-December 5, 2007
Although products containing over one percent of asbestos can no longer be manufactured, sold and handled in the U.S., many Americans are still being diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma Takes Life of Daughter
As the second-oldest daughter of eight children, Kati Maloney was given the daily chore of doing the family’s laundry.
Each week, she would grab a piece of clothing worn by her father to work and give it a shake before washing it.
What Kati didn’t know was that with each shake of her father’s clothing, asbestos particles were being released into the air and she was inhaling the harmful substance.
At the age off 55, Kati died from mesothelioma, which is the same disease that killed her father and her uncle.
How Many More Kati’s Are There?
“We know the secondary victims of asbestos are out there,” explains Dr. Pasi Janne, an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “We don’t know how many there are, and we don’t know yet if they’re mostly women.”
According to research, those reported as being affected by this horrific illness have been mostly white, male laborers.
However, it was mostly mothers, wives and daughters who washed their clothing during the time of their exposure
For this reason, these women are also at risk due to second hand asbestos exposure, which in Kati’s case, proves to be just as deadly.
(Source: Cleveland.com)
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