previous jobs with asbestos risk ) should urgently seek medical advice.

As in all cancers, when the first symptoms of mesothelioma appear, early diagnosis and treatment offer the best hope for a favorable outcome in a patient with malignant asbestos mesothelioma lung cancer.

However, taking advantage of your legal rights can create the necessary funds to finance aggressive treatment, pay off huge medical bills incurred during diagnosis, and provide financial security for your family for years to come.

For more information about the diagnosis malignant mesothelioma and to browse asbestos pictures, visit http://www.mesothelioma-Junction.Com View our picture study of asbestos at a popular seaside holiday town titled, "A Silent Killer Stalking Your Favorite Beach Destination?" at our Asbestos Pictures Page.

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Only 3 Months Left to Register Zonolite Asbestos Attic Insulation Claims

Zonolite Attic Insulation ("ZAI") is a loose-fill, non-roll vermiculite home attic insulation. In three months time, 31 October 2008, the gate will close on new property related asbestos claims.

ZAI claims are property-related claims for economic loss, or other property-related claims caused by this insulation.

If the insulation in your home or commercial building turned out to be ZAI asbestos insulation… and if you suffered consequencial financial loss or expenses, then time is of the essence.

ZAI was sold from the 1920/1930s to 1984, and it was sold or manufactured by Grace under the brand name of "Zonolite Attic Insulation" and under other brand names. To preserve a claim against Grace, all persons and entities with ZAI Claims must file these claims on or before October 31, 2008 (the "Bar Date").

ZAI is a loose-fill, non-roll vermiculite home attic insulation that may contain naturally occurring asbestos. It was sold from the 1920/1930s to 1984, and it was sold or manufactured by Grace under the brand name of "Zonolite Attic Insulation" and under other Zai brand names.

For complete information, visit Diagnosis-malignant-mesothelioma-prognosis-claims-settlement.com