Health and consumer watchdog groups have raised concerns about potential panelists for a federal asbestos advisory board because of their financial ties to companies that have mined and manufactured asbestos-containing products, according to a May 23, 2007 article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The asbestos advisory board, which will operate under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency, will have the task of drafting a risk assessment for asbestos fibers to define exposure safety. The assessment would in turn be used as a guide in the cleanup of asbestos-contaminated sites. Asbestos has been linked to the cancer mesothelioma and other diseases.
The 65 people named to the “short list” of possible board panelists include scientists who own or work for consulting firms hired by companies that have manufactured asbestos products and related trade associations, with the goal to influence policy. Some potential panelists have worked for W.R. Grace & Co., which owned a vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana that was closed in 1990 after many incidences of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases among the town’s residents. Groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council are worried that such panelists would negatively influence environmental clean-up standards currently in place and further negatively impact health protections for workers and the public.
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