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The High Cost of Asbestos

Asbestos = $15,000,000 An operating engineer at an office building for 21 years was diagnosed with mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos fire proofing material that had been sprayed inside. The plaintiff and his wife sued the building owner and other operating engineers. They settled for $5 million. (Hoskins v Business Mens Asssurance Co of Am., Mo Jackson Cty Cir Ct No 00-CV-206172, Feb 23, 2001). Plaintiff also sued the manufacturer and won $10,000,000. (Hoskins v Federal Mogul Corp 20 PLLR 135 (Aug. 2001).

VOLUNTARY BANKRUPTCY FILING

On April 2, 2001, W. R. Grace & Co. filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The Filing was made in response to a sharply increasing number of asbestos-related bodily injury claims. Grace announced that recent developments in asbestos-related litigation had led to a fourth quarter 2000 charge of $208.0 million (net of expected insurance recovery). The charge was made to account for probable and estimable costs related to several adverse developments in Grace's asbestos litigation during 2000, including: a significant increase in bodily injury claims; higher than expected costs to resolve bodily injury and certain property damage claims; and new class-action lawsuits alleging damages from a former attic insulation product not previously subject to property damage litigation. These adverse developments continued during the first quarter of 2001.

Disarming Asbestos Without Removing It

      When asbestos is inhaled, the fibers can cause asbestosis, stiffening of lung tissue that contributes to heart disease and lung cancer. Because of this risk, the EPA mandated the removal of asbestos from schools, hospitals, and thousands of other buildings in the U.S.. It has been a costly, time-consuming, and dangerous process.
      To prevent asbestos fibers from escaping in the air as areas are being cleaned, they must be sealed in pressurized tents. Workers in protective gear use their hands to scrape out the asbestos substance, which must be disposed of as a hazardous material.
      Recently, the EPA revised their mandate and began recommending "containment" rather than removal; much as they have done with lead-based paint in rental housing.

Good News & Bad

A foam spray that turns asbestos into a harmless material, without affecting its ability to resist fire may be available someday.

      A team of researchers from the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and W. R. Grace & Co. recently developed a new way to deal with asbestos. They learned how to change its chemical composition. They can't yet make gold as the alchemists of old desired, but they can now change asbestos so that it is no longer asbestos.

      The most common form of the mineral, chrysotile asbestos, is composed primarily of oxygen, hydrogen, silica, and magnesium atoms. The formula recently devised by researchers consists of a powerful acid combined with a fluoride ion, which acts as a catalyst. The two attack the silica layer, then the magnesium layer, and remove the magnesium ion from the structure. The reaction breaks up the asbestos' fibrous structure, leaving behind clumpy minerals that are not easily airborne. By the time the process is finished, the chemical composition of the material is no longer asbestos. Less than one percent of the asbestos fibers remain after treatment, a level the EPA considers safe.

 A mineral that used to be asbestos is converted into harmless chemicals like silica oxide and magnesium oxide. However the new material continues to provide fire proofing properties at the equivalent of the fire rating the material had when it contained asbestos.

      The chemical is applied directly to asbestos covered heat ducts, pipes,  walls or ceilings in a mix that has the consistency of shaving cream. The application is very gentle, so hardly any fibers are released. Consequently a pressurized tent is not even necessary. That results in substantial savings and a much safer environment.

For more information, or to locate the product, contact: W.R. Grace Company, Boca Raton, FL.