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New Solutions

Our medical research library holds 48 studies published in New Solutions (1994–2026). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 35 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

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About the journal

  • Publisher: Sage Publications
  • Published: 1990 to the present, United States
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1048-2911 (print), 1541-3772 (electronic)
  • Its record in the NLM Catalog

2020s

  • Documenting Experiences of Black Aluminum Smelting Workers in West Badin, North Carolina: A Community-Engaged Survey Approach. C. Manley, E. Teka, P. Vasudevan, et al. 2026;36(2):211-227. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

    Abstract

    Between 1917 and 2007, Alcoa operated an aluminum smelting plant in Badin, North Carolina, resulting in hazardous occupational and environmental exposures in West Badin, a predominantly Black community. We partnered with the Concerned Citizens of West Badin Community to document the experiences of prior employees and their families. We used a community-engaged survey approach to summarize residents' workplace and community-level experiences. Fourteen interviews were coded for recurring themes. Potroom work was the most frequently reported job. Occupational exposures included asbestos, extreme heat, and dust inhalation. Additional workplace stressors included take-home exposures and racism. Most participants expressed concerns about environmental exposures as well. Health conditions most frequently reported included cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Badin residents experience cumulative impacts of occupational and environmental hazards resulting from Alcoa's operations. This survey served as a tool for documenting their experiences, identifying ongoing environmental concerns, supporting community organizing, and highlighting the resilience of the West Badin community.

  • Underestimation of Chrysotile Health Risk due to Under-ascertainment of Mesothelioma: Evidence from a Century of Connecticut's Experience with the "Magic Mineral". C. Meisenkothen. 2025;34(4):278-295. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Over a century ago, Connecticut industry began using chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile found a home in several factories that used it exclusively or predominantly. The occurrence of mesothelioma in 4 of those factories is the subject of this paper-2 have been reported previously and are updated here with new information; one was the subject of a prior internal corporate study that was never published; one is reported here for the first time. Twenty-four cases of mesothelioma have been identified among these workers, including several who had no known amphibole exposure. It is likely that additional cases of mesothelioma have been missed. The full scale of the hazard may never be completely known, but reports such as the present one add to the weight of evidence that chrysotile causes mesothelioma in humans and that the full extent of the epidemic is probably wider than retrospective studies have revealed. Continued vigilance is required.

  • Asbestos Removal Acceleration for New Jobs and Fossil Fuel Use Reduction for Public Health and Climate Readiness: A Contribution to the Revival of the Italian Economy Post-COVID-19. A. Angelini, S. Silvestri. 2022;31(4):434-440. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The Italian economy has been battered by the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic. European Union and Italian government economic recovery funds will provide special economic recovery loans aimed toward energy saving and the consequent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals. In, Italy, millions of square meters of asbestos cement (AC) roofing cover industrial and civic buildings. Removal of this asbestos containing material (ACM) would contribute to three pandemic and economic recovery objectives: job creation, reduction of greenhouse gasses (thru energy savings), and public health improvements. Though asbestos was used for its excellent thermal insulation properties, we provide calculations that demonstrate that the cement binding in AC roofing negates the asbestos insulation function. Therefore, replacing AC roofing with roofs made with alternative materials with better thermal transmission coefficients can contribute significantly to energy savings, reduce the risk of asbestos-related morbidity and mortality, and establish substantial economic activity.

  • Explaining the Invisibility of Asbestos-Related Diseases in the Taiwan Workers' Compensation System. Y. Cheng, Y.L. Huang, L.J. Lee. 2022;32(2):106-118. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Occupational asbestos exposure was prevalent in Taiwan, but asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) have rarely been recognized. We conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews with 16 patients with ARDs. All of them had worked in industries known for high asbestos exposure. However, only three patients had filed workers' compensation (WC) claims, and of them, only two patients were approved. Reasons for the low compensation rate of ARDs could be divided into institutional barriers related to the flaws of the WC system and non-institutional barriers related to the knowledge status, causal interpretation, and social situations of individual workers. The Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act passed in April 2021 has responded to the under-compensation of occupational diseases. However, the new act's effects toward improving the recognition of ARDs remain questionable. Our findings indicated that additional efforts are needed to remove non-institutional barriers hindering workers' ability to ensure their compensation rights.

