Asbestos Books

Beyond the Factory Gates: Asbestos And Health in Twentieth Century America Beyond the Factory Gates examines the issue of asbestos and health in the USA between the early 1900's to the mid-1970s. Areas covered include the emergence of medical concern about the three fatal diseases related to asbestos (asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma); the actions of the US Navy (the main consumer of asbestos-based insulation products); the response of the federal government before and after enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970; and the roles of organized labour and the asbestos industry.

The book provides an important insight into occupational health and its regulation in twentieth century America, and is original in several ways. First, there is no satisfactory history of asbestos, health and medicine in the USA - a major gap in the literature. Second, no previous publication has examined the asbestos issue 'beyond the factory gates' in a non-manufacturing context and explored the complex interactions between organised labour, the US Government, business corporations and the US navy. Finally, Beyond the Factory Gates avoids the one-sided, anti-business interpretations that predominate much of the existing literature. It accepts that the history of asbestos is in many ways a human tragedy, but it rejects simplistic, universalised arguments that this has been a tragedy with a cast only villains, dupes and victims.

Settled Asbestos Dust Sampling and Analysis Settled Asbestos Dust Sampling and Analysis compiles the most significant data on asbestos in settled dust. This ready reference presents an analysis of settled dusts and surface particles of all sizes for asbestosthat is useful for qualitative and quantitative assessment and helps to determine the source of fibers. The main scope of this reference includes sample collection, sample analyses, and interpretation of settled dust data, as well as the use of such data for purposes including asbestos abatement projects and in-place management programs. Sections on lead and other particulates are also included.

Asbestos Litigation: Costs and Compensation Analyzes the costs and compensation paid for asbestos personal-injury claims and discussess such issues as the current state of asbestos litigation in the United States, the costs of compensation, the effects if litigation in the businesses, and theevolving character of litigation.

Magic Mineral to Killer Dust: Turner & Newall and the Asbestos Hazard Asbestos was once known as the 'magic mineral' because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1970s, it has become a notorious and feared 'killer dust' that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that will continue for many years.

Mesothelioma is a global problem, its incidence is rising in Europe, and it is a major health problem in the USA and other parts of the world, largely related to the previous use of asbestos products. Diagnosis, which rests on the pathology, is very difficult because of its diverse appearances and the potential for other diseases to mimic it.

This monograph has been assembled by an international group of experts with a wealth of experience from France, UK, USA, Australia and Canada to aid in pathological diagnosis. In all these countries, the disease poses significant health problems. This book deals with clinical, radiological, epidemiological, molecular, and histopathological aspects of the disease. Tumors of the pleural, pericardial, peritoneal cavities as well as the ovary and tunica vaginalis are considered. Differential diagnoses of serosal-based lesions are fully discussed and the use of immunohistochemical stains is explained. Plentiful illustrations give further aid to diagnosis

An essential read for all diagnostic pathologists as well as general pathologists, who are sometimes required to diagnose the disease at biopsy or post mortem. The book will be also invaluable to members of the medical and legal professions who are involved with various aspects of this disease.

The Citizens' Guide to Geologic Hazards: A Guide to Understanding Geologic Hazards Including Asbestos, Radon, Swelling Soils, Earthquakes, Volcanoes If you have wondered about the actual dangers of asbestos, radon, earthquakes, etc., that are mentioned but not explained very well in the news, then this book is certainly for you. The book was commissioned by the AIPG to give readers knowledge that will save lives and dollars. It explains geologic hazards, the risks these hazards pose, and how professional geologists help to mitigate these risks. The book was written for non-scientists, especially planners, contractors, homeowners, elected officials, insurance underwriters, lenders and financiers, realtors, science teachers, and students. Although geologists have the knowledge that can help reduce the risks, the value of this knowledge will increase greatly when the majority of citizens also understand the hazards and can upgrade public policies that will guarantee that available knowledge is used.

Estimating Future Claims: Case Studies from Mass Tort and Product Liability This book provides a study of past, present and emerging mass torts with practical information drawn from examples such as asbestos. A must read for plaintiff and defense attorneys, judges, insurance and reinsurance company claims managers, risk managers, brokers, actuarials and executives, this book will help them:

- Identify key data and assumptions necessary at each stage of the estimation process;

- Learn how the incidence and prevalence of a condition is converted into claims;

- Assess reserve and settlement trusts for financial planning and company insulation; and

"It's shocking to me that hundreds of thousands of people are dying of asbestos-related disease across this country but most people don't know a thing about it," says Chris Weis, an asbestos coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Medical evidence dating back to 1899 has shown that asbestos is a slow but steady killer, even though world governments, including our own, and the popular media have long bought into the idea that a little asbestos won't hurt you. In fact, a single microscopic spear-shaped asbestos fiber lodged in a victim's lung can cause myriad fatal reactions. Physicians estimate that exposure to asbestos will eventually kill millions of Americans. They will die of asbestosis, mesothelioma, tremolite poisoning, or cancer of the esophagus, colon, or stomach.

