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The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced yesterday that it will open a nationwide investigation of asbestos in consumer products, which includes attic insulation. Other products also will be tested, but the agency declined to say which ones. It has been more than a decade since the commission has checked products to see whether they contain the cancer-causing fibers. The commission announced the new investigation two days after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer revealed that products containing asbestos are still being sold, and few regulations exist to protect consumers against unknowingly being exposed. The newspaper reported that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigators have begun testing products for asbestos, and that their preliminary tests have found asbestos in some products. EPA investigators have been in Libby, Montana, since November, after finding out that hundreds of vermiculite miners and their family members have died or are dying from asbestos-caused diseases. EPA's coordinator of the Libby investigation Paul Peronard is concerned about the potential health effects from asbestos contamination in the vermiculite insulation and other products that used vermiculite. "This Zonolite is all over the country, in millions of homes, from what we're being told," Peronard said. "If it's dangerous, we need to know it. If it's not, that information is valuable also. There's a lot of information needed on what's in this vermiculite, and we need to start collecting it now." The elaborate process of collecting the vermiculite and testing it will take a long time, especially when linking the asbestos levels to a risk assessment. Years of research have been done on workers with long-term exposures to asbestos, including shipyard employees and miners. The studies show that asbestos can cause fatal diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer and a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. But, the potential exposure and health risks to consumers have not been looked into as much. However, as early as 1972, investigators at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported that a one-time acute dose of asbestos might be as harmful as the cumulative effect of lower doses over many years. A 1991 EPA report said that on average a person installing insulation in a home receives an eight-hour exposure. The CPSC would not release more specific details of its new investigation yesterday, but it did say that they will be looking at other product categories in addition to attic insulation. "We don't have any (specific) information right now that people are being exposed to asbestos fibers from household products," said CPSC spokesman Ken Giles. "But we're going to look at it." If the commission finds consumer products that pose a health hazard, it has the regulatory power to take action. "If we find exposures that present a health risk, we do have the power to require cancer hazard warning labels," Giles said. The agency can also ban products, or issue recalls. 02/17/00
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Mesothelioma Information