  • A Review of the Talc Industry's Influence on Federal Regulation and Scientific Standards for Asbestos in Talc. T. Bird, J.E. Steffen, T.H. Tran, et al. 2021;31(2):152-169. Review PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

    Abstract

    The talc industry and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have asserted that talc has been asbestos-free since 1976 when the industry created a voluntary specification for the asbestos content of cosmetic talc. However, recent evidence reveals that cosmetic talc is not and never was asbestos-free. This narrative review examines the talc industry's role in delaying and ultimately blocking federal regulation of cosmetic talc from the 1970s to today. We review primary source material, including corporate documents released in recent litigation and FDA documents released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. Our results indicate that the talc industry exerted considerable influence over three key areas: regulatory proceedings at the FDA; testing methods and the manipulation of test results (including undisclosed results); and press coverage and the medical literature. The talc companies' actions and FDA indifference have had a lasting effect on consumer health, including the regulation of talc by other government agencies.

  • Regulated Asbestos Analysis: EPA Polarized Light Microscopy Method and the Implications for Reported Fiber Sizes. T.G. Laubenthal. 2020;30(2):83-85. Letter PubMed · Publisher

2010s

  • How to Judge Safety Crime: Lessons From the Eternit Asbestos Maxi-Trials. P. Marichalar. 2019;29(2):205-223. PubMed · Publisher

  • Commentary on "Assessment of Health Risk From Historical Use of Cosmetic Talcum Powder". D. Egilman, J. Steffen. 2018;28(3):400-409. Comment PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    In response to recent litigation, Colgate Palmolive hired Exponent to determine if various samples of their cosmetic talc products contained asbestos. Anderson et al., Exponent employees, claim to report the findings of these analyses in their paper "Assessment of Health Risk from Historical Use of Cosmetic Talcum Powder." The microscopist who reviewed the samples found four anthophyllite fibers. One of the authors of Anderson et al., Patrick Sheehan, who is not a microscopist, directed the reviewing microscopist to alter the report and add the qualification that "…this classification was inconclusive due to the small number counted." Deviations from the referenced analytical methods, however, would account for the small number of fibers counted relative to the limit of detection. Anderson et al., reported that "no asbestos fibers were detected in any of the eighteen samples analyzed" based on the report's altered conclusions.

  • The Production of Corporate Research to Manufacture Doubt About the Health Hazards of Products: An Overview of the Exponent Bakelite® Simulation Study. D. Egilman. 2018;28(2):179-201. Review PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Although corporate sponsorship of research does not necessarily lead to biased results, in some industries, it has resulted in the publication of inaccurate and misleading data. Some companies have hired scientific consulting firms to retrospectively calculate exposures to hazardous products during use that are no longer manufactured or sold. As an example, this paper reviews one such study-a litigation-generated study of Union Carbide Corporation's asbestos-containing product, Bakelite®. This analysis is based on previously secret documents, produced as a result of litigation. The study generated asbestos fiber exposure measurements which resulted in underestimates of actual exposures to create doubt about the hazards associated with manufacture and manipulation of Bakelite®.

  • Use of Anti-Warnings to Falsely Reassure Downstream Users: An Asbestos Example. D. Egilman, T. Bird, R. Wilson. 2018;28(3):515-538. Review PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Product warnings are theoretically designed to reduce injuries associated with occupational, environmental, or consumer product exposures. Unfortunately, in an effort to protect sales, some companies have produced media and information to falsely reassure their customers about the risks associated with their products. These tactics have been termed "anti-warnings." We reviewed corporate documents uncovered in litigation alongside other historical publications to ascertain the types of anti-warnings used by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) regarding their asbestos products. Our review finds that UCC went to great lengths to confuse their customers and make their particular asbestos product-which contained short-fiber, chrysotile asbestos-look safe. We discuss three primary communications methods UCC used: industry-produced publications, sales force direct communication with customers, and public speeches. These examples provide further insight into how corporations encourage uncertainty about the risks associated with their products. Understanding anti-warning methods is critical for the implementation of future policies that protect consumer, worker, and environmental health.

