Insulation linked to rare form of disease

Brantford Expositer Canada29th March 2008 reported that a Canadian family has just suffered its sixth asbestos cancer death;

A Manitoba woman who has been leading a crusade against the federal government for using asbestos-laden insulation has lost a sixth family member to a related cancer, the Winnipeg Free Press says in a report out of Ottawa.

"I can't put into words how I feel about this," said Raven ThunderSky, whose half-sister Rita Swain died earlier this week.

Swain, who was in her 50s, had been diagnosed with mesothelioma more than three years ago. The rare cancer was in the lining of her stomach.

Mesothelioma results from exposure to asbestos, and Swain was exposed as a child growing up in a home with Zonolite insulation in Berens River, Manitoba.

ThunderSky has asbestos-related lung disease. Both of her parents, and four of her sisters have died of asbestos-related illnesses. Five had mesothelioma, and one had asbestosis.

Most of them were exposed at the family's home in Poplar River, Man. Swain is the first in the family whose exposure came from a different location.

Zonolite is a pebble-like attic insulation made from vermiculite that was tainted with asbestos when it was mined in Libby, Mont. That mine closed in 1990 because of the asbestos problem.
The Canadian government had recommended that homeowners use Zonolite, and even provided grants for its installation under the Canadian Home Insulation Program between 1977 and 1984.

An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 homeowners took the government up on the offer.

An estimated 300,000 homes in Canada have the product in their attics.

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