For the fourteenth consecutive year, April – April 7, 2018, has once again been named Global Asbestos Awareness Week by the U.S. Senate and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). Since the conception of the ADAO in 2004, there have been 13 Asbestos Awareness Week Resolutions that have aimed to warn and educate the public about the dangers of asbestos exposure.
Asbestos was popular building material used throughout the mid-20th century. More than 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial facilities, homes, schools, shipyards, steel mills, power plants and commercial buildings in the United States. Between 1900 and the mid- 1980s, asbestos was used in over 3,000 different products. Many of these products do not contain asbestos any longer, but the risk of developing an asbestos-caused disease continues to exist in today’s society.
Today, many are aware that asbestos exposure can cause diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. However, it is not widely known that asbestos is still legal in the United States, and thousands are at risk every year of exposure. The ADAO hopes to change this, consistently advocating for the ban of asbestos and asbestos products in the United States once and for all.
Throughout asbestos awareness week, each day will focus on different aspects of awareness and prevention, from strengthening existing asbestos laws, to banning the mining, manufacturing, and use of the carcinogen altogether. Asbestos victims’ stories and other platforms like guest blogs and videos from educational organizations will be translated into six languages to be distributed throughout the world, truly globalizing awareness.
In additional to Global Asbestos Awareness Week, the ADAO will hold the 14th Annual Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference April 13 – 15, 2018.
Source:
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, “2018 Global Asbestos Awareness Week,” (March 30, 2018). [Link]