  • Clarence Borel. L. Reinstein, B. Bersin. 2017;26(4):622-629. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation is the 1973 landmark case that paved the way for successful litigation against the asbestos industry. Clarence Borel's granddaughter shares recollections of the reluctant man behind the court case.

  • Criminality and Asbestos in Industry. B. Castleman. 2017;26(4):557-580. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Criminal prosecutions of individuals in the asbestos industry are reviewed, particularly the case of asbestos owner-executive Stephan Schmidheiny. Italian courts sentenced Schmidheiny to sixteen to eighteen years in jail for creating an environmental disaster causing three thousand deaths. The convictions were overturned on a technicality, and a murder case against Schmidheiny has started. His firm, Eternit, made asbestos-cement building products in many countries. Schmidheiny directed a cover-up that the Italian Court of Appeal blamed for delaying the ban of asbestos in Italy by ten years. Today, the asbestos industry is a criminal industry, profiting only by minimizing its costs for the prevention and compensation of occupational and environmental illness. The asbestos industry should only be consulted by governments for the purpose of closing it and dealing with the legacy of in-place asbestos.

  • How Canada's Asbestos Industry Was Defeated in Quebec. K. Ruff. 2017;26(4):543-556. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Less than a decade ago, the Quebec asbestos industry enjoyed support from all the political parties in the Canadian House of Commons and the Quebec National Assembly, as well as from business and union organizations. Two lobby organizations (Chrysotile Institute and International Chrysotile Association) had significant global impact in promoting asbestos use and defeating asbestos ban efforts in developing countries. Quebec's two asbestos mines planned to expand operations and make Quebec the second biggest global asbestos exporter. With the aid of lobbyists, public relations consultants, and government financing, the asbestos industry came close to succeeding. The article examines how a campaign of international solidarity, involving scientific experts, asbestos victims, and health activists in Quebec, Canada, and overseas, succeeded in closing the two mines and defeating the political and social power that the Quebec asbestos industry had wielded for a century. This victory ended Canada's destructive role as global propagandist for the asbestos industry.

  • Malignant Mesothelioma in a Motor Vehicle Mechanic. C. Meisenkothen. 2017;26(4):524-542. Case report PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Case reports remain an important source of data in the debate over the carcinogenic effect of asbestos-containing automotive friction products. This report documents a case of pleural mesothelioma accompanied by asbestos bodies in the lung tissue of a career auto mechanic with no other known sources of exposure. Previously unreported historical and contemporary exposure data are also discussed in the context of providing additional support for the proposition that work with asbestos-containing automotive products presents a risk of significant exposure. While there remains a body of negative epidemiology that fails to find an increased risk of disease among auto workers, those data must be approached with caution. Many of those studies have drawn technical criticisms, which are beyond the scope of this report, but they remain a key part of the legal defense mounted by defendant-companies who are involved in asbestos-related litigation. This ongoing debate provides the context for the continued relevance of case reports such as this one, as well as the presentation of new and previously unpublished exposure data.

  • Teachers Union Organizes Members to Enforce AHERA Law--A Work in Progress. M.P. Sireci, C. Levenstein, S. Gibson. 2016;26(1):72-82. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The Massachusetts Teachers Association's Environmental Health and Safety Committee is using a number of approaches to evaluate and improve the enforcement of the U.S. Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act legislation intended to ensure the proper management of asbestos in public buildings, including schools. The committee first approached state regulators directly concerning enforcement concerns, with limited success. Next, the Massachusetts Teachers Association developed an organizing strategy and a curriculum focusing on the requirements of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act and on building a membership-run health and safety committee infrastructure in local unions. Five trainings took place throughout Massachusetts over a 2-month period in 2015. The committee implemented follow-up procedures and support for locals to continue to engage in this ongoing effort. This work illustrates that the passage of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act in 1986 was insufficient action to remediate school asbestos exposures. It is necessary for unions representing school employees to systematically hold regulators and school districts accountable for enforcement and compliance.

    © The Author(s) 2015.

