It is amazing how cloudy a simple issue can become when people with different agendas muck up the water.
That’s what’s happening with the effort undertaken by Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), The John McNamara Foundation and the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute who asked California state legislators to symbolically remove Serpentine, the host rock for asbestos, as their official State Rock.
As the only independent voice of asbestos victims, ADAO is working with others concerned about the public health issues surrounding asbestos and to raise awareness that asbestos is a carcinogen. The U.S. Surgeon General, World Health Organization (WHO), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) all agree asbestos is a carcinogen and there is no safe level of exposure.
Serpentine, which was formally recognized in 1965 to promote California’s then lucrative asbestos mining industry. The California Department of Conservation defines
Serpentine, which was formally recognized in 1965 to promote California’s then lucrative asbestos mining industry. The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources August 2009 peer reviewed publication “Facts about Serpentine Rock and Soil Containing Asbestos in California” confirms ‘asbestos has been classified as a carcinogen by state, federal and international agencies.
The symbolic removal of it as the state rock is only about raising awareness about the dangers of asbestos and the countless families and victims who are paying the ultimate price.
Those who disapprove of our effort to have this asbestos-containing rock replaced by something without the deadly fibers have every right to do so, but not by lying, innuendo or trying to convince law-makers and the public that the risk from asbestos is not real.
It is tragic and disgraceful that serpentine remains a state symbol when asbestos-disease claims more than 10,000 lives annually in the United States alone, with California having the highest incidence of mesothelioma related deaths in the nation.
We applaud the California State Legislature for their bi-partisan leadership and support in protecting public health with SB 624.
In unity,
Linda Reinstein
“Although serpentine is not unique to California, it is by no means widely distributed elsewhere; and in many states does not exist at all. Serpentine indirectly is of great economic importance to California. It is a host rock for the state’s newest and most rapidly–growing mineral industry–asbestos, now bringing in several millions of dollars annually. It is an attractive rock, selected varieties of serpentine make good cutting material and is used for bookends, paper weights, etc. Designating serpentine as the state rock will increase the market for such items and improve the local economy in a number of places.”