Bill to Ban Asbestos Reintroduced by Oregon Legislators
Two Oregon legislators have reintroduced a bill to end the importation of asbestos, a known carcinogen banned in nearly 70 other countries. The bill would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and ban asbestos in the United States.
The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2023, first introduced in 2019, was reintroduced March 30 by Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. It would “prohibit the manufacture, processing, use and distribution in commerce of commercial asbestos and mixtures and articles containing commercial asbestos, and for other purposes,” according to the bill.
Rei...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Awareness/Advocacy Mesothelioma Source Type: news
As firefighters douse Indiana plastics fire, known carcinogen found in debris more than a mile away
Some debris from a giant fire at a plastics recycling plant in Indiana contains asbestos, officials warned Thursday, as firefighters inched closer to fully dousing the blaze. The fire, which has been burning since Tuesday afternoon, sent black smoke over Richmond and surrounding towns in eastern…#indiana #richmond #ohio #richmondfire #timbrown #crews #jasonsewell #sewell #epa #indianapolis (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 13, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Is Any Kind of Baby Powder Safe to Use?
Johnson & Johnson is willing to pay almost $9 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talcum powder caused cancers, the company announced Apr. 4.
The proposal is the latest chapter in a long-running saga related to the company’s use of talc—a naturally occurring mineral that has been linked to cancer—in its baby powder. Johnson & Johnson stopped selling baby powder containing talc in North America in 2020, and last year announced plans to discontinue global use of the mineral and sell only a cornstarch-based baby powder formula. At the time, Johnson & Johnson representatives ...
Source: TIME: Health - April 5, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized Cancer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Agrees to Pay $8.9 Billion to Settle Talc Lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson has announced it will pay $8.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of talcum powder lawsuits alleging the pharma giant’s talc products caused cancer.
This announcement comes days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit denied the company’s request to delay a bankruptcy decision for its subsidiary, LTL Management, and ordered a U.S. bankruptcy judge to dismiss the case.
Late Tuesday, LTL Management filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time to seek approval for a reorganization plan that will “equitably and efficiently” resolve litigation, Johnson & Johnson wr...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 5, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Proposes Paying $8.9 Billion to Settle Talc Baby Powder Lawsuits
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson is earmarking nearly $9 billion to cover allegations that its baby power containing talc caused cancer, more than quadrupling the amount that the company had previously set aside to pay for its potential liability.
Under a proposal announced Tuesday, a J&J subsidiary will re-file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and seek court approval for a plan that would result in one of the largest product-liability settlements in U.S. history.
The $8.9 billion that J&J would transfer to the subsidiary, LTL Management, would be payable over the next 25 years. The amount is u...
Source: TIME: Health - April 5, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Associated Press Tags: Uncategorized Cancer healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Subsidiary LTL Management LLC ( “LTL”) Re-Files for Voluntary Chapter 11 to Equitably Resolve All Current and Future Talc Claims
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., APRIL 4, 2023, - Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) (the Company) today announced that its subsidiary LTL Management LLC (LTL) has re-filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to obtain approval of a reorganization plan that will equitably and efficiently resolve all claims arising from cosmetic talc litigation against the Company and its affiliates in North America. To that end, the Company has agreed to contribute up to a present value of $8.9 billion, payable over 25 years, to resolve all the current and future talc claims, which is an increase of $6.9 billion over the $2 billion previously...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - April 4, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Latest News Source Type: news
EPA Wants Public Feedback on Asbestos Ban Timeline
The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment regarding the timeline of a proposed asbestos ban.
Asbestos, long known to cause deadly cancers and other serious illnesses, has been highly regulated in the United States for decades but is not yet banned. Public comment on the proposed ban will be accepted until April 17.
In 2022, the EPA proposed a ban on chrysotile, a type of asbestos known as white asbestos. The ban would force U.S. companies, like those in the chloralkali industry, to stop using asbestos within two years. The chloralkali industry sometimes utilizes asbestos to create chlorine that i...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 3, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Source Type: news
America Has No Way to Take Care of Mentally Ill People
With evermore unhoused people on the streets of our biggest cities, and publicized subway crimes in New York, mental health treatment is again in the news. Politicians speak about “caring” for the mentally ill in a new way, which turns out to be the old way—putting them away. The mention of involuntary confinement, predictably, sparks anxiety and controversy, giving rise to the question of whom this policy is meant to help: the people taken away or the rest of population, those shopping, jogging, carrying groceries home, who, presumably, will no longer be bothered by the inconvenient reality of a person s...
