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As many may have heard, a commuter train recently crashed in New Jersey, resulting in the death of a woman who was standing on the station platform at the time, as well as the injury of more than 100 people.   The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating the cause of the deadly train accident, but they have run into a roadblock of sorts in their investigation, and that roadblock is the presence of deadly asbestos fibers, according to a recent news feature from NBC News.

asbestosWhat investigators do know as of this time is that the train entered the Hoboken station at a very high rate of speed.  Passengers on the train noticed they were traveling very fast and realized something was not right. The train did not engage its brakes and crashed at this high rate of speed.  Once witness said he saw the train had hit a large pylon and then crashed into a stationary store in the station.  There were over a hundred people on the train and wandering around the station.  Many of these victims were covered in blood and were described as being dazed by those who saw them, including first responders. Continue reading

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A number of public health officials are pushing for the Environmental Protection Agency to put asbestos at the top of their list of regulatory priorities. However, Bloomberg reports those in the pool chemical industry are concerned about this. That’s because chlorine, caustic soda and other chemicals manufactured in this industry use asbestos. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey lists the chlor-alkali industry as the No. 1 importer of asbestos in its yearly mineral commodity summary. The chlorine industry’s use of asbestos accounts for 90 percent of the 358 tons of asbestos imported into the country last year, according to the survey’s most recent report.

While many people think of asbestos as a man-made product, it is actually a naturally occurring substance made up of a combination of silica elements.  It forms in the ground like other minerals and has been used by humans for thousands of years.

chlorine-gas-1482021However, it was during the 1800s in the industrial revolution that it became heavily used, and, by the 1970s, when the asbestos ban went into effect, asbestos was used in just about every residential, commercial, and industrial construction project in much of the world. There are various reasons that asbestos was used so heavily. Continue reading

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According to a recent news feature from the Boston Herald, a landlord who owns multiple rental units in New Bedford, Massachusetts has agreed to pay $100,000 in civil fines.  This payment will be made to settle claims filed by the Commonwealth’s Attorney General related to asbestos violations.  The allegations were that he was renovating four residences and engaged in illegal asbestos removal during the renovation process.

tosignacontract3Specifically, the lawsuit filed in the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston alleges that his contractors knowingly had workers remove material containing deadly asbestos fibers without wearing proper protective clothing and without having ventilators or respirators.  The material was then taken out with ordinary construction waste and taken to a landfill instead of being taken to a proper asbestos collection facility that handles this and other hazardous waste. Continue reading

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On the 15th anniversary to the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Vice President Joe Biden choose to speak about how these events rocked our nation and about how the many rescue and recovery workers were exposed to a great deal of toxic dust, including some that contained deadly asbestos fibers, according to a recent news feature form Yahoo News.   This is part of the Cancer Moonshot program launched by President Barack Obama at his last State of the Union Address.

world-trade-center-1235234The Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center complex, as it existed in September 2001, were constructed at a time when asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of construction.  World Trade Center One and World Trade Center 2 (the formal names for the Twin Towers) were no exception to this, and neither were the other buildings and underground structures that surround the Twin Towers. Continue reading

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While it may seem like a strange thing to study, a recent news feature from Science Daily looks at whether asbestos can move in soil, and there is a very important reason for this study.  The general belief, as it has been for many years, is that asbestos fibers cannot move when they are in soil.  As the new study suggests, this may not be true, and that is a serious problem.

openpitmineIn many parts of the country, there is soil that is filled with deadly asbestos fibers.  Some of these contaminated areas are a result of landfills at a time when asbestos was regularly thrown away with ordinary trash and construction waste.  Today this is illegal and a violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Continue reading

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According to a recent news feature from the Washington City Paper, a 59-year-old man has just pleaded to asbestos related violations of the federal Clean Air Act involving an historic home that many consider to be one of our nation’s architectural treasures.

constructionsiteThis residence in question is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC.  It was known as the Friendship House and was purchased by Francis Scott Key shortly after he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.”  Following Key’s ownership of the Friendship House, it became the site of a not-for-profit organization and was used as such for nearly a century. Continue reading

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According to the The Huffington Post, asbestos in classrooms has become a major problem across the country. Schools are reportedly not handling the problem well.  The reporter notes that any older school building likely has asbestos, and some of that asbestos could be harming your children.

asbestosTo get an idea of how bad the problem has become, we can first look at data collected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the mid 1980s.  At that time, the EPA released an estimate that more than 100,000 grade schools contained asbestos and over 700,000 public buildings did as well in the U.S.  As if this was not bad enough, they estimated that of those 100,000 schools slightly more than a third of them contained friable asbestos. Continue reading

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Teaticket Elementary School in Falmouth remains closed as the new academic year begins, due to concerns of student exposure to asbestos.

School officials had hired a contractor to work on the facility this summer to address a number of repair and maintenance issues. However, during the course of the construction work, some ceiling tiles were damaged, and inspectors immediately became concerned that those tiles contained asbestos.

old-schools-class-room-881694-mThese tiles were made at a time when asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of construction and building materials and tiles were among one of the major offenders in terms of containing the deadly asbestos files.  As is required, the inspectors hired an asbestos abatement contractor to come in and take samples of the tiles.  Trained and certified asbestos inspectors take the samples, and the samples themselves are securely stored and transported to a materials testing lab to perform a microscopic analysis.  In the case of this school, it was confirmed that asbestos was present in the tiles and was now posing a risk to anyone in the school. Continue reading

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When we think of asbestos and the damage it can do, we are normally thinking of malignant mesothelioma.  Malignant mesothelioma is a very aggressive form of cancer that will normally result in a patient’s death within a short period of time after initial diagnosis.

xrayanalysisOne of the reasons for the short life expectancy after initial diagnosis for someone with malignant mesothelioma is because of how the cancer affects a person and how it grows and spreads.  The illness begins when someone inhales or otherwise ingests deadly asbestos fibers.  These fibers are sharp and can become embedded in a layer of tissue called the mesothelium.  As one might expect, this is where mesothelioma gets its name. Continue reading

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According to a recent news article from the Cape Cod Times, a meeting was recently held that more than 100 parents attended.  The topic of this meeting was what about the more than 300 students who cannot return to the Teaticket Elementary School where they are registered. The reason they cannot go to their normal school is because it is closed due to asbestos hazards.

schoolAs is the case with many of the schools on the Cape and in the greater Boston area, this one was built at a time when asbestos was heavily used.  Asbestos has the natural ability to resist heat, fire, caustic chemicals, and electricity, but it also has the ability to work as a chemical binding agent.  This ability to work as a chemical binding agent means that it is good to be used in epoxies, glues, and other joint compounds such as drywall cement.  It is not flammable and the joint would break down due to exposure to normal conditions in the short term.  It will eventually break down over time, and that is where the problem starts. Continue reading

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1 International Pl Unit 1810
Boston, MA 02110
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