A Pennsylvania UPS supervisor died at home on Monday following a battle with mesothelioma cancer. Thomas S. McGuire of Broomall was just 47 years old.

McGuire attended Cardinal O’Hara High School in Delaware County and began working with UPS as a night-shift truck loader while he was a student at West Chester University. He left the university and worked full-time for UPS locations in West Chester, South Philadelphia and at the Philadelphia International Airport. McGuire eventually earned a degree in business while working full time.

According to his wife, Marjorie, McGuire never missed a day of work for 26 years until he was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer in July of 2007.

McGuire is survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter, as well as two brothers and a sister. Donations in honor of Thomas S. McGuire can be made to the McGuire Children Education Fund, TD Bank, 120 West Eagle Road, Havertown, Pennsylvania, 19083.

The 5th Annual Asbestos Awareness Conference is scheduled for March 27-29, 2009 and will be held at the Manhattan Beach Marriott in California. Sponsored by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) the conference brings together individuals who have been affected by asbestos exposure, as well as employers and employees of asbestos-related industry, research scientists, and other experts.

Experts in the field of asbestos research will speak to those in attendance about exposure prevention and will also provide crucial information about asbestos-related disease, including mesothelioma, a fatal cancer. Jordan Zevon, the son of musician Warren Zevon, who died in 2003 following a battle with mesothelioma cancer, will be the keynote speaker.

Zevon is a well-known advocate for individuals who have been wrongfully exposed to asbestos and are suffering from related ailments. In addition to speaking out about the dangers of asbestos, Zevon is also a musician, like his late father.

Linda Reinstein, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the ADAO, said that “communicating” is key when it comes to preventing deadly asbestos exposure, and that it is imperative that primary care physicians have an understanding of how to diagnose an asbestos-caused disease, as these types of illness are often misdiagnosed due to a lack of information.

“Primary care physicians often do not recognize the signs of disease as they fail to ask patients about possible risk factors they have experienced when completing health history questionnaires,” Reinstein stated. Possible risk factors that would increase a person’s likelihood of developing an asbestos-caused ailment include previous exposure to asbestos while at work or even second-hand exposure, which may occur when an individual washes the work clothing of a spouse or family member who is in contact with the hazardous material.

The conference is funded by generous support from the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. Those interested in attending can find more information by visiting www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.

The asbestos abatement project at the Claremont Mill located in Claremont, New Hampshire has been completed recently and renovations are under way to turn the old mill into a retail and commercial space. The mill has been sitting unused for nearly fifty years which is why it was necessary to abate asbestos as well as other toxic chemicals that may have been in use during the time at which the mill was constructed.

Asbestos was used in a wide variety of building materials during the beginning to the mid-twentieth century. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the dangers of the asbestos fibers were realized. The dangerous material began to become regulated soon after when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed by congress.

Exposure to asbestos-containing materials can result in a number of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Because these diseases typically have a considerably long latency period those diagnosed are often left with very few treatment options by the time that diagnosis occurs.

The new property will also include dining, lodging, stores, and condominiums. The project has cost the group of investors in upwards of $25 million to date. Two of the mills located on the property are scheduled to be reopened in June of 2009.

A woman residing in Texas has recently filed an asbestos-related lawsuit on behalf of her late husband. Lois Robinson named thirty-three defendant corporations in the suit as being allegedly responsible for her husband’s development of mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused disease.

Included in the list of defendant corporations are A.W. Chesterton, Westinghouse, Fluor, GE, Georgia Pacific, 3m, Bechtel, A.O. Smith, Honeywell, Ingersoll Rand, Union Carbide, Zurn Industries, Uniroyal, and Owens Illinois.

According to Lois Robinson her husband Warren Robinson was employed in various positions for these companies as well as others during which time he was exposed to dangerous asbestos-containing materials. Robinson feels that during the time her husband was employed in such positions the companies named in the suit failed to adequately warn and protect her husband from the dangers of asbestos exposure.

It is said that Mr. Robinson was in fact provided with a mask but his wife feels that this was not significant protection from the dangerous toxin. In the suit it was stated that, “The products were not accompanied by adequate instructions for safe and appropriate use, together with instruction concerning maintenance and storage.”

Lois Robinson has stated that the loss of her husband has caused her great mental pain and anguish and that she has incurred considerable medical bills due to her husband illness and subsequent death. In the suit Robinson is asking for an unspecified amount in both exemplary and actual damages. The suit was filed on December 3rd in the Jefferson County District Court.

Cleanup being conducted at a W.R Grace vermiculite manufacturing site in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania has been halted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the remainder of the winter season. According to a letter sent to town officials from a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Western Response Branch cleanup will reconvene in the spring when the weather is more favorable.

W.R. Grace processed vermiculite to be used in insulation from 1954 to 1969. It was later discovered that the vermiculite that came from their Libby, Montana site was contaminated with asbestos. It is for this reason that the vermiculite site located on Factory Avenue in Ellwood city was sighted for cleanup.

Exposure to asbestos-containing materials can lead to the development of any one of a number of asbestos-caused diseases. Due to the significantly long latency period of diseases caused by the harmful toxin treatment options for those exposed are often very limited. Diseases that can be caused by the toxin include but are not limited to asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer.

Many residents surrounding the Libby mine have since developed asbestos-related diseases.

