Workers' Compensation: Health crisis

Thursday, October 17, 2013

ADAO Special Report “The USA Asbestos Toxic Trade Continues”

Asbestos related disease has been a major burden to the US workers' compensation system. It is not yet banned in the US. Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org

Presented at the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) Press Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 2013Posted on April 9, 2013

Asbestos, a human carcinogen, has caused one of the worst man-made environmental disasters. The facts are irrefutable, yet each day, 30 Americans die from a preventable asbestos-caused disease.

Exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma and lung, gastrointestinal, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, as well as non-malignant lung and pleural disorders.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) database statistics revealed that, from 1999 – 2013, the USA buried 43,351 Americans who died from mesothelioma and asbestosis – just two of the many diseases caused by asbestos.

In response to this continued public health crisis, eighteen months ago, I began asking three questions:

Who are the U.S. companies and/or government agencies importing asbestos?
What asbestos-containing products are being manufactured in the U.S.?
Where are the asbestos-containing products being used in or exported from the U.S.?

What seems simple isn’t always easy. I have been unable to get answers to any of my questions due to U.S. Code Title 13, Chapter 9, Section 301(g), which protects the confidentiality of export data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. This roadblock led me to a different question: Why is the United States “dependent on imports to meet manufacturing...

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