| Mapping asbestos the cause of Mesothelioma
Following in the footsteps of other counties, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District released a map for eastern Sacramento County that shows areas more likely to contain naturally occurring asbestos, including parts of Folsom.Looking at geologic rock formations where naturally occurring asbestos is more likely to be found, the map is an updated and expanded version of an August 2005 map by the California Geological Survey. Air district officials say they have been addressing health concerns about NOA for several years, primarily in Folsom."Sacramento County and the air district at times were not aware of any naturally occurring asbestos in our county," said AQMD division manager Dave Grose. "We were well aware that El Dorado County had some."That changed during a routine site inspection of the Lago Vista High School campus in 2004, in which the Department of Toxic Substances Control discovered levels of NOA.
Abuse victims free to sue after decades
VICTIMS of childhood sexual assault, medical negligence and workplace accidents could now sue for damages decades after the event, following a landmark High Court decision that will force former ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark to defend claims he led the 1971 pack-rape of a 16-year-old girl. Carol Stingel was "over the moon" yesterday with the court judgment clearing the way for her to sue the Aboriginal leader despite 35 years passing since the alleged attack. It will be the first time Mr Clark has had to respond to the rape allegations, as no criminal case was ever mounted and he has waged a constant battle to strike Ms Stingel's claim out of the Victorian courts. The decision significantly expands the number of cases that can now proceed even if the legal time limits for taking court action have expired.
Nuclear test study rules out radiation link
A University of Adelaide study has found that cancer rates among Australian men involved in the 1950s British nuclear tests are 23% higher than the general population, but has shown no link between the increased cancer rates and exposure to radiation. However, the study unearthed a probable asbestos-related cancer excess in navy personnel. The study - Mortality and Cancer Incidence in Australian Participants in the British Nuclear Tests in Australia - was undertaken by the University of Adelaide in association with a panel of specialists in radiation physics. It took more than three years to complete and was released last week by the Federal Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Bruce Billson. The study investigated the health effects on 11,000 men who took part in the British nuclear tests in Australia from 1952 to 1963.
Toxic blue asbestos found in lungs of 2 patients
Highly toxic blue asbestos has been found in the lungs of two patients suffering from mesothelioma--which is allegedly caused by the material--who lived near Kubota Corp.'s former Kanzaki plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. The plant, run by the major machinery manufacturer, used blue asbestos from 1957 to 1975. The two patients lived near the plant during the same period. The patients claim that the central government should acknowledge that the disease is caused by environmental pollution and pay compensation, saying that the findings have further clarified the relationship between the factory and the disease. The findings were made by Yuji Natori, a doctor and director of the Mesothelioma--Pneumoconiosis--Asbestos Center in Tokyo, and others who examined the lungs of six patients aged 52 to 66, including those who were deceased.
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