| Minnesota Iron Range / House OKs study of miners' cancer
A compromise over the funding of a lung health study in Minnesota's Iron Range gained approval from House lawmakers Thursday and is headed to the governor's desk. The bill authorizes the University of Minnesota to lead a $4.9 million research program over the next five years to determine why so many retired taconite miners have died of mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. The research will examine whether there are asbestos fibers in the taconite dust that could be responsible for this slow-growing cancer. It also will examine the health hazards for today's miners, as well as the exposure risk for spouses and nearby communities. "Now is the right time to fund this study, because it's been a 30-year issue," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, the House bill's lead sponsor.
Unions call for probe into asbestos
Unions have called on the federal government to launch a national inquiry into asbestos in Australia. ACTU president Sharan Burrow said Australia still has the highest rate of recorded mesothelioma in the world, with exposure to asbestos the only known cause of the disease. Ms Burrow said the federal government should launch a national inquiry into asbestos in Australia to examine ways to eliminate it from workplaces and homes. It should also examine possible compensation and treatment for those affected. "There needs to be an urgent improvement in asbestos regulation and tougher enforcement of laws surrounding asbestos," Ms Burrow said. The call coincided with International Workers Memorial Day, which remembers the two million workers around the world who have died in the past 12 months.
ACTU calls for asbestos inquiry
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is calling for a national inquiry into asbestos. ACTU president Sharan Burrow says she is making the call to coincide with today's International Workers Memorial Day. Ms Burrow says asbestos is still very prevalent in Australia, which has the highest rate of the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma. "It still lives with us, we might not see it used in production but it is in our homes and neighbourhoods," she said. "They need to be identified, we need to have a national plan." .
Teens continue granddad's fight
Alissa and Vanessa Scarpelli know first-hand the ripple effects of workplace tragedy. Four years ago, the local teens lost their grandfather, Blayne Kinart, to mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. In the years leading up to his death at age 58, the former millwright worked to raise public awareness of the plight of those who had been poisoned on the job. Last evening, his granddaughters continued his fight by handing out information pamphlets at the Day of Mourning ceremony held at Centennial Park. "We want to raise awareness about asbestos," said Alissa, 16. "Because it has killed all these people, and affected so many more." Both have attended the annual event since their grandfather's death in 2004. "It gets bigger every year," said Vanessa, 12.
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