  • From Awareness to Action: The Community of Sarnia Mobilizes to Protect its Workers from Occupational Disease. D. Kramer, K. McMillan, E. Gross, et al. 2015;25(3):377-410. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    An exploratory qualitative case study investigated how different sectors of a highly industrialized community mobilized in the 1990s to help workers exposed to asbestos. For this study, thirty key informants including representatives from industry, workers, the community, and local politicians participated in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The analysis was framed by a "Dimensions of Community Change" model. The informants highlighted the importance of raising awareness, and the need for leadership, social and organizational networks, acquiring skills and resources, individual and community power, holding shared values and beliefs, and perseverance. We found that improvements in occupational health and safety came from persistently communicating a clearly defined issue ("asbestos exposure causes cancer") and having an engaged community that collaborated with union leadership. Notable successes included stronger occupational health services, a support group for workers and widows, the fast-tracking of compensation for workers exposed to asbestos, and a reduction in hazardous emissions.

    © The Author(s) 2015.

  • On Corporate Accountability: Lead, Asbestos, and Fossil Fuel Lawsuits. C. Shearer. 2015;25(2):172-88. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    This paper examines the use of lawsuits against three industries that were eventually found to be selling products damaging to human heath and the environment: lead paint, asbestos, and fossil fuels. These industries are similar in that some companies tried to hide or distort information showing their products were harmful. Common law claims were eventually filed to hold the corporations accountable and compensate the injured. This paper considers the important role the lawsuits played in helping establish some accountability for the industries while also noting the limitations of the lawsuits. It will be argued that the lawsuits helped create pressure for government regulation of the industries' products but were less successful at securing compensation for the injured. Thus, the common law claims strengthened and supported administrative regulation and the adoption of industry alternatives more than they provided a means of legal redress.

    © The Author(s) 2015.

  • The four most pernicious myths in asbestos litigation: Part I: safe chrysotile and idiopathic mesothelioma. C. Meisenkothen. 2014;24(1):1-26. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The now well documented phenomenon of "doubt science" has crept into litigation generally, but has had a particularly deleterious effect in asbestos litigation, giving rise to pernicious myths that are told and re-told every day in legal briefs and in court proceedings. Defendants routinely challenge the admissibility of testimony from plaintiffs' expert witnesses when those experts testify about certain key concepts in asbestos medicine and asbestos science. Defendants boldly proclaim plaintiffs' experts' opinions to be "junk science" and seek to have them precluded regardless of how well documented, well researched, well supported and well accepted those opinions are. This has become all too routine in asbestos litigation, where defendants predictably seek to preclude testimony about medical and scientific issues that have been settled for decades and that are not legitimately disputed outside of litigation by the unbiased scientific community of national and international regulatory agencies and scientific organizations.

  • The four most pernicious myths in asbestos litigation: Part II: safe thresholds for exposure and Tyndall lighting as junk science. C. Meisenkothen. 2014;24(1):27-55. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Part I of this survey confronted the first two Most Pernicious Myths in Asbestos Litigation: the supposed harmlessness of chrysotile asbestos; and so-called idiopathic mesothelioma. Part II discusses the pernicious notions of safe exposure thresholds for asbestos and the unreliability of Tyndall lighting. Defendants' attempts to preclude plaintiffs' experts from testifying about these generally accepted scientific facts are a disservice to the legal system and to plaintiffs who have been harmed by asbestos. These defense tactics attempt to deny reality and to spin scientific facts in order to keep them from the jurors' eyes and ears. This undermines the legal system and harms the integrity of the scientific enterprise. Defendants' efforts to manufacture "controversy" over previously uncontroversial facts are bald attempts to infect the legal process with junk "doubt science." The role of this type of "doubt science" is being steadily exposed as legitimate researchers resist the degradation of their disciplines and the scientific literature by unprincipled purveyors of this insidious brand of junk science.

