Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Name:

E-mail:

Phone Number:

Zip Code:

Your Question:

Editor: M. Brandon Smith
Profession: Attorney at Law

Category: Asbestos News

More information is needed before a panel of scientists can either confirm or dismiss the potential risk of harmful asbestos exposure for more than 31,000 residents of El Dorado Hills in California. Since early in 2005, the community located approximately 25 miles east of Sacramento, has been the subject of an intense U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation for potential exposure to a cancer-causing form of asbestos fibers naturally found in the rocks and soil there.

According to mercurynews.com :

More research is needed "to develop a better understanding of potential health effects of what is currently called 'naturally occurring asbestos,'" the report concluded.

Asbestos-bearing rock is a concern in communities across California. The mineral is found in 44 of California's 58 counties, usually in serpentine, the state rock.

It is generally considered harmless unless the rock is disturbed, such as during construction of new roads and homes. The EPA considered the problem to be worse in El Dorado Hills because rocks near the surface often contain a more toxic form of asbestos, tremolite.

The more information that is discovered now on the potential exposure in El Dorado Hills, the better off the citizenry will be in terms of knowing what to expect for the future. For the sake of all the residents there, lets all hope that the asbestos fibers found there will not lead to anyone's future diagnosis of mesothelioma or other health related issues on down the road.