Study Warns U.S. Facing Asbestos Crisis By JoAnne Allen
Ten-thousand Americans die each year from asbestos-related diseases and the number appears to be increasing in a growing public health crisis, a report by an environmental research group said on Thursday.
The analysis by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group projects that more than 100,000 people in the United States will die of four asbestos-related diseases -- mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer -- over the next 10 years.
The EWG report called for an immediate ban on asbestos, federal asbestos health screening and a "fair measure of assistance" for victims of asbestos exposure.