The study notes that despite asbestos regulations, in place in the U.S. since the 1970s, around 200,000 people are diagnosed each year with asbestosis, and there are approximately 4,000 asbestos-related deaths annually. Diagnoses include mesothelioma, asbestosis, fibrosis and lung carcinoma.

Because of the complexity of response to asbestos and the many unanswered questions about its effect on the human body, researchers felt there was a need for a systems biology approach. The study focused on the introduction of crocidolite asbestos in A549 human lung ephithelial cells.

Researchers catalogued a comprehensive data set documenting crocidolite-induced changes in the sample lung cells, and explored the effects of crocidolite in the context of known molecular interactions.

As a result of the study, researchers mapped a complex system of communications between known and previously unknown asbestos-related genes, and identified novel, putative crocidolite-related genes. From this, they were able to develop new hypotheses regarding genes that are important to the asbestos response.

Among its conclusions, the BMC Genomics report says this study represents the first function-based global approach toward understanding the response of human lung epithelial cells to the carcinogen crocidolite, and provides a broad base for further research to follow.

The $9.8 million improvement project expands the existing facilities, adding new classrooms, relocating some offices for more efficient use of space, and improving the auditorium. Prior to construction beginning, the contractor identified areas where it expected to find asbestos, and planned proper abatement procedures, which include isolating and sealing the affected areas while removing the substance using proper hazardous materials equipment, clothing and respirators to avoid inhalation of asbestos fibers.

Asbestos is linked to mesothelioma, a deadly cancer affecting the lining of the lungs and, less often, the abdomen. It also is linked to asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs that can seriously impair breathing.

After evaluating the job sites within the school, the contractors discovered asbestos in vinyl composition tile flooring in the school’s commons area, which was scheduled for expansion. Proper abatement of this area added two weeks to the project timeline.

The school’s opening is delayed to Monday, Sept. 8, from an original date of Sept. 2, but construction is ongoing, with the project at about 50 percent completion. However, all asbestos has been safely removed, according to school officials.

School officials say students were never in any danger from the asbestos in the facility, as it was completely contained, and there were no airborne particles. Proper abatement procedures have insured safety going forward, they told the Daily News.

Temporary walls have been constructed to keep students away from construction areas. The new classrooms are projected to open in November, and the project should be complete in December.

When signs were posted announcing the asbestos abatement project at the school, parents were concerned, and recent visits to the ball field found it empty. However, town officials insist that the park is safe.

The Post says the asbestos abatement project is being done under the direction of Environmental Assessment and Solutions Associates, a professional abatement company, and that all asbestos levels are being monitored.

Asbestos exposure is a cause for concern, because inhaling the microscopic fibers can lead to serious lung diseases including asbestosis - a scarring of the lungs - and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs and/or the abdomen.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Midwest Generation has permission to sift the nearly 15,000 cubic yards of sand to find out if enough of the asbestos particles contained in the sand can be removed to make the sand safe for use in a state road building project.

The Tribune story says Midwest Generation’s sand pile is next door to an abandoned Johns Manville factory that made asbestos shingles and pipe for more than sixty years.

Because asbestos is hazardous at even low levels of exposure, the EPA is requiring the power company to contain the test sift operation within a tent, and to operate special fans and filters to screen out tiny asbestos particles. The company also is required to test the air daily.

Exposure to asbestos can cause asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs that impedes breathing and can cause death, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer.

If the testing process proves to successfully remove the danger of asbestos exposure from the sand, the company will have the green light from the EPA to begin a large-scale sifting operation to clean the sand.

The medical report, which was published by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, was written by Dr. Alan Whitehouse, a pulmonologist, and four other physicians, including Dr. Brad Black, also practicing at CARD. The center primarily serves Libby residents who were affected by the W.R. Grace operated vermiculite mine, which was in operation for many years, and at high capacity from the 1940s to the 1970s.

An important point in the new study is that people who had no direct relation to the mine are being diagnosed with mesothelioma. These people are affected by secondary exposure to the asbestos dust released in the mining operation, the report suggests.

The journal article examines 31 cases of mesothelioma that are linked to Libby asbestos exposure, and specifically examines 11 mesothelioma cases not previously reported to CARD. According to the report, the cases occur in non-occupationally exposed people, and appear to have resulted from exposure to contamination of the community, the surrounding forested area, and areas in proximity to the Kootenai river and the railroad tracks used to haul vermiculite.

The results of the study conclude “an epidemic of mesothelioma can likely be expected from this type of asbestos contamination over the next 20 plus years.”

According to the Daily Inter Lake report, more than 200 asbestos deaths have been confirmed in Libby, and the CARD clinic is following about 2,000 additional asbestos cases.

This report is part of an ongoing project in Libby to study the effects of asbestos on the body and to research treatment. In June, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency announced an $8 million grant to fund a study of the effects of low-level asbestos exposure, like the secondary exposure in Dr. Whitehouse’s study. The EPA study is expected to last 5 years.