Source: TIME: Health - March 31, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Mona Simpson Tags: Uncategorized freelance Psychology Source Type: news
Philadelphia City Council Threatens To Halt School Funding Over Asbestos
No plan, no more money. That’s the Philadelphia City Council’s message to its school district leadership following the recent closure of two schools because of asbestos issues.
Asbestos contamination is an ongoing and large-scale issue in Philadelphia’s aging school buildings.
“We’re not going to just give you funding if you’re not going to give us a plan,” Philadelphia Councilmember Anthony Phillips said at a recent news conference.
Council members put pressure on the district to provide a detailed and definitive plan to fix the toxic issues.
Philadelphia’s Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thom...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 28, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Source Type: news
South Africa: Asbestos Found in Old Hospital Intended for Homeless Shelter
[GroundUp] A new site in Zonnebloem in Cape Town has been identified instead of the Robbie Nurock Day Hospital (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - March 15, 2023 Category: African Health Source Type: news
You Are What You Breathe. How to Test Your Home ’ s Air and Make It Safer
Air pollution can be easy to ignore from day to day, but over the past decades, researchers have accumulated a compelling list of evidence that it can pose a major threat to human health—from mental health and childhood development to heart disease. Recent events like the East Palestine, Ohio, train disaster that spilled toxic chemicals into the air in early February, have put such risks under the spotlight, causing many across America to reconsider the safety of the air they breathe.
While home is the place where many people feel safest, that may not be entirely true when it comes to air pollution. The walls that ke...
Source: TIME: Health - March 14, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized News Team Source Type: news
Global Mesothelioma Incidence Report Assesses Risk Factors
A new study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology has evaluated the global burden of mesothelioma. The report analyzes trends by age, sex and geographic location to assess risk factors on a population level.
Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand reported the highest incidence rates, according to the study. The age-standardized rate of mesothelioma was 0.30 per 100,000 persons, with the incidence rate much higher in males than in females.
Asbestos exposure is the primary cause of mesothelioma and is historically linked to several occupational environments. This rare type of cancer is highl...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 10, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Source Type: news
New BAP1 Finding Could Be Key to Regulating Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer most often caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. Our researchers at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center have discovered how asbestos causes mesothelioma, which we linked mainly to the protein HMGB1.
After several years of studying a unique mesothelioma epidemic in Cappadocia, Turkey, we noted that in certain families, up to 50% of family members developed mesothelioma. We demonstrated that susceptibility to mesothelioma was transmitted genetically from one generation to the next.
Following this discovery, several U.S. families with multiple mesothelioma cases contacted us...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 9, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
$72.5M BASF Talc Settlement to Benefit Rubber Workers, Heirs
Nearly $60 million of a $72.5 million settlement reached in 2020 will go to the heirs of rubber workers sickened by asbestos-contaminated talc in Akron, Ohio. A probate court in Ohio is now handling the processing of claims for deceased plaintiffs.
Summit County Probate Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer oversaw a hearing about the settlement in February. BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, agreed to the settlement over two years ago on behalf of its subsidiary Engelhard.
Engelhard was the major talc supplier for rubber companies from the 1950s until the 1980s. It owned Eastern Magnesia Talc, known...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 6, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
W.R. Grace Settles Montana Environmental Asbestos Claims for $18.5M
W.R. Grace has offered $18.5 million to settle the last of Montana’s claims for environmental damages caused by the company’s mining operations that spread asbestos throughout the town of Libby and surrounding areas.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced the offer on Jan. 10. He said the settlement would resolve the remaining environmental claims in W.R. Grace’s bankruptcy case for the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site in Lincoln County.
“After years of negotiation following Grace’s historic damage, Libby and communities in Lincoln County can more fully recover,” Gianforte said in a statement. “I look forwa...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 1, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
