Asbestos Fibers

Slowly but surely responsible elements of society are closing in on the addictive weed known as tobacco. Restaurants, shopping malls, business offices, most public places ban smoking voluntarily. Now government is getting into the act forcefully.Both federal and state officials concerned with workers' health have proposed bans on smoking in the workplace -- even restaurants and bars. That includes customers, not just employees. The corrosive effects of tobacco smoke, whether directly from a cigarette or indirectly from someone else's, are well established.

Too often the users of nanoparticles assume that substances that are safe in larger dimensions will present no problems when used in nano applications. But if engineering a substance down to a few nanometers (a human hair is about 80,000 nanometers thick) gives it special features like improved electric conductivity, logic suggests it might also present new threats to the human body. Two dollar amounts are often cited in the discussion on nanotechnology safety risks. One is the projected value globally of all applications of this technology by 2015: $1 trillion.

The 1950s building that houses Hawthorne Elementary School - closed all week after a construction accident spilled asbestos fibers into the air - will remain closed until December, giving workers enough time to finish the $2.6 million renovation project out of the way of children. The more than 450 pupils at the school in Middle River will miss another week of classes, returning on Oct. 15. But they won't be going back to the Kingston Road building. Instead, they will be sent to two other, as yet unnamed, schools in eastern Baltimore County.

Air tests at the Howard County Circuit Courthouse came back negative for a series of dangerous contaminants, including lead, mercury and asbestos, county officials said yesterday. But county officials are awaiting the results of recent mold tests -- and are planning to take more samples, including carpet cuttings, in the coming weeks. Those tests are expected to be among the last in a county review of the old, cramped building in the wake of employee health complaints and an inspection by state occupational health officials.

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. appeals court in New Orleans has struck down major parts of a far-reaching ban by the Environmental Protection Agency on asbestos products, ruling that the agency had not adequately considered alternative hTC regulation short of the prohibition.Yesterday's ruling upheld the provisions of the agency's 1989 phaseout of asbestos use that are already in effect but sent provisions that would have taken effect in 1993 and 1996 back to the agency for more proceedings.The decision was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals forthe Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, which has handled previous asbestos cases.

The Maryland Court of Appeals yesterday upheld most of the $3.8 million in damages a lower court had awarded the estates of two former Bethlehem Steel Corp. employees who died from mesothelioma, a rare cancer that has been linked to asbestos exposure.The court affirmed a Baltimore Circuit Court jury's award to Leslie Balbos, who died from mesothelioma at age 70 in 1983, and Sutton Knuckles, who died at 65 in 1984.Mr. Balbos was exposed to asbestos when he worked as a sheet-metal mechanic at Bethlehem Steel's Fairfield shipyard from 1942 to 1944.

Two asbestos firms have made out-of-court settlements with nearly all of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by nearly 8,600 people who sued claiming that they suffered illnesses caused by asbestos exposure, attorneys for the two firms said.Fourteen firms had been named as defendants in a trial that is under way in Baltimore Circuit Court. The settlements were made by Fibreboard Inc. and Owens-Illinois.Attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants declined yesterday to discuss details of the settlements.

Parents of the children at Sussex Elementary School in Essex are understandably worried. Late last month, officials closed the school after finding levels of asbestos fiber in a kindergarten classroom that were 30 times the amount considered acceptable. School officials' repeated attempts to allay fears are of little consolation: Parents, who know that related health problems do not show up for decades, have no idea whether their children were exposed to asbestos fibers and, if so, how much.

An early-morning fire caused $1 million worth of damage at Elmwood Elementary School yesterday, forcing Baltimore County education officials to look for other classrooms for some kindergartners and first-graders scheduled to start school next month. School officials said they expect to have a plan today for students whose classrooms were damaged in the fire. First-graders return to school Sept. 5 and kindergartners two days after that. Officials said they don't think the classrooms can be repaired by then.

Students returned without incident to Maiden Choice School in Arbutus yesterday, as the Baltimore County school system released test results showing the elevated asbestos levels that forced the school's closure last week. The 51-year-old school reopened after a cleanup that reduced asbestos levels to within federal standards, according to the most recent tests. "My daughter was in school, and there wasn't any problem at all," Nancy Spurrier, the PTA treasurer, said yesterday. A school spokesman said attendance was normal.