International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. For a PDF copy of the file you may download from the journal page; a text copy in Microsoft word is HERE.
A new paper on the Mineralogical and exposure determinants of pulmonary fibrosis among Quebec chrysotile miners and millers has been published online by the
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. For a PDF copy of the file you may download from the journal page; a text copy in Microsoft word is HERE.
EPA has reported the results of an active air sampling done in the area in October of 2004. Our own presentation of lung-retained tremolite fibres in area pets (see below) was presented at the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. It is now online on their website (and in print on page A818 of the Abstract Volume (Supplement to the April number of volume 171) of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. You can click here to see a copy. Many recent newspaper articles on the subject have also appeared in the Sacramento Bee and elsewhere (you will have to register with the site and search for stories about "asbestos".
The important point is made vis-a-vis Libby Montana - the risk in terms at least of numbers of cases of future mesothelioma seems much greater in Western El Dorado County, based on the larger population there.
The risk in Libby and in El Dorado can be estimated by reference to McDonald et al. (Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2004;61:363-366) as follows:
"over a lifetime of, say, 50 years, an ambient exposure level of 0.1 f/ml would imply under this model an excess risk of 3.2% in all-cause mortality (RR=1.032)— a not insignificant impact. Exposures of this magnitude may indeed be relevant to the residents of Libby, Montana and perhaps even in some construction areas in northern California".
A new Official Statement of the American Thoracic Society titled Diagnosis and Initial Management of Nonmalignant Diseases Related to Asbestos has been released and published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. This Statement, which replaces the 1986 ATS statement and has been worked on by the authors since 2001, deals with diagnosis and management of non-malignant diseases only. It has been much awaited and has already engendered much discussion among interested scientists. You can download your copy by CLICKING HERE (WARNING: LARGE FILE!) or by going to the relevant page of the ATS website which has all Statements from the Environmental and Occupational Health Assembly,
as well as the 1990 statement on HEALTH EFFECTS OF TREMOLITE , which is currently being updated.
RECENT ASBESTOS REPORTS COMMISSIONED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
INSPQ on their web site offers the following summary rationale for the production and issuance of these reports:
In 1997, in light of international developments with respect to asbestos, particularly after its banning in France, Quebec’s ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (department of health and social services) set up a Comité aviseur sur l’amiante (asbestos advisory committee). The aim of this committee was to make recommendations about appropriate measures to inform the public and to protect public health in relation to the asbestos situation in Quebec. The advisory committee then created two sub-committees: the first to document asbestos exposure and the second to examine the epidemiology of asbestos-related diseases in Quebec. The sub-committee on exposure was mandated to assess the pertinence and the feasibility of assessing asbestos exposure in the general population, particularly in public buildings such as schools. The sub-committee on epidemiology was mandated to review epidemiological studies available in Quebec on mesothelioma, pulmonary cancers, and asbestosis; evaluate the trends of these diseases; compare data from Quebec to those of other regions; and summarize current scientific knowledge on the effects of asbestos on health. Each sub-committee produced a report, the summaries and recommendations of which are presented here.
The ENGLISH PUBLICATIONS PAGE of the INSPQ has an ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF A SUMMARY OF THESE TWO REPORTS .
FULL English translations of both the 
Epidemiology Report
and the Report of the Sub-committee on Exposure titled
PLEASE NOTE: This material is copyright and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes, although non-commercial use is permitted provided the full source material(s) are cited. See the publications for details; PAPER COPIES OF ALL REPORTS CAN BE ORDERED by email or telephone.
ASBESTOS FIBRES IN INDOOR AND OUTDOOR AIR - THE SITUATION IN QUEBEC have now been published.
Please note as well that ONLY translations obtained from INSPQ are official, and any other translation is unacceptable and unlawful; use of the official INSPQ documents and official INSPQ translations should be governed by the copyright notices within the publications, each of which bears an ISBN publication number.
