ADAO Leadership Testified Before U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works as Part of Expert Panel on Effects of Asbestos
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007.
Leading members of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an organization dedicated to serving as the voice of asbestos victims, testified this past June 12 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) as part of an expert panel during a hearing entitled: "An Examination of the Health Effects of Asbestos and Methods of Mitigating Such Impacts."
ADAO panelists included Executive Director and Co-Founder, Linda Reinstein and Science Advisory Board Co-Chair Richard A. Lemen, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., Former Director of Division of Standards Development and Technology Transfer, Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS (ret.), Rear Admiral, USPHS (ret.). The hearing examined the current state of science concerning the health effects of asbestos and potential actions to address those impacts. Other witnesses included Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and additional national experts on asbestos and public health.
According to Ms. Reinstein in her testimony:
"Most Americans trust that their air, soil and water are safe from toxic contaminants — but as victims, we know the truth. For a century, asbestos exposure had been linked to incurable diseases, yet we continue to face an enormous man-made public health crisis…. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared asbestos as a human carcinogen thirty years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Labor Organization (ILO) agree – there is no safe level of asbestos exposure…. It is time to eliminate asbestos exposure, while simultaneously investing in research for a cure and improved treatments…. We applaud Senator Patty Murray for the Ban Asbestos in America Act, and hope that this is only the start of a ban across the globe."
Dr. Lemen explained in his testimony:
"Our modern knowledge of asbestos usage and asbestos-related disease began in the early 1900s, with reports of lung diseases among asbestos workers in the United Kingdom as well as the United States. By 1930, the disease asbestosis was well established as a lung disease contracted from exposures to asbestos. Unfortunately, by the mid-1930s it was suspected that, in addition to asbestosis, cancer may also result from exposure to asbestos. Today we know that various cancers, including lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and mesothelioma are all causally associated from exposure to asbestos. I cannot tell any of you, on this Committee, why some will develop asbestosis or other asbestos-related cancers and why others won’t. But what I can tell you is that asbestos-induced diseases are preventable."
About Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims a united voice to help ensure that their rights are fairly represented and protected, and raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and the often deadly asbestos related diseases. ADAO is funded through voluntary contributions and staffed by volunteers. For more information visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
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