Nevada health officials dismayed with asbestos find
By Deborah Blum, New York Times
For the past few years, the geologists Brenda Buck and Rodney Metcalf have combed the wild terrain of Southern Nevada, analyzing its stony dunes and rocky outcroppings — and to their dismay, tallying mounting evidence of a landscape filled with asbestos.
Asbestos occurs naturally in many parts of the country, mostly in the West but also along some mountain ranges in the East. But in Nevada, the scientists found, natural erosion and commercial development were sending the fibers into the wind.
Worried about the possible health risks, Buck and Metcalf, professors of geoscience at UNLV, reached out to experts in asbestos-related diseases. With data from Nevada’s cancer registry, an epidemiologist prepared a preliminary report that outlined what she felt was a troubling pattern of mesothelioma — a cancer often related to asbestos exposure — among residents of the affected areas.
But if the scientists expected to be applauded by state officials for their initiative, they were mistaken.
Upon learning of the report, the Nevada Department of Health forced the epidemiologist, Francine Baumann of the University of Hawaii, to withdraw a presentation of the findings at a scientific conference and revoked her access to the state cancer registry. Metcalf and Buck offered to meet with state officials but say they were rebuffed.
Someone here is going to label this as some sort of environmentalist overreach. I can pretty much guarantee that they’ve never watched a friend die of mesothelioma.
The state rock of California is Serpentine; which is full of asbestos. For generations, people who had horse property used crushed serpentine for the ground of their arenas. Working horses, kicking up asbestos dust. . . most of them did not die of mesothelioma, so there’s no reason to panic. Sure, care should be taken. But don’t freak out.
When digging deeper into this article and related links I could find no absolute numbers only percentages and ratios which have no meaning without actual numbers.
Biasness , dishonesty, and lying (not reporting the whole pertinent truth) are so typical of the of so-called scientists and the left-wing media and sometimes right wing media.
And no one does it better than the NYT which this article linked to.
Interesting. The State of Nevada denies access to scientists who are researching the natural existence of asbestos and it’s possible correlation to mesothelioma and it becomes a biased, dishonest and lying plot of the left-wing media… I don’t quite understand your point, legal. Could the lack of “actual numbers” have any relationship to the denied access?
No dumbfounded, but they very well could indicate the seriousness of the problem or if a problem exists.
Notice they didn’t divulge or even imply the number of victims of mesothelioma. Why?
There are other minerals with similar crystal configuration that could also be linked to lung disease.
It is the earth and we can’t put fences around every little thing we recognize as possibly harmful.
Are we going to fence off half dome and keep the climbers off of it? Nope, Same thing here.
I believe several issues are working here: No doubt there is asbestos in the area (as in many places in the world). Development is planned where powerful people do not want any negative news. The Nevada government needs the tax base and revenue not problems.
I was just stunned by the picture of the two geologists in full face respirators and moon suits. What a joke that is….I think their prime goal is to get their names in various documents and news hoping for cushy consulting contracts.
I believe this should be treated like cigarettes; put up signs on roads entering the area warning of the possibility of exposure to asbestos, a known carcinogen, and let the people decide just like smokers do, and just like anyone pumping gas into their cars in CA are warned about the dangers of gasoline.
By the way,smoking significantly increases risk of cancer when combined with exposure to many things, including asbestos, sawdust etc
Give me all your money I will fix it for you.
Give me all your money I will fix it for you.
I remember when the Sac bee was running pictures of El Dorado County employees playing soft ball with Bio Hazard suits on in El Dorado Hills.