by Mesothelioma News Staff Writers
USGS scientists debunk industry claim, call particles dangerous.
The Sacramento Bee reported on December 20, 2006 that the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed a federal environmental agency’s findings of a particularly dangerous kind of asbestos on playgrounds in El Dorado Hill. USGS experts in mineral identification reached the conclusion after closely examining the playgrounds’ study samples of tiny particles that the mining industry asserted were not asbestos.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted the October 2004 study of El Dorado Hills’ Community Park and nearby schoolyards, and EPA officials said the Geological Survey’s findings affirmed its pioneering exposure studies of naturally occurring asbestos in El Dorado Hills and elsewhere in the country.
The EPA study found that children and adults in El Dorado Hills can significantly raise their exposure to breathable asbestos particles simply from the dust kicked up riding a bicycle or playing basketball on outdoor courts. Asbestos health experts say that the main public health concern related to such exposures is mesothelioma, a cancer of the membranes lining the chest and other body cavities.
The findings from federal scientists prompted the Community Services District to blacktop the New York Creek trail running through the park and increase irrigation on sports fields to cut dust. The County Supervisor of El Dorado Hills, Helen Baumann, called the Geological Survey’s study “a fair analysis” and left her confident that the county is “doing everything we need to do to protect public health.”
The USGS investigators said asbestos health experts, not the mining industry or mineralogists, need to take the lead in redefining asbestos from a health perspective. “Ultimately, it is the health community that must determine what particle types are significant with respect to asbestos-related diseases,” the report said.
