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Dallas Home to Asbestos Contaminated Horticultural Vermiculite Plant for Decades

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The former W.R. Grace & Company/Texas Vermiculite plant in West Dallas manufactured asbestos contaminated horticultural vermiculite for decades under trade name Terra Lite, as well as others. From the 1950s to 1992, this plant processed vermiculite from Libby, Montana for a variety of commercial purposes.

What is vermiculite?

Raw vermiculite ore, a naturally occurring mineral, expands or pops when heated – much like popcorn. This exfoliation process creates air pockets giving vermiculite excellent insulation properties. It also increases the size of the vermiculite ore. This allowed vermiculite to be utilized as a light weight soil amendment for horticultural use. It acts as a spacer helping to prevent soil compaction – thus increasing oxygen and improving root growth as the 1950s advertisement to golf course grounds keepers touts. Expanded vermiculite also increases the ability of soil to retain water for longer periods of time.

The problem with vermiculite from Libby, Montana

Unfortunately, Libby vermiculite, unlike vermiculite ore from other mines, is contaminated with asbestos and was a ubiquitous ingredient in hundreds of applications from attic insulation, insulating cements, acoustical plasters and other construction products in addition to horticultural uses prior to 1990.

The vast majority of vermiculite sold in the United States prior to 1990 was W.R. Grace Libby vermiculite. The Dallas W.R. Grace facility produced a number of horticultural products for commercial nursery growers and private consumers including soil mixtures containing expanded (exfoliated) vermiculite. After the early 1990s, these products were no longer made from the asbestos contaminated Libby vermiculite.

Exposure to asbestos

A 2005 U.S. Department of Health study determined that milled Libby vermiculite shipped to the Dallas facility, and other facilities across the United States, contained fibrous amphibole asbestos at concentrations ranging from 0.3% to 7.0%.

W.R. Grace stopped mining Libby vermiculite in 1990. There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. The mineral causes a variety of human disease including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

Cuban Researchers Develop Potential Lung Cancer Vaccine

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Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in a partnership with Cuban researchers, has FDA approval for a phase I clinical study of CIMAvax, a new vaccine for lung cancer. This is an historic first in the modern era for such a partnership between Cuba and an American institution.

In 2015, Gov. Cuomo brought a trade mission to Cuba that initiated this union. In late October, 2016, the Treasury Department authorized a joint business venture with Cuban researchers to pursue this promising and much anticipated vaccine. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the US. Estimates predict 158,040 Americans will die this year from lung cancer, more than all the combined deaths due to breast, colon, and prostate cancers. Exposure to asbestos is a major cause of lung cancer.

The CEO of Roswell, Dr. Candace Johnson, called this breakthrough “an incredibly innovative immunotherapy for lung cancer that was developed in Cuba and a significant first.” A clinical trial comprised of 60 to 90 patients will begin in about a month. Interested parties can find eligibility information at roswellpark.org/cancer-vaccine.

Asbestos Cleanup Not a Priority

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With scientists agreeing on the deadly role of asbestos inhalation in all its forms, why would an employer continue to expose employees to this potential hazard? There are no good reasons. One of the first actions upon creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in 1970, was a set of standards for employee protection from asbestos exposure. These standards – rules – have changed through the years as more knowledge was acquired on the “safe” exposure levels to this mineral. Yet, hundreds, if not thousands, of employers willfully choose to ignore the OSHA rules – even after citations. Paying the penalties to OSHA can just be the cost of doing business. Hopefully the new, significantly increased, penalty costs will deter this thinking, but time will tell.

A Recent Example
In July of 2016, OSHA citations were given to the U.S. Postal Service for their branch in West Baden Springs, Indiana. These weren’t their first citations. The two citations and their individual items were repeat offenses. Addressing and fixing these problems would not have been expensive or time-consuming, yet employee health was not a priority.

The Repeat Infractions
The first citation covered three situations.

• A maintenance employee was not given asbestos awareness training and was not told of an asbestos hazard in their job – cleaning floors with broken tiles where the mastic contained 15% chrysotile asbestos.
• These tiles had been in this condition for more than two months, exposing employees to inhalation hazards.
• Because the maintenance employee had no training on asbestos awareness, the floor was cleaned using dry dusting, dry sweeping or vacuuming without using HEPA filters.

The second citation contained one situation.

• There were no signs or labels identifying areas containing asbestos.
These asbestos-laden areas included most floors and the exterior windows.

The Penalty
The penalties assessed for all these repeat citations combined was $49,720. Will they pay this amount? They have the right to contest the citations and penalties. Many times the amount is reduced.
This citation was issued on Friday, July 29, 2016. If it had been issued the following Monday, penalties would have been significantly higher due to the new fee structure. Would a higher penalty have made a difference? The answer is unknown, but it may encourage employers to address issues found during inspections immediately and eliminate a portion of repeat citations.
None of the situations above appeared worthy of correcting promptly, yet this exposure to employees could affect them up to 50 years in the future with lung cancer, asbestosis, or mesothelioma, which is a fatal cancer almost exclusively contracted through asbestos exposure.