  • Malignant mesothelioma, airborne asbestos, and the need for accuracy in chrysotile risk assessments. C. Meisenkothen. 2013;23(2):389-405. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    A man diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma sought legal representation with the author's law firm. He worked 33 years in a wire and cable factory in the northeastern United States (Connecticut) that exclusively used chrysotile asbestos in its manufacturing process. This is the first report of mesothelioma arising from employees of this factory. This report provides additional support for the proposition that chrysotile asbestos can cause malignant mesothelioma in humans. If chrysotile risk assessments are to be accurate, then the literature should contain an accurate accounting of all mesotheliomas alleged to be caused by chrysotile asbestos. This is important not just for public health professionals but also for individuals and companies involved in litigation over asbestos-related diseases. If reports such as these remain unknown, it is probable that cases of mesothelioma among chrysotile-exposed cohorts would go unrecognized and chrysotile-using factories would be incorrectly cited as having no mesotheliomas among their employees.

  • Managing asbestos in Italy: twenty years after the ban. S. Silvestri. 2012;22(4):489-96. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Establishing an asbestos ban is not sufficient to achieve effective primary prevention. Twenty years after the Italian asbestos ban, the residual presence of asbestos-containing materials, estimated to be 80 percent of the quantity existing in 1992, may still be the cause of negative effects to the health of workers and the general population. The so called "asbestos way-out" at this rate of cleaning up, roughly 1 percent per year, is too slow, and new policy to re-discuss the entire process is needed. Encouragement of the owners with tax relief when the substitution of the asbestos roofs is performed with photovoltaic panels, as well as reducing the cost of removal planning local landfills may be the keys to accelerate the cleanup process.

  • Ban asbestos phenomenon: the winds of change. L. Kazan-Allen. 2011;21(4):629-36. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The shift in the public perception of asbestos from "magic mineral" to "deadly dust" owes much to the mobilization by asbestos victims, ban-asbestos activists, health and safety campaigners, and individuals concerned about the global asbestos death toll. Cognizant of the proven links between asbestos and disease, governments of industrialized countries banned further use, as a result of which consumption shifted to developing countries; between 2000 and 2010, asbestos use in Asia grew dramatically. In the face of a powerful industry lobby, members of the ban-asbestos network have lobbied national governments to outlaw asbestos use, challenged industry propaganda, and cooperated with social partners on coordinated multinational initiatives. Major developments in the campaign to end the mining, sale, and use of asbestos which have taken place over the last 50 years are delineated in this paper.

  • Deconstructing a state-of-the-art review of the asbestos brake industry. D.S. Egilman, E.L. Ardolino, S. Howe, et al. 2011;21(4):545-71. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    State of the art is a legal concept that describes what was known as knowable by experts including manufacturer's state of knowledge about the potential hazards of their product(s) at a point in time. In 2004, Paustenbach et al. published a state-of-the-art review that describes the development of knowledge about asbestos hazards to brake mechanics performing asbestos brake installation and maintenance. Paustenbach et al.'s review, however, omits important pieces of corporate knowledge, dismisses several historical scientific conclusions and ignores the way experts have applied the results of scientific research to protect workers and consumers handling asbestos brakes. By taking their state-of-the-art review out of the legal liability context, Paustenbach et al. create a misleading version of events that fails to properly address the question of what asbestos brake manufacturers knew or should have known about the potential hazards of their brakes to mechanics over time. Without proper presentation of this information, judges and juries cannot adequately assess whether these companies had a duty to warn or take other action to prevent injury to those exposed to their asbestos brakes.

  • "Serving two masters"--an interview with school teacher and union organizer Debra Askwith. M.K. Scammell, E. Rodrigues. 2010;20(1):145-58. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Debra Askwith is a teacher, union member, and environmental health and safety activist in the public schools of Springfield, Massachusetts. In the following interview, she talks about her experiences organizing around the right to public information as a teacher and a union member. Working with the assistance of lawyers, she has learned to maneuver in the hierarchy of city and school administrators as well as the city's department of education, finding allies and meeting resistance in a variety of places. She has worked on asbestos, mold, indoor air quality, infectious disease, and civil rights to protect all students and workers.

  • Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban. Collegium Ramazzini. 2010;20(2):257-66. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable. When evidence of the carcinogenicity of asbestos became incontrovertible, concerned parties, including the Collegium Ramazzini, called for a universal ban on the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos in all countries around the world [1]. Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries [2], and safer products have replaced many materials that once were made with asbestos. Nonetheless, a large number of countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products. And still today in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos continues to be permitted, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. To protect the health of all people in the world-industrial workers, construction workers, women and children, now and in future generations-the Collegium Ramazzini calls again today on all countries of the world, as we have repeatedly in the past to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed. New Solutions is one of ten international journals that have agreed to publish the Repeat Call in order to bring the message to a wide readership.

2000s

  • Financial disclosure and toxic products: encouraging wall street to anticipate product risk and exercise precaution. S. Lewis, M. Byrne. 2009;19(1):31-58. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Amidst discussion by policymakers about how regulators' failure to ensure disclosure of risks contributed to the current financial crisis, we assess how emerging product toxicity risks are addressed in companies' financial reports. Will corporations blindside investors with "the next asbestos?" Existing disclosures are found lacking in the specificity needed to forewarn of liabilities and reputational damage from the use of potentially harmful materials-from nanotechnologies, to asthmagens, to perfluorinated compounds. Improved standards could protect investors while also enhancing corporate incentives to use safer materials. Reforms by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board are recommended.

  • "Make history but don't forget the past". G. Swayn. 2008;18(3):379-82. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

  • Asbestos disease in Australia: looking forward and looking back. A.D. LaMontagne, C.E. Hunter, D. Vallance, et al. 2008;18(3):361-73. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    This article provides an overview and analysis of recent developments in policy and practice in relation to asbestos disease in Australia. It complements three other concurrent publications in this issue representing important contributions of people and organizations toward addressing the health and social impacts of Australia's asbestos disease epidemic. The campaign to "Make James Hardie Pay" as well as the efforts of workers and advocates are profiled in this article as well as in this issue's Documents and Voices sections. Discussion of recent developments in asbestos-related disease research and mesothelioma surveillance is followed by articulation of the comprehensive public and social health response that is needed to fully engage and address the asbestos disease legacy and to apply lessons learned to help revive the currently waning societal commitment to occupational health and safety in Australia and elsewhere.

  • James Hardie asbestos victims compensation summary. Australian Council of Trade Unions. 2008;18(3):383-90. PubMed · Publisher

  • The Latrobe Valley: perspectives on asbestos issues. V. Hamilton. 2008;18(3):375-8. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The texts of two public addresses by a community advocate, Vicki Hamilton, and former asbestos worker, Geoff Swayn, are profiled in this issue's Voices section. Each articulates, in their own words, the need for continuing efforts to address the health and social impacts of Australia's ongoing asbestos disease epidemic, including the need for healing at the community and societal levels that parallel the needs of affected individuals and families. Their messages are relevant to similarly affected communities and societies internationally, particularly in relation to the need to reinvigorate societal commitment to occupational health and safety in Australia and elsewhere.

  • Asbestos: immoral fiber, licentious interests. C. Levenstein. 2007;17(4):275-8. Editorial PubMed · Publisher

  • Environmental policies, politics, and community risk perception: case study of community contamination in Casper, Wyoming. M. Tajik, K. Gottlieb, N. Lowndes, et al. 2007;17(4):345-61. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Objectives: We identify and explain factors that affected a community's perception of risk due to extensive industrial contamination and people's distrust of government agencies regarding the environmental investigations.

    Methods: Intrinsic bounded case study methodology was used to conduct research about extensive environmental contaminations due to activities of an oil refinery in North Casper, Wyoming, and the citizens' response. Data were collected from multiple sources that included public testimonies, observations, public hearings and meetings minutes, newspaper articles, archived records obtained from federal and state environmental and health agencies, as well as industry records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

    Findings: The overarching theme that emerged was lack of trust due to several critical events and factors such as no response or delay in response time to community concerns, lack of transparency, perceived cover up, vague and fragmented communication by government and state officials, perception of pro-industry stance, and perceived unfair treatment.

    Discussion And Conclusion: People's perception of environmental risks and their willingness to accept official explanations and outcomes of environmental investigations are strongly affected by their direct experiences with government agencies and the evidence of influence the powerful industries exert over relevant investigations. The government cannot successfully address public and community concerns about environmental health impacts of contaminations and in turn the public perception of risk unless it adopts and implements policies, procedures, and protocols that are clear, timely, transparent, and free from industry influence.