The cleanup has been going since October and the hill behind the Elwood City Moose hall has been covered with 2,600 tons of fresh soil that goes approximately twelve inches deep.

According to officials the site will be monitored by Environmental Protection Agency representatives in order to ensure that the site remains secured during the delay in cleanup

James Ross, who is a Seattle, Washington resident, was diagnosed with a cancer caused by asbestos approximately two years ago and filed a lawsuit against a number of companies that he felt were responsible for his asbestos-related illness last year. It was after filing the lawsuit that Ross became aware that if he was to pass away during the suit that he would have to undergo an autopsy.

Ross has been fighting to reverse the requirement due to the fact that he has already been diagnosed with the asbestos-related cancer.

James Ross requested that King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas issue an order of protection for his wife in order to spare her the additional emotional stress that an autopsy would bring on during a time when she would be dealing with the emotional stress of planning his funeral.

This past Thursday Judge Paris Kallas overturned the requirement for an autopsy in Ross’s case particularly but did not overturn the county’s policy regarding autopsies for mesothelioma victims involved in a trial in general.

The decision made by Judge Kallas does not mean that the attorney’s for the companies named in the suit can’t specifically ask for an autopsy at a later date but only that Ross will not be automatically subjected to an autopsy should he die during his trial against the companies involved. James Ross’s trial is scheduled to begin in March of 2009.

Two Oregon contractors were recently fined by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality due to their improper removal of asbestos containing materials. The violations allegedly took place during the demolition of three mobile homes in Bend, Oregon.

Willamette Builders Group LLC and Hoviss Build Group LLC were both issued a $15, 000 civil penalty for conducting asbestos abatement projects without possessing the proper licenses to do so. The three mobile homes demolished by the two companies were located in the Sun Country Mobile Home Park located in Bend.

According to reports the owner of the Sun Country Mobile Home Park hired the two contracting firms back in April to conduct an asbestos survey in order to determine whether or not asbestos was present in the mobile homes and the dangerous toxin was in fact found in the paint on the roofs of three of the units.

Instead of then hiring a licensed contractor to conduct the removal project the employees from Hoviss and Willamette went ahead and demolished the roofs of the units themselves. Because the paint chipped during the demolition the asbestos became friable.

Exposure to friable asbestos particles can result in the development of a number of asbestos-related diseases that have lasting affects. These diseases include asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Such diseases have a particularly long latency period which often means very few treatment options for those diagnosed.

The two companies were further cited for disposing asbestos materials at a site not approved by the Department of Environmental Quality. They have twenty days to appeal the penalty.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new cancer treatment drug for clinical trial. The drug, developed by Quintessence Biosciences Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin, is derived from human ribonuclease, and will be the first human-originated drug to undergo clinical trial.

Laura Strong, President of Quintessence Biosciences Inc., stated that ribonuclease is a “protein that chews up RNA,” or the long strands of transmitters that carry messages back and forth for the body’s cells.

When administered to patients with certain types of cancer, the ribonuclease will “chop” the extensive strand of RNA into smaller parts, and “the cancer cells can no longer read the message,” according to Strong. This would potentially inhibit further growth of cancerous cells and tumors.

The clinical trial, which will begin in January of 2009, will have 30 participants and will take place at the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center. Participants will have “solid or non-blood-based tumors” and will have been unresponsive to previous cancer treatment.

The drug, called QBI-139, has already been shown to avert growth of pancreatic, prostate, ovarian and non-small-cell lung tumors in previous animal testing.

A company known as Alfacell Corp., based in New Jersey, has already tested ribonuclease derived from frogs in Phase III trials. The trials were successful, but like some other anti-cancer drugs, toxic reactions in the kidneys currently prevent the frog-derived ribonuclease from being administered in higher, more effective doses.

Cancer researchers hope that QBI-139 may be successful in treating patients with mesothelioma cancer tumors in the future.

A group of cancer researchers from the U.S. and Britain have discovered that a gene known as LIMD1 is often missing in patients suffering from lung cancer. These new findings suggest that the LIMD1 gene plays an important part in protecting the human body from developing cancer.

Dr. Greg Longmore, a professor of molecular cell biology at Washington University, stated that the absence of LIMD1, which is considered to be a tumor suppressor gene, may correlate with the development of lung cancers, such as mesothelioma.

Researchers will continue study to determine whether or not this information will be useful in assessing an individual’s likelihood of developing a lung-related cancer.

A home in Old Lyme, CT will be torn down and replaced with a new residence courtesy of Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew, but before the home could be torn down, asbestos had to be removed.

The home, which belongs to the Girard family, underwent asbestos removal beginning at 7 pm on Thursday evening. Asbestos-laden floor tiles and exterior siding were removed by HazPros, and air quality monitoring was conducted by Mystic Air Quality. The local fire department provided water during the asbestos abatement process. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends wetting asbestos materials prior to removing them to avoid asbestos dust from becoming airborne.

Locals reported that the asbestos abatement was finished by 11 pm, and a dumpster full of asbestos debris will be removed today so that the hazardous materials can be safely disposed of in a landfill.

Asbestos had to be removed prior to tearing down the Girard’s current home to prevent asbestos dust from becoming airborne during demolition. If asbestos dust were to become airborne, all crew and volunteers would be at risk of inhaling asbestos, which is the only conclusive cause of mesothelioma cancer.

Demolition at the site will be the next step towards building a new and safe home for the Girard family, who will be on vacation until their new home is completed.