This ruling affects property-related claims that could include the cost of abatement or removal, the diminution of property value, economic loss or other property-related claims cause by ZAI manufactured by Grace.

The Bar Date does not apply to asbestos property damage claims, medical monitoring claims, non-asbestos claims, settled pre-petition asbestos personal injury claims or non-settled asbestos personal injury claims. Those bar dates have passed.

According to the release, ZAI is a loose-fill, non-roll vermiculite home attic insulation that may contain naturally occurring asbestos.  It was sold from the 1920/1930s to 1984, and it was sold or manufactured by Grace under the brand name of “Zonolite Attic Insulation” and under other brand names, including: Attic Fill, House Fill, Home Insulation, Zonolite Insulating Fill, Econofil, Quiselle Insulating Fill, Sears Micro Fill, Ward’s Mineral Fill, Wickes Attic Insulation, Attic Plus, Mica Pellets Attic Insulation, Unifil and Cashway Attic Insulation.

For more information, read the complete release here, or call 1-877-465-4817 for a copy of the Bar Date Notice, ZAI Proof of Claim Form and instructions for filing a claim, or VISIT THE GRACE BANKRUPTCY CLAIMS INFORMATION SITE at www.graceclaims.com to download the form.

The stage was set for the criminal trial to begin when, on June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeals of W.R. Grace & Co. Judge Molloy signed the court order on July 9 originally setting the status hearing for Oct. 1, after receiving two notices from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to story published yesterday by Montana’s News Station.com, the CBS affiliate for the area. The hearing was later rescheduled for Oct. 24, and Molloy allowed two new defense attorneys to join the case.

The mandates from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals signal the end of the appeals process. A trial date could be set at the status hearing.

Asbestos touched the lives of everyone living in Libby, as it the mineral was used extensively throughout the town in projects like ballfields, a school running track and in people’s gardens. Hundreds of residents have died from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, and everyone is at risk of developing some form of asbestos disease in the future.

According to a report in The Western News, a publication in Libby, Mike Cirian, a remedial on-site manager with the EPA, found the 6-inch wide, 50-yard long line of vermiculite in a high-traffic area in the park, alongside the boat ramp and on the building site of a new pavilion that was slated to begin construction today.

The park was cleaned once by W.R. Grace, which owned and operated the vermiculite mining operation that is blamed for the deaths of more than 200 people from mesothelioma and asbestosis, and the asbestos-related illnesses of thousands more; once during the building of the boat ramp; and a third time by the EPA, which dug down as far as 18 inches to remove asbestos contaminated soil.

Cirian does not believe the asbestos could have come up from the soil, but has no other theories about how the material got into the park. However, officials are not ruling out the possibility that it was dumped at the site intentionally.

By the time the asbestos was identified in the park, it had been crushed and scattered by vehicles, and it is estimated that an area of 12,000 square feet must now be cleaned of potential contamination, at a cost of thousands of dollars.

City officials say anyone caught intentionally dumping hazardous asbestos will be prosecuted under a felony Criminal Mischief law.

The Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society, an environmental advocacy organization, dubbed the area “Asbestos Beach.”

This weekend, columnist Carol Marin of the Chicago Sun Times - the newspaper that initiated an investigative series about the beach back in 1997 - questioned why residents and visitors that use the six-and-a-half-mile park on the shores of Lake Michigan still do not have answers about asbestos danger at the site. Asbestos can cause mesothelioma, as well as asbestosis and other asbestos related diseases.

Marin points out that during the past 10 years, Illinois and federal officials have assured people the Illinois Beach State Park is safe, even though internal documents from the EPA indicate serious concerns about the area, and a 2006 study shows “significantly elevated” levels of asbestos at the park.

In 2007, she reports, the EPA’s Environmental Response Center conducted another test of the area. EPA personnel in haz-mat gear, including full respirators, stirred up the sand with typical beach activities like volleyball and games of Frisbee, she said, to measure the amounts of asbestos fibers released into the air. Nearly a year later, there still are no definitive answers.

Summer is in full swing, and the beach is open for business. Meanwhile the EPA acknowledges “low levels of potential asbestos exposure for recreational users,” Marin reports, but the full report will not be available until August, “when … beach season will be all but over for another year.”

Too little, too late, again?

The prison site is located off U.S. 58, east of Independence, according to the Journal report. Work on the site stopped May 9, when a contractor grading the site noticed a brownish material softer than the surrounding rock that appeared to be asbestos, the paper says. Officials then tested the material and confirmed that it is asbestos.

According to the Journal story, the prison is slated to open in 2010, and was actually ahead of schedule, so delays to deal with the asbestos shouldn’t hamper its planned completion date. However, the State hadn’t planned on the additional costs that will be accrued in the removal process. The prison is expected to create 375 jobs and an estimated payroll of $6 million.