On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:27:39 +0100, "The Todal"
wrote:


"Peter Parry" wrote in message
.. .

It is 10-15% Chrysotile - white asbestos - you breath dozens of
fibres of it every day. The only recorded harm caused by Chrysotile
is amongst those who have worked in atmospheres laden with it for
decades.

Absolutely wrong. Chrysotile causes mesothelioma.

Did I say differently?

I don't know quite where
you believe harm is "recorded" but there are numerous claims every year from
plumbers, carpenters and decorators who have contracted mesothelioma due to
exposure 10 or more years ago to (relatively) small quantities of chrysotile
eg when sawing panels or removing asbestos guttering.

Claims encouraged by opportunistic lawyers should not be confused
with facts. There are no cases where a link between occasional
exposure to chrysotile and mesotheliomas have been shown. There is a
pretty standard dose/risk relationship at high (industrial) exposure
levels and the mesothelioma rate increases both with severity and
length (in years) of exposure.

From the document you referenced:-

"It has been estimated that the annual incidence of developing a
mesothelioma in persons with no history of asbestos exposure is about
1 per million. In the majority of cases there is good evidence of
exposure to asbestos and the risk is proportional to the duration of
exposure. The incidence is highest in those who have worked directly
with asbestos. However, the degree of exposure necessary to cause
mesothelioma is considerably less than that associated with
asbestosis and lung cancer, and it may be a risk for people who may
have had regular contact through washing workers dust-laden clothes,
or those who have lived close to asbestos factories in the past."

The epidemic is a growing one.

The epidemic, much to the chagrin of compensation lawyers who have
found it a nice little earner, is declining faster than expected. The
total number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain is now
predicted to peak somewhere between 1,950 and 2,450 annually between
the years 2011 and 2015 although 2004 data may lower this estimation.

Of those deaths the vast majority are people who were past shipyard
workers, involved in railway carriage and locomotive building or in
the construction industry.

As one American lawyer remarked "Asbestos litigation has become a
malignant enterprise which mostly consists of a massive
client-recruitment effort that accounts for as much as 90 percent of
all claims currently being generated, supported by baseless medical
evidence which is not generated by good-faith medical practice, but
rather is primarily a function of the compensation paid, and by
claimant testimony scripted by lawyers...".

http://reason.com/9806/col.olson.shtml is also worth looking at.
Possibly the UK compensation industry is marginally more honest.


--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/