In 1989, the EPA finally did ban the manufacture, importation, processing, and distribution of commercial asbestos-- but the ban didn't hold. Asbestos is big business, rivaling tobacco in its profitability. By 1991, powerful corporate lobbyists had succeeded in having the ban overturned. Today, asbestos remains an ingredient in more than three thousand products on sale here in the United States and many more that are exported to developing nations around the globe.

In Fatal Deception, Michael Bowker details the gritty struggle for justice in Libby, Montana, site of the most lethal environmental disaster in U.S. history. Bowker also tracks the cover-up that has led to the exposure of more than 100 million Americans to the potentially lethal fibers that still exist in countless homes and in more than a million public buildings and offices. Among these are the World Trade Center, which contained hundreds of thousands of pounds of asbestos. Bowker makes the case that the owners of the vermiculite mine in Libby, and the asbestos industry in general, took terrible advantage of employees, who rarely were told of their peril.

At least fifty American companies have already filed for bankruptcy due to asbestos lawsuits, and jury awards by some estimates may reach a staggering $200 billion. By establishing the serious threat of asbestos once and for all, Fatal Deception is an urgent appeal to cut our collective losses and ban asbestos now.

Forecasting Product Liability Claims: Epidemiology and Modeling in the Manville Asbestos Case (Statistics for Biology and Health) This volume presents a rigorous account of statistical forecasting efforts that led to the successful resolution of the Johns-Manville asbestos litigation. This case, taking 12 years to reach settlement, is expected to generate nearly 500,000 claims at a total nominal value of over $34 billion. The forecasting task, to project the number, timing, and nature of claims for asbestos-related injuries from a set of exposed persons of unknown size, is a general problem: the models in this volume can be adapted to forecast industry-wide asbestos liability. More generally, because the models are not overly dependent on the U.S. legal system and the role of asbestos as a dangerous/defective product, this volume will be of interest in other product liability cases, as well as similar forecasting situations for a range of insurable or compensable events. The volume stresses the iterative nature of model building and the uncertainty generated by lack of complete knowledge of the injury process. This uncertainty is balanced against the Court's need for a definitive settlement, and the volume addresses how these opposing principles can be reconciled. The volume is written for a broad audience of actuaries, biostatisticians, demographers, economists, epidemiologists, environmental health scientists, financial analysts, industrial-risk analysts, occumpational health analysts, product liability analysts, and statisticians. The modest prerequisites include basic concepts of statistics, calculus, and matrix algebra. Care is taken that readers without specialized knowledge in these areas can understand the rationale for specific applications of advanced methods. As a consequence, this volume will be an indispensable reference for all whose work involves these topics. Eric Stallard, A.S.A., M.A.A.A., is Research Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Demographic Studies at Duke University. He is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries. He serves on the American Academy of Actuaries Committees on Long Term Care and Social Insurance. He also serves on the society of Actuaries' Long Term Care Experience Committee. His research interests include modelling and forecasting for medical demography and health actuarial practice. He was the 1996 winner of the National Institute on Aging's James A. Shannon Director's Award. Kenneth G. Manton, Ph.D., is Research Professor, Research Director, and Director of the Center for Demographic Studies at Duke University and Medical Research Professor at Duke University Medical Center's Department of Community and Family Medicine. Dr. Manton is also a Senior Fellow of the Duke University Medical Center's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. His research interests include mathematical models of human aging, mortality, and chronic disease. He was the 1990 recipient of the Mindel C. Sheps Award in Mathematical Demography presented by the Population Association of America; and in 1991 he received the Allied-Signal Inc. Achievement Award in Aging administred by the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging. Joel E. Cohen, Ph.D., Dr. P.H., is Professor of Populations, and Head of the Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller University. He also is Professor of Populations at Columbia University. His research interests include the demography, ecology, epidemiology, and social organization of human and non-human populations, and related mathematical concepts. In 1981, he was elected Fellow of the MacArthur and Guggenheim Foundations. He was the 1992 recipient of the Mindel C. Sheps Award in Mathematical Demography presented by the Population Association of America; and in 1994, he received the Distinguished Statistical Ecologist Award at the Sixth International Congress of Ecology.

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