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New study highlights local asbestos-related death rates

By Mike Tony mtony@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Although the use of asbestos has declined sharply since the 1980s, a new study suggests that asbestos-related deaths have remained common in Pennsylvania compared to other states in recent years.

A study by Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group Action Fund released last week states that there were 14,216 asbestos-related deaths in Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2013, ranking third among all states during that span. The study found that 187 of those deaths occurred in Fayette County and 57 in Greene County.

Fayette County’s asbestos-related death rate, 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people, ranked 11th among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in that span. Greene County’s death rate, 9.6 deaths per 100,000 people, ranked ninth.

Asbestos is a heat-resistant, highly toxic mineral that is a known cause of mesothelioma cancer, according to Asbestos.com, an advocacy group that helps victims of asbestos exposure. It was mixed into cement and woven into fabric, and used to provide heat insulation in home and school construction, flooring, roofing and many other building projects. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, plumbers, pipefitters, steam fitters and electricians were the most vulnerable to asbestos-related diseases.

“We look at asbestos-related issues frequently,” said John Poister, community relations coordinator of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection southwest regional office, which covers Fayette, Greene and 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. “We deal with a lot of older buildings in this area that have asbestos. We run into it when a building is being demolished. Generally if there’s a demolition permit, we may go and inspect it.”

Poister said the DEP generally will inspect for asbestos at the request of contractors. The DEP regulates the removal, collection, transportation, and disposal of materials that contain asbestos, though it does not regulate the removal of such materials from private residences unless the residence is an apartment with five or more units.

“Sometimes it’s more dangerous to try to disturb it than it is to encapsulate it,” Poister said of asbestos, which is not banned in the United States.

The EWG Action Fund study stated that asbestos exposure kills 12,000 to 15,000 people per year in the United States, including an estimated 127,579 to 159,480 from 1999 to 2013.

Rock Richter said that he has dealt with asbestos-containing materials only three times in his 18 years as a maintenance worker for the Connellsville Area School District, including a removal of floor tile last year. Richter said that the school district brings in outside contractors for more substantial asbestos remediation projects.

“Most of pipe insulation isn’t asbestos anymore,” Richter said.

Richter added that when dealing with minor asbestos removal or remediation, he and other maintenance workers seal off asbestos-containing materials, double bag them and place them in a container. Richter is certified to perform asbestos remediation work and said he must take an eight-hour abatement training course to remain certified every year.

“You need a proper breathing apparatus for remediation procedures that will shield asbestos dust,” Poister said.

Other health effects associated with asbestos exposure are lung cancer and asbestosis, a long-term, non-cancer disease of the lungs.

The EWG Action Fund has endorsed the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database Act, a U.S. congressional bill that would create an online database of products containing asbestos.

In the meantime, Poister said contractors, inspectors and workers will continue to test for and deal with the presence of asbestos, especially in older buildings.

“We go after it quite a bit here,” Poister said.

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