"EPA’s current assessment of asbestos toxicity is based primarily on an asbestos assessment completed in 1986, and EPA’s assessment has not changed substantially since that time. The 1986 assessment considers all mineral forms of asbestos and all asbestos fiber sizes (i.e., all fibers longer than 5 micrometers) to be of equal carcinogenic potency. However, since 1986, there have been substantial improvements in asbestos measurement techniques and in the understanding of how asbestos exposure contributes to disease. To incorporate the knowledge gained over the last 17 years into the agency’s toxicity assessment for asbestos, EPA oversaw the development of a revised methodology for conducting risk assessments of asbestos. The proposed risk assessment methodology distinguishes between fiber sizes and fiber types in estimating potential health risks related to asbestos exposure."
A peer review expert panel considered the above-mentioned "revised methodology" at the February 2003 workshop and the proceedings and appendices were published May 30, 2003 as EPA Contract Number 68-C-98-148, Work Assignment 2003-05, prepared by Eastern Research Group, Inc. (see DISCLAIMER). This "Peer Consultation Workshop On a Proposed Asbestos Cancer Risk Assessment" is located on the web on two separate subsites of the epa.gov website;
a PERMANENT COPY WITH PDF FILES HERE; as well as
A copy on the OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE (OSWER) HERE.
The MAIN BODY OF THE REPORT IS ALSO ARCHIVED HERE. To access and view the ARCHIVED APPENDICES TO THE REPORT, CLICK HERE.
Following this peer review the authors of the proposed methodology for EPA prepared a "Final Draft" guidance document for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20460; EPA # 9345.4-06; October 2003). This DRAFT GUIDANCE DOCUMENT titled FINAL DRAFT: TECHNICAL SUPPORT DOCUMENT FOR A PROTOCOL TO ASSESS ASBESTOS-RELATED RISK" is archived in two parts here. The first five chapters can be viewed by clicking HERE. The final chapters (six to nine)are archived HERE.
APPENDICES to this report (five in number) are archived HERE.
Alternatively the files from EPA # 9345.4-06 may be accessed on the relevant EPA OSWER SITE FROM HERE OR from the US GOVERNMENT PERMANENT ACCESS SITE HERE.
From June 12-13 2003, EPA held a separate Asbestos Mechanisms of Toxicity Workshop in Chicago, Illinois. According to EPA, "The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the molecular induction of asbestos related disease, lung/pleural pathogenesis, and the extrapolation of a dose response relationship". See the website for details and documents posted. A summary report "documented areas of general agreement among the panelists or areas where a clear consensus did not exist".
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The "Report on the Expert Panel on Health Effects of Asbestos and Synthetic Vitreous Fibers: The Influence of Fiber Length"
has been released.
This report, produced by an expert panel for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, may be reviewed or downloaded from the relevant page of the CDC website by clicking here.
The Seventh International Conference on Mesothelioma of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group
A brief summary is available ONLINE HERE.
A brief report on the sixth meeting in December 2002 in Perth, AU is copied from the "Pleural Newsletter" HERE.
A SUMMARY OF THE 5TH IMIG MEETING, held from 5-8 October 1999 at Stoke Rochford Hall, Stoke Rochford, Grantham, UK, is ONLINE HERE.
Look occasionally at the website of IMIG http://www.imig.org for updates. The web site is currently being updated and much content appears to be missing (Sept. 2005). The Eighth meeting is to be held in the USA in 2006.
McGill School of Environment:
Year 2000 Undergraduate Student Project on Magnola Magnesium plant at Asbestos, Quebec
Year 2001 Undergraduate Student Project on ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS: Use of Soil Analysis in Park Extension, Montreal
Year 2002 Undergraduate Student Project on a BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN: for a beautiful site on the upper Ottawa River donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada
Year 2003 Undergraduate Student Project on Montreal Sewage Overflow: HEALTH IMPACTS