One hundred million dollars in asbestos testing costs.
An article from USA Today estimated a cost of $100 million dollars in expense to test and remove asbestos contamination in buildings throughout the United States. You might expect a huge number of lives saved for that amount of money. The research cited in the article suggests that ONE life is saved for every $100 million dollars spent. Talk about a real governmental bailout, the lawyers have made asbestos their personal money printing press. You are far more likely to die in a plane crash, an auto accident, or be struck by lightning, than to die of a disease related to exposure to asbestos. The level of asbestos exposure would equate to being in a contaminated building your entire working life at that.
Lets look at hard facts for a moment. In the past 30 years, approximately 43,000 people have died as a result of asbestos related diseases, primarily lung cancer. That number comes from the legal industry pushing to get you to sue for damages if you might have been exposed at some point in time in your life.
A simple math question means we lose about 5 people per day to asbestos related diseases and cancers. Five per day seems like a tragic number, and it is. Until you realize we lose twenty thousand more people a year in traffic accidents than from mesothelioma.
The low rate of possible disease is good news if you are in a building or home with asbestos. Most cases of asbestos related cancers came from improper safety precautions taken years ago during the manufacture and mining of products with asbestos. The world still produces more than 2.3 million tons of asbestos per year, with Russia being the largest producer at 40 percent of the worlds supply.There is a natural exposure to asbestos everyday. Asbestos is a natural fiber. Second hand smoke is likely to have far more risk to you than the naturally occurring fibers.
The National Cancer Institue Fact Sheet suggests the asbestos related cancer only occurs in about one in every one million people in the United States. Simple math again. The estimated population of the United States is 300 million. When you complete the division, you find about 300 cases per year of this cancer. Yet we spend huge amounts of money, energy, and resources trying to wipe all asbestos out of public and private buildings.
Part of the issue and fear of asbestos comes from incredibly bad science and advice from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the early days of the asbestos scare. Attorneys have been quick to fan the flames of asbestos rage, seeing easy and big money settlements just a lawsuit away. The advice came from the EPA before scientists had the evidence needed to make a proper assessment of risks.
The EPA today suggests asbestos should not be disturbed by removing it. Other recommendations include controlling possible spread of the fiber by using covering substances like paint or enclosing it beneath other types of coverings.
All this evidence still may not convince you asbestos is not dangerous in the amounts typically found in buildings and homes. There are companies that test for asbestos. They may even try to convince you of the need for removal. Remember these companies exist to make money, not necessarily for your health benefit. Testing also occurs to provide a level of protection against hyperactive attorneys and costly lawsuits.
In one of the most comprehensive studies ever done on the risk of asbestos in buildings, the Health Effects Institute released an EPA funded 1991 review. The study was ordered by the U.S. Congress and paid for with taxpayer funds. The study suggested you are 10 times SAFER breathing air in a building with asbestos, than you would be outside. The risk of cancer for someone who worked in an asbestos containing building was one in 250,000. Outdoor air risk is one in 25,000. A European Commission reached a similar conclusion after reviewing evidence.
General costs for asbestos testing vary by state and the suspected location of the material. Flooring tile and other floor substances are the easiest and least expensive material to test. Insulation and other internal building components are the most expensive. Scientists now say, and the EPA agreed in their Green Book on asbestos in 1990, that it is more dangerous to disrupt asbestos materials than to leave them where they are.
Asbestos testing appears from studying the evidence, to be another way to pit your health fears against your wallet. Businesses have become highly aware of the dangers, not from a health standpoint, but from liability concerns. Money chasing attorneys and courts have bankrupt companies and fanned the irrational fear and worry about asbestos. You’ll find a lot of advertising from lawyers and testing companies suggesting you MUST have asbestos testing. Its designed to do one things very well. Get your money into their hands.
One hundred million dollars per person is one major economic stimulus plan.
R. Massie is a freelance writer and conventional wisdom challenger. You may read more of his hubs on health and other subjects at http://hubpages.com/hub/Dont-Buy-All-the-Asbestos-Testing-Hype
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