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09/02/2005: "More on Eric-the-Alien, SCAPCA's Idiot-in-Charge"

Another pull quote from the article referenced in the previous posting, "It's important for public health that asbestos is handled properly. It causes cancer in humans. Our goal is to keep as much asbestos out of the air as possible," said SCAPCA Director Eric Skelton..

Eric Skelton once said to me (and my attorney) that, "a single fiber of asbestos can cause cancer". A line I'm sure he's used on other SCAPCA victims, in front of jurys and perhaps even a gay bar or two.

It only works on the uninformed, no matter the setting.

I quickly countered that Eric's science was entirely lacking. Eric did not retort. Here are the facts. The EPA says differently. Quoting:

"No studies are available on the acute (short-term) effects of asbestos in animals or humans". and the money quote: EPA has classified asbestos as a Group A, human carcinogen, based primarily on inhalation studies, and has calculated an inhalation unit risk estimate of 2.3 × 10-1 (fibers/mL)-1.

Thats 2.3 fibers per 0.1ml. Or, put another way, 0.23 fibers per ml. For those of you unfamiliar with the metric system, thats about one fiber per teaspoon. If you think this sounds low, you're wrong, its actually a pretty high concentration. What are your chances of finding even a single asbestos fiber in a teaspoon of air? All day? Every day for 20 years?

Ding! Now you understand.

Moreover, adult human lung capacity is normally stated as 4-6 liters, or 4000 to 6000 cm^3, or 4000 to 6000 ml. This is approximately 800 to 1200 teaspoons, or one to one-and-a-half gallons.

Using the EPA facts, a cancer risk is present when you inhale in between 920 and 1380 fibers in a single breath. Note thats risk not causes, and it says nothing about short-term, incidental exposure. If the density of asbestos fibers is below this limit, the EPA considers this below the acceptable limit for danger to humans via inhalation.

So what about your "Single Fiber causes cancer" statement, Eric?

I say, "Bullshit".

The people who contract "Mesothelioma" commonly worked in shipyards, or other areas where they were exposed to very high levels of inhaled asbestos, for prolonged periods of time, without protective gear.

What are your chances for inhaling enough asbestos walking down the street in Spokane to cause you to contract mesothelioma several years down the line? Pretty fucking low, unless you happened to live near the 1300 block of North Maple before 1975,. Then again, its likely that if you live in Felony Flats, (or on East Sprague) you have other problems with which to contend.

Libby, Montana is a different story, of course.

Meanwhile, Eric Skull-fuck-em continues his luddite tirade in an effort to scare the local citizenry of Spokane into allowing him to keep his cushy job. Eric can be reached as epskelton-at-scapca.org. I'm sure he values your opinion.