  • Examination of the health effects of asbestos and methods of mitigating such impacts: testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing. L. Reinstein. 2007;17(4):377-9. PubMed · Publisher

  • Science is not sufficient: Irving J. Selikoff and the asbestos tragedy. J. McCulloch, G. Tweedale. 2007;17(4):293-310. Historical article PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    Professor Irving J. Selikoff (1915-1992) was America's foremost medical expert on asbestos-related diseases between the 1960s and early 1990s. He was also well known to the public for his media appearances on the burgeoning asbestos problem. Yet his reputation has been strikingly mixed. On the one hand, he has been portrayed as a mischief maker and irresponsible demagogue, who exaggerated the risks of asbestos and so destroyed an industry; on the other, as a pioneer in asbestos epidemiology, whose landmark studies of insulation (and other) workers demonstrated the severity of a modern occupational and public health tragedy. Drawing upon unprecedented access to the Selikoff archive at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, this article demonstrates that the most serious criticisms of Selikoff are either ill-founded or simply false. It also shows that Selikoff, in the highly politicized world of asbestos science, was a far more complex and conservative individual than previous studies have suggested.

  • ILO to promote global asbestos ban. R. O'Neill. 2006;16(4):449-53. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The International Labour Office (ILO) is to pursue a global ban on asbestos, the world's biggest ever industrial killer. The landmark decision came with the adoption of a resolution on 14 June 2006 at the ILO conference in Geneva and followed a high level union campaign. Rory O'Neill asked Jukka Takala, director of ILO's Safe Work program, what ILO will now do to help make the world asbestos-free.

  • 'Gold standard' for remediation of WTC contamination. Technical Working Group. 2004;14(3):199-217. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The events of September 11, 2001 and thereafter resulted in arguably the worst environmental disaster in the history of New York City. Particulate matter and combustion by-products containing asbestos, lead, mercury, dioxin, PAHs, and other toxic substances, not only affected rescue and recovery workers but also infiltrated thousands of residences and workplaces. Government agencies did not acknowledge responsibility for residential indoor environmental quality until eight months later, and still have not accepted responsibility for indoor environmental quality in commercial or government buildings. In May 2002, 200 representatives from 38 community, labor, environmental, and public health organizations met to discuss unmet post-9/11 public health needs. They established a technical working group to press the Environmental Protection Agency to expand and improve its proposals for the cleanup of Lower Manhattan. This 2002 document, "The 'Gold Standard' for Remediation of WTC Contamination," articulates the environmental health concerns and suggestions of grassroots organizations active in 9/11 response efforts at that time.

  • Confronting the continuing problem of asbestos in Scotland: report on a Scottish public sector initiative for the 21st century. T. Gorman, A. Watterson. 2004;14(1):77-98. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    This article outlines a Scottish initiative for tackling asbestos in local authority (municipal) buildings. It explores issues surrounding municipal asbestos usage, financial costs, health and safety management and control and also support systems to assist asbestos victims and their families. Some solutions are offered to address these issues.

  • WTO confidential: the case of asbestos. B. Castleman. 2003;13(1):73-85. PubMed · Publisher

    Abstract

    The World Trade Organization (WTO), established in 1995, adjudicates "trade disputes" between member nations in cases with human rights, cultural, environmental, and public health significance. Throughout the resolution process and even after a case's conclusion, little of what happens is made accessible to the public. However, it is one thing to criticize the WTO for its lack of transparency from outside the process and another to critically examine what was withheld from disclosure and what dangers that presents. This is the inside story from a scientific adviser to one party in a WTO case, who analyzes what happened from a public health point of view. The analysis concludes that the public health justification for banning asbestos was accepted in the end by WTO economists, despite the WTO's bias in favor of the party (Canada) making the free trade challenge (to public health legislation), despite the WTO's lack of expertise in science, medicine, engineering, and public health, and despite important erroneous statements made to the WTO under the cover of confidentiality. The case nevertheless illustrates that the WTO's threat to national sovereignty could never withstand the light of day if the limitations and dangers of the process were open for all to see.

1990s

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