Mesothelioma Awareness Day 2018
September 26 is Mesothelioma Awareness Day. The day is intended to share information about mesothelioma, an incurable cancer that forms on the linings of vital organs, typically the lungs, following asbestos exposure. While the prognosis for individuals diagnosed with the illness is grim, preventing it is very much possible.
Scientific studies of asbestos conclude there is no safe level of exposure. Accordingly, the clear solution to preventing mesothelioma is to ensure people are never exposed to asbestos in any amount. Safer alternatives to asbestos exist, so banning it is not beyond reach. Despite this, the U.S. is not among roughly 50 nations that have done so. Although asbestos is no longer manufactured in the United States, it persists in previously installed insulation and is still being imported every year.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, nearly 100 percent of the asbestos imported into the United States in 2017 came from Brazil and was used by the chloralkali industry. However, "an unknown quantity of asbestos was imported within manufactured products, including asbestos containing brake-linings, knitted fabric, rubber sheets for gasket manufacture, and potentially asbestos-cement pipe." In 2018, the U.S. also imported asbestos from Russia, with …
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