[Sustain] Fwd: There Is -No- Safe Level Of Serpentine Asbestos Exposure

[Eric Brooks]

Below are my public comments recently sent to the Board Of Supervisors
regarding the asbestos exposure in Bayview Hunters Point.

There Is -No- Safe Level Of Serpentine Asbestos Exposure

Dear Supervisor,

I just watched the July 9, 2007 Land Use Committee hearing on Lennar
BVHP, and was astounded at what I heard coming out of Mitch Katz's mouth.

Anyone who knows anything about asbestos, knows full well (as the
director of a city health dept. should) that there is -no- safe level of
any type of asbestos exposure. Just as with plutonium, exposure to only
one microfiber of asbestos is all it takes to cause cancer. Furthermore,
this has been well known for decades, since it was first discovered that
asbestos is dangerous. Dr. Katz's reliance on federal, state and
regional agency standards is completely untenable, because if those
standards allow -any- exposure they are unacceptable.

Here are a couple of sites which make clear that there is no safe level
of exposure to the serpentine asbestos type (chrysotile) which is being
disturbed into the air by Lennar. It is specifically noted that early
speculation that serpentine asbestos (chrysotile) was less dangerous
than amphibole asbestos were unfounded. Asbestos industry obfuscation
has been largely responsible for the myth that there is a 'safe' dose of
chrysotile (or white asbestos).  Because it is so dangerous, chrysotile
has already been banned by the European Community, Chile and Argentina
(as reported by the United Nations Environment Programme - see first web
site).

http://www.btinternet.com/~ibas/ramazzini.htm
http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?index=216&Language=EN

peace

Eric Brooks
Campaign Coordinator
Our City
http://our-city.org
415-756-8844

-- 
"The past is the Textbook of Tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free"
- Herman Melville