The residents of Bellerive senior housing complex in southern Houston did not think it could get any worse after a fire raged through their building last November.  They were forced to leave and find temporary homes.  Now, four months later, they have been told that their belongings may never be recovered. 

The fire released asbestos that is now contaminating at least 61 units.  Because the material is hardly visible in small quantities, it is likely that a thin layer of asbestos is covering most of the apartments.  The cost to remove the asbestos-- an estimated $3400-- is too much for most residents to afford.

The landlord, Houston Housing Authority, insists that removal fees are not covered by their insurance.  Nevertheless, all residents are in agreement: they want to return to the place they knew as home.  Next week, the residents will meet with a cleanup company to see if they can negotiate a lower price to remove the asbestos from their belongings.

A coroner in North Wales, UK says asbestos in Flintshire's County schools was the likely cause of the death of sixty-nine year old art teacher, Renee Blodwen Eden. Eden died of mesothelioma and it was “more than likely” she contracted it after exposure to asbestos in Flintshire’s schools.

North west Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said he would write to Flintshire County Council expressing his concerns over the dangers of asbestos in the schools.

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What may seem like harmless cough could turn out to be the earliest signs of fatal mesothelioma.

Such was the case for Irving St. Claire-Matthews of the United Kingdom. Though at first the cough appeared trivial, Mary Stoodley, 64, knew it was serious when her normally active 72-year-old partner couldn't leave his bed one morning at their Southampton home.

He was admitted to the hospital last December, but a week later, St. Claire-Matthews died of mesothelioma. Ms. Stoodley, who is currently undergoing treatment for throat cancer, could not understand why teetotal non-smoking Irving had died so quickly, having been "fit as a fiddle" only days before. An inquest explained that he had worked for British Rail for 17 years until being made redundant in 1989; he undoubtedly handled asbestos during his time of employment.

Ms. Stoodley is seeking legal action "in the hope that they take some responsibility. There appears to be so many people that have had a problem and companies have a duty of care to their workers." Read more here.

A New Jersey law firm has announced a $30.3 million settlement in the case of a 50-year-old mesothelioma victim.  The settlement is believed to be the state's largest mesothelioma case and will be awarded to the wife and three daughters of Mark Buttitta.  Buttitta was a successful advertising representative who fell victim to what have been named "take-home" asbestos fibers; though Buttitta did not work directly in the presence of asbestos, he contracted mesothelioma from his father and brother who brought home fibers from work on their clothing.

Buttitta's father was a long-time employee of GM, where he handled brakes and clutches made with asbestos.  It is believed that sitting on his father's lap as a child was a primary cause of Buttitta's mesothelioma.

"Mark Buttitta's sad case shows convincingly how blue-collar workers from the automotive, construction and other asbestos-using industries are not the only potential victims of mesothelioma," the family's attorney said. "Men and women who wouldn't know a brake shoe from a horseshoe can be struck down by this horrible disease decades later from simply living with someone who contacted asbestos in his daily occupation. In Mark Buttitta's case we were able to get justice for him and his young family."

Following his 2002 death, Buttitta's family established the Mark Buttitta Memorial Foundation for Research for the "Prevention, Treatment and Cure of Mesothelioma," according to the foundation's website.

The funding discussed on March 11 has now passed the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee.  The bill allots $4.9 million to study the relationship between taconite mining and mesothelioma.  Last spring, the Minnesota Health Department found that 58 miners on the Iron Range had died of the disease.  The funding will allow researchers to study the components of taconite dust to determine what level, if any, constitutes dangerous exposure.  Read the article here.