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Tree bark and core samples were collected from areas surrounding the asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine in Libby, MT. These samples were collected to provide preliminary data in support of a proposed study to determine if trees can serve as reservoirs for amphibole fibers and to determine if there is a potential for exposure to those that harvest contaminated wood in the Libby mine area, specifically during firewood harvesting and commercial logging. Initially, three sets of samples were taken both within and directly outside of the EPA restricted area surrounding the mine site. Based on the results of the initial samples, a follow-up sampling program was conducted both in the town of Libby and directly outside the city limits.

Gravimetric reduction of a tree core sample did not indicate the presence of amphibole fibers. However, transmission electron microscopy analysis of bark samples collected near the vermiculite mine yielded substantial amphibole fiber concentrations ranging from 41 million to 530 million fibers/g of bark. In addition, a bark sample collected approximately 7 miles west of the town next to a railroad line had concentrations of 19 million fibers/g. A conversion of these mass-based concentrations to areal concentrations (to reflect surface area contamination) revealed concentrations in excess of 100 million amphibole fibers/cm^2. These preliminary results suggest that trees in the Libby valley and along vermiculite shipping corridors can serve as reservoirs for amphibole fibers, and that a potential for exposure exists for those who harvest contaminated wood.

For much of the industrial era, asbestos was a widely acclaimed benchmark material. During its heyday, it was manufactured into nearly three thousand different products, most of which protected life and property from heat, flame, acids, and electricity. It was used in virtually every industry from hotel keeping to military technology to chemical manufacturing, and was integral to building construction from shacks to skyscrapers in every community across the United States. Beginning in the mid-1960s, however, this once popular mineral began a rapid fall from grace as growing attention to the serious health risks associated with it began to overshadow the protections and benefits it provided.

In this thought-provoking and controversial book, Rachel Maines challenges the recent vilification of asbestos by providing a historical perspective on Americans’ changing perceptions about risk. She suggests that the very success of asbestos and other fire-prevention technologies in containing deadly blazes has led to a sort of historical amnesia about the very risks they were supposed to reduce.

Asbestos and Fire is not only the most thoroughly researched and balanced look at the history of asbestos, it is also an important contribution to a larger debate that considers how the risks of technological solutions should be evaluated. As technology offers us ever-increasing opportunities to protect and prevent, Maines urges that learning to accept and effectively address the unintended consequences of technological innovations is a growing part of our collective responsibility.

Although asbestos was once considered a miracle mineral, today even the word itself has ominous implications for all strata of our society. Incorporated in the past into over 3000 different industrial and consumer products, as well as in building materials and military equipment, opportunities for exposure continue to be ever present in our environment. Of all of us who are potentially exposed, blue collar workers are at greatest risk.

Countless thousands of workers and servicemen in a wide variety of trades were disabled or have died consequent to the health effects of asbestos, and many more can be expected to be affected in years to come. Litigation continues, and financial awards in the billions have bankrupt many Fortune 500 companies and numerous smaller companies.
While one might implicate our forefathers in this widespread, relentless medical catastrophe, it has been only in recent decades that science has appreciated the complexities of the problem and the long latencies before the asbestos-associated diseases appear clinically. After all these years, prevention remains the hallmark of disease control, as modern treatments remain, to a large extent, futile.

This book provides a study of past, present and emerging mass torts with practical information drawn from examples such as asbestos. A must read for plaintiff and defense attorneys, judges, insurance and reinsurance company claims managers, risk managers, brokers, actuarials and executives, this book will help them:

- Identify key data and assumptions necessary at each stage of the estimation process;

- Learn how the incidence and prevalence of a condition is converted into claims;

- Forecast liability exposure for risk management and conveyance of assets;

- Assess reserve and settlement trusts for financial planning and company insulation; and

- Review historical and new estimation techniques.

As part of a year-long investigation into the impact of the General Mining Act, which let corporations buy land cheaply from the government, Schneider, senior national correspondent for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, met with Gayla Benefield, a resident and activist in Libby, Mont. Benefield’s extensive knowledge of the area and the number of people suffering from asbestos-related illnesses impressed Schneider. He began his own digging, talking to lawyers, residents, environmental experts and staffers at the EPA, and even had tests conducted. This book chronicles his inquiry into an enormous coverup by Grace Corporation, which ran the Zonolite factory. Schneider and McCumber, managing editor at the newspaper, have written a compelling and frightening story about the victims-the people who worked in the factory and other local residents who weren’t employees-suffering from life-threatening ailments. The authors focus on the individuals rather than the legal wrangling, court cases or scientific research. For example, in describing the matter-of-fact way employees handled the asbestos dust, they compellingly write: “Each floor was worse than the last. Les’ battle with the never-ending blizzard of dust was truly mythical in proportion, like Hercules cleaning the Augean stables…. When he got on the bus to ride back to town that night, he was covered in dust, just like everybody else. His hair was coated, his ears and his nose were plugged up. His throat felt like sandpaper. The dust in his mouth and nose felt like thick brown syrup….” With Benefield-who’s reminiscent of Erin Brockovich-at the center of the story, the authors have written a first-rate book about a contemporary American tragedy.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This book represents a few threads of a complex weaving; a small part of a story of the Baryulgil Asbestos Mine and its disastrous effects upon Bundjalung People and others.

While there are hundreds of books available on many different aspects of asbestos, none contain the encyclopedic, comprehensive coverage you will find here. Edited by leading authorities, with contributions from specialists and leaders in their respective fields, Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects provides a cross-disciplinary approach and an authoritative review of asbestos research.

The breadth and depth of coverage spans history, pathology, epidemiology, as well as sampling, analysis, and regulatory issues. Following the path of asbestos from its natural sources to its effects at the cell, organism, and population levels, the volume covers testing methods, types of exposure, and the associated health effects. It provides a multi-disciplinary look at sampling methods, analysis, pathology, and regulations.

The book explores differences in the detection levels achieved with various techniques applied to the various types of environmental and human samples. This includes comparisons of recommended and/or required sampling schemes and the parameters associated with the instruments used in each of the methods. Offering state-of-the-art data on asbestos exposure and the resultant development of disease, the content is styled so that the depth of coverage is sufficient for specialists and researchers but also useful for anyone having to deal with asbestos-related problems.