Be Your Own OSHA Inspector
Any building constructed prior to 1980 is suspect for containing asbestos in the US; that includes residences. Though homeowners are not under OSHA regulations, it is in your interests to ensure any work performed in an older home is first tested by an abatement professional. Many contractors, especially small businesses, will demolish walls and floors without testing.

It is not worth any cost savings to have asbestos fibers spread throughout your home, furniture, clothing, and HVAC systems. Your family, visitors, and future buyers of your home will be safe from deadly asbestos fibers because you cared enough to do the right thing.

Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day?

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Though we often think of Labor Day weekend as an opportunity to celebrate the last hurrah of summer and the start of school, it began with a far different purpose. Labor Day has been a holiday in the US since the first one was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. This day was set aside to recognize the achievements of American workers and was originally organized by the Central Labor Union in New York. This group also celebrated on the same date the following year. By 1985, Labor Day was observed in industrial centers across the country as a “workingmen’s holiday.”

The actual “father” of this idea has been debated since the holiday began. Two men are recognized as the potential first originators, and the truth will never be resolved as they were from different unions and had no idea they were starting a national holiday. One was Peter Maguire, an official in the American Federation of Labor, and the other was Matthew Maguire (no relation), a machinist from the Knights of Labor. This created quite a rivalry between the two unions and is still debated.

Early Celebrations
The first celebrations consisted of a parade of unions to show the strength and pride of the labor organizations. This was followed by an enormous party for the enjoyment of workers and their families. Later, speeches were added to emphasize the importance of the labor force, both economically and for the building up of the community. By 1909, a convention of the American Federation of Labor added the Sunday before Labor Day as Labor Sunday. This was a day to highlight the spiritual and educational qualities of the labor movement.

Legislation
In 1894, after a number of states enacted legislation to recognize the holiday, the U.S. Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. The bill was introduced by Sen. James Henderson Kyle of South Dakota during the presidency of Grover Cleveland, and was made law on June 28, 1894.

The Rest of the Story
While the descriptions above sound quite civilized, there was another side to the national holiday. Until Labor Day became official, there was a conflict between Labor Day in September and International Worker’s Day, observed on May 1. This May holiday began in remembrance of the Haymarket Affair which occurred on May 4, 1886. When protesters assembled in Chicago over the demand for an 8-hour workday, it became violent, with a bomb thrown toward police killing one officer and injuring others. The police then shot into the crowd resulting in the death of an undetermined number of protesters. Because of this violent history, President Cleveland made the September observance the official Labor Day. Even so, International Worker’s Day is still unofficially celebrated in the US on May 1. In an interview with NPR, Jonathan Cutler, associate professor of sociology at Wesleyan, said, “May Day has always been linked to the demand for less work and more pay; Labor Day celebrates the ‘dignity’ of work.”

As we celebrate Labor Day weekend, 134 year after that first parade, let us take time to remember the American worker. These men and women, past and present, built our country through hard work, ingenuity, and dedication to a better life for all. This is truly cause for celebration!

New Staging Categories Means More Treatment Options

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When a patient is diagnosed with mesothelioma, a disease stage is also assigned. The stage determines the treatment plan for the patient. These standards for stage evaluation have been updated through a project led by Dr. Valerie Rusch, renowned mesothelioma specialist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This re-categorization will lead to additional options for some patients diagnosed with stage 3 or stage 4 mesothelioma.

At this time, stage 3 mesothelioma means:

• The cancer is located on one side of the body
• The tumor has spread to other organs
• The tumor has spread to the lymph nodes

A stage 4 mesothelioma diagnosis means:

• The cancer has spread to both sides of the body
• The tumor has spread to multiple different organs
• The cancer has progressed through both the lymph node system and the blood vessels

The new system changes how stage 4 is diagnosed and how stage 3 is categorized. Instead of identifying patients with large tumors as stage 4, they will now be “3b”, opening up more therapeutic and surgical options to them, while also giving more hope.

Generally, staging for mesothelioma is based on the TNM Staging System. The size the spread of the cancer is represented by letters.

• T = size of tumor and its spread to nearby tissues
• N = cancer spread to lymph nodes
• M = cancer spread to other parts of the body

Numbers are attached to these letters which categorizes them further. These go from “0” meaning no cancer found to “4” meaning metastatic cancer.

“For instance, right now, anything that’s stage T4 is considered stage 4 disease, and stage 4 disease for any patient automatically means ‘the end of the road.’ That’s now been moved to stage 3b, and only metastatic disease is stage 4,” Dr. Rusch commented while speaking at the 2016 International Mesothelioma Interest Group conference.

This new categorization begins in 2017. Until that time, many clinicians are using the new system in advance of its formal adoption. This is great news for some patients who are now eligible for treatments that can prolong their lives.