Support for a ban on asbestos in America continues to grow, with the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute adding its voice to the many who are calling for a complete ban on asbestos-containing products.

The Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute is a non-profit corporation of doctors, patients, and advocates that advocate research and other measures that can help eradicate diseases of the heart, lungs, and blood. The PHLBI itself conducts research on mesothelioma at the Punch Worthington Research Laboratory, located at the UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine in California.

According to the PHLBI’s latest press release, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s draft bill is the best way of addressing the possibility of a true asbestos ban in this country (The “Ban Asbestos in America Act” of 2007 and “Draft Legislation to Ban Asbestos In Products,” 2008).

The PHLBI also rejects the “less than one percent” exemption that currently allows the use of asbestos as long as it comprises less than one percent of a product’s weight, saying that the one percent rule “perpetuate[s] the misery of the asbestos disease epidemic and is indefensible on public health policy grounds.”

Asbestos, says the PHLBI, “is responsible for the worst occupational health epidemic in our country’s history,” and the one percent exemption is “exemption is a stark reminder of the asbestos industry’s dark history of fabricating scientific research, stifling work safety regulation, and putting profits over people.”

The organization fully supports the House Committee’s draft bill as “the first federal legislation that recognizes what scientists have known for decades: there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. The committee print’s broad ban also reinforces the fact that there is no scientific or public health basis for allowing the one-percent exemption.”

In addition, the PHLBI points towards the “proven track record” of statutory toxin bans, such as those on PCBs and DDT.

The PHLBI supports taking asbestos ban legislation a step further, suggesting that legislation should include further funding for research on asbestos-related diseases. “A ban must be accompanied by significant resources for public awareness, for better treatment and for finding a cure.”

Provisions for research, says the organization, should establish a peer review grant program for funding asbestos research, fund a database, registry, and tissue bank, create an asbestos public awareness and surveillance program, and fund centers for research and treatment across the country.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.