Asbestos continues to sicken, kill U.S. workers

By MICHAEL GUTWIG & SETH DAVIDSON

As a career interior decorator, Marilyn Stratton of Beaverton, Oregon, was used to carrying heavy samples of rugs, tiles, wallpaper, carpets, and catalogs that showcased the tools of her trade.

Her skills as a decorator have been showcased in three “Street of Dreams” homes and a number of “Showplace Homes” in the Portland area during her lengthy career.

A workaholic, even at age 73, Stratton seemingly was always on the go. Until the onset of summer 2006, when she began experiencing pain in her chest.

Concerned that someone as fit and active as she would be suffering from chest pains, her husband, retired arbitrator Dick Stratton, insisted on a visit to the doctor. X-rays taken in early June revealed a build-up of fluid around her lung. More tests were taken and the diagnosis was horrific: malignant pleural mesothelioma. “Meso” is an aggressive cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs. The only known cause of this fatal disease is asbestos.

Asbestos is a mineral found in nature. Its fibers are long, thin, flexible, strong — and resistant to heat, fire, rot, mildew, water damage and electrical and chemical damage. Prior to 1975, the so-called “miracle fiber” was used heavily in Navy ships and shipyards; in office, school and home construction building materials such as drywall, flooring and roofing; in automotive products like brake pads; and in consumer products like hair dryers.

Asbestos fibers are invisible and cannot be smelled or tasted. But when inhaled or swallowed, the fibers have been found to be lethal. The fibers can lodge in the lungs and other soft tissues, resulting in changes to the cells that may eventually result in meso, asbestosis and other types of cancers — some of which have latency periods of more than 40 years.

In the U.S., statistics show 4,000 people are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma each year, and 10,000 Americans or more die each year from all asbestos-related disease.

According to the RAND Institute for Civil Justice, an estimated 27 million people may have been exposed to asbestos during the period of 1940 to 1979. Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, an actuarial consulting firm, estimates that more than 100 million Americans may have been exposed through products containing asbestos and asbestos used in buildings.

Portland is considered a “meso” hotspot because of its history of shipbuilding, paper and pulp mills, aluminum plants, and construction.

Despite these warnings — and the staggering health consequences — the United States continues to import over $100 million worth of asbestos products each year. Asbestos still can be found in about 3,000 different products, ranging from cement panels, sheets, and tiles; fabric, including yarn, thread, cord, and string; gaskets, packing material; aircraft parts and more.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) has been trying for six years to pass a bill banning asbestos in the United States. Last October, advocacy groups thought they had a breakthrough when Murray’s Ban Asbestos in America Act passed in the Senate. SB 742, they said, would finally ban asbestos while investing millions of dollars to develop effective treatment for asbestos-related diseases, and in a public education campaign.

However, according to Roger Worthington, an attorney who specializes in asbestos victim lawsuits, after all parties had agreed on the bill’s language, asbestos industry representatives were able to insert a last-minute change — altering the word “products” to “materials” — before sending the bill to the floor for a vote.

“Asbestos-containing materials,” according to Worthington, “are statutorily defined as anything with more than 1 percent asbestos by weight. The exemption suddenly opened the door for the continued sale and distribution of hundreds of asbestos products — as long as the product was 99 percent asbestos-free.

“This 1 percent exemption, which has absolutely no scientific, public health, moral, or economic rationale, would help perpetuate the worst man-made public health catastrophe in our nation’s history,” Worthington added.

A couple of bills have been introduced in the House. One mirrors the Senate version, and another incorporates language that would ban asbestos completely. But, according to Worthington, neither bill is viable.

A third bill currently is being drafted that incorporates a statutory ban of asbestos. That means, two years after the bill is passed, asbestos would be banned outright in the U.S. “This is the bill that will be considered by the committee,” Worthington said.

According to Worthington, the one percent exemption has been removed from the draft bill, and the asbestos industry is already working to derail it, just as they did in the Senate.

Since her diagnosis, Stratton’s world has been turned upside down. She had her diseased lung removed (extra-pleural pneumonectomy) by Dr. Eric Vallieres at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. She has undergone countless rounds of chemotherapy treatments. She’s dealt with infections and takes medications daily for her heart, for pain, and other side effects. She is weak most of the time and experiences chronic shortness of breath.

And she’s one of the lucky ones.

During a consultation in December, a CT scan showed that she was “cancer clear.” All of the gross tumor has been removed, and the radiation has sterilized the area.

Stratton no longer has the strength for pulling fabric off shelves, to deliver furniture, or to hoist large area rugs that she once could carry by herself. But she walks routinely and has shown an amazingly positive attitude throughout the ordeal.