Summary

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 354979
Story Slug ASBESTOS AND VETERAN WORKERS HEALTH (1982)
Location TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA
Format PKG
Date 12/01/1982
Archive Time 1:00:46
TRT 3:35
Video Description (FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE, THE REPORTER DR MICHAEL BREEN IS LICENSABLE) WORKERS WHO INSULATE PIPES, CUTTING PIPE, WEARING MASKS, STANDUP, WORKER SOTS, WORKER INSULATING PIPE, SHOTS OF VETERAN WORKERS, GRAPHIC, VETERAN WORKER SOT, MAN WHO WORKED WITH ASBESTOS, DOCTOR LOOKING AT X-RAYS, SOT, CU X-RAY, WORKER SOT, CUTTING PIPE, FILE OF CHILDREN IN CLASSROOM, RESEARCHERS IN LABORATORY, LOOKING THROUGH MICROSCOPE, MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF ASBESTOS FIBERS, INFECTED VETERAN WORKER SOT
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) These men insulate pipes, and until 1973 they breathed dust made of asbestos fibers Those almost indestructible fibers lingered in the lungs of workers for up to 40 years Then they produced an epidemic of lung cancer and emphysema That epidemic is still going on Asbestos workers have two rules The first rule is that a half cent from every hour spay go into asbestos related research The second rule is that every worker here who dies gets an autopsy to find out why Probably, out of our last 50 deaths in our union, probably 40% of them are directly related to the asbestos workers trade The asbestos fibers are almost gone now from the air, but they still tick away in the bodies of veteran workers Those workers who don't smoke have up to 14 times the normal risk of lung cancer If they do smoke, their risk increases to 90 times Overall One in four workers will die of lung cancer One in 10 will die of emphysema Others will die of cancers of the larynx, the intestine and the lining of the abdomen All Bob Prettyman and his co workers can do is hope their luck holds out It's very disheartening and disgusting to think that they let it go this far We're naturally concerned about it, but there isn't, isn't too much you can do about except hope and pray that don't happen to you The worst did happen to Ernie Whitman Ernie, a non smoker, worked with asbestos for 35 years Today, he barely has enough breath to help around the house As a matter of fact, is when I helped the wife with the yard, I got my chair out there I sit down when I'm not following behind him with the lawn mower She doesn't seem a little out of breath right Now, you always like this Well, this is a little a little bad, a little how can I say it's kind of a bad day today, for some reason Dr Thomas Votel says asbestos first reduced ernies lungs to scar tissue Then in 19 80x, Ray showed a cavity caused by a rare lung tumor, rare, that is, unless you work with asbestos Statistically, it's higher in people who have underlying irritant lung disease such as asbestosis Surgeons have removed part of ernies right lung, and hopefully all of his cancer as well About one in 10 asbestos workers die from another rare lung cancer called a mesothelioma That Dreaded tumor is almost always fatal We had four mesotheliomas since 1976 What else have you seen? I've seen victims slowly suffocate from asbestosis, members of ours, gradually their lung capacity would be reduced so their breathing would become terribly difficult for them, high levels of asbestos on the job are deadly, but what about the low levels in some of our schools? Researchers in Minnesota and across the country are studying asbestos fibers magnified 1000s of times to find out One thing they found is that the constant irritation from a single fiber can be dangerous So it's very difficult to say how much very dangerous starts, because theoretically, a single fiber can start mesothelioma or tumor or anything like that Well, it doesn't take much, as you must know, to get in and infect just a particle smaller that you have to have magnifying glass to see can cause you trouble TAG: MNH
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