Asbestos Exposure
Buffalo, New York, is the seat of Erie County and, after New York City, is the second most populous city in the state of New York. U.S. Census (2009 estimate) shows a current population of 273,335 people.
Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, with downtown Buffalo located 17 miles south of Niagara Falls.
Buffalo began in 1789 as a goods trading community. Residents campaigned successfully to become the western terminus of the Erie Canal in 1825. Buffalo quickly developed into a transportation and industrial center. The milling of grain and production of steel soon became the dominant industries.
Buffalo’s successful economic base in the first half of the 20th century was based on industrial manufacturing. Asbestos was commonly specified as a building material in industrial manufacturing plants. Buffalo, New York, has a significant history of manufacturing and construction industries where fire and excessive heat was a concern. Asbestos-containing materials, therefore, were commonly used when erecting chemical plants, such as DuPont Yerkes Plant in Tonawanda, just outside of Buffalo.
Asbestos is inexpensive is an extremely durable, pliable and fire resistant material, making it popular for use in construction materials. According to the U.S. EPA, because of its fiber strength and heat resistant properties, asbestos has been used for a wide range of manufactured goods, mostly in building materials. Uses include roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper products, and asbestos cement products, friction products such as automobile clutch, brake, and transmission parts, heat-resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.
Given the type of work that occurs in chemical plants, asbestos appeared in factory buildings, lab equipment, bench tops, and safety clothing. The asbestos worked well in safeguarding against fire damage and in protecting lives from extreme heat, but exposed those same people to serious health risks such as mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma very often will take twenty or more years to manifest. By the time a diagnosis is given, it is almost always at an advanced stage.
Buffalo, New York, shows up in data bases that track asbestos use and identify subsequent hotspots which have a higher than average rate of occurrence. The Buffalo, NY, area is home to the nation’s top mesothelioma treatment center, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. They are an excellent choice for treatment of asbestos cancer, including peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. Roswell’s state-of-the-art equipment and doctors who keep well informed about new treatment options regarding asbestos-related diseