February is Cancer Prevention Month According to the World Health Organization 30 to 50 percent of all cancer cases are preventable. The largest avoidable risk factor for cancer mortality is tobacco smoking, which kills approximately 6 million people each year (from cancer and other diseases). The reason tobacco smoke is so dangerous is that there […]
The History of Ambler, Pennsylvania
The History of Ambler, Pennsylvania Ambler, Pennsylvania, a small town 16 miles north of Philadelphia, was once known as the asbestos manufacturing capital of the world. The town thrived because of Richard Mattison, the son of a Quaker farmer. He went to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. While […]
Recycling and Disposal of Asbestos
Asbestos is a highly regulated substance under many different statutes: As solid waste under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) As a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) As a building Material under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) As an airborne contaminant under the National Emissions Standard […]
Johnson & Johnson Knew it had Asbestos in its Products
Johnson & Johnson Knew it had Asbestos in its Products Reuters has investigated and found that Johnson & Johnson has known that asbestos was in its baby powder since at least 1971. From 1971 to the early 2000s, the company’s raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for asbestos. The company’s lawyers, doctors, scientists, […]
New and Existing Lung Cancer Treatments
New and Existing Lung Cancer Treatments Even though lung cancer is a dangerous and devastating cancer to have, it is not devastating if caught early. The five year survival rate (the percentage of people who will be alive five years past their diagnosis date) for all people with all types of lung cancer is 18 […]
Today is the Great American Smokeout
Today is the Great American Smokeout For more than 40 years the third Thursday in November, known as the Great American Smokeout, has been a day to quit smoking. The Great American Smokeout started when Arthur P. Mullaney in Randolph, Massachusetts asked people to give up smoking for a day and donate whatever money would […]
Asbestos and its Link to Lung Cancer
Asbestosis and its Link to Lung Cancer In the early 1900s doctors began to notice that people working around asbestos were dying at an early age. People were dying from symptoms of what is now known as asbestosis. The first case of asbestosis, even though it was not named at the time, was found in […]
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Since 1990, research and advocacy organizations wanting to increase knowledge about lung cancer partner to teach people about the deadly effects of the disease. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women, making it a very prevalent […]
Rising Levels of Asbestos Imports into the United States
Rising Levels of Asbestos Imports into the United States The United States’ importation of asbestos has increased 2,000 percent from July to August of 2018, going from 13 metric tons in July to 272 metric tons in August. With the amount of asbestos coming into the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not protecting […]
Magnesium Extraction in Old Asbestos Mines
After health groups and experts pressured the Canadian government to ban asbestos, it finally agreed to do so in 2016. The ban is going to take effect soon and importing, selling, and using processed asbestos fibers and products containing them (except for trace amounts) will be banned. Residue left from mining asbestos (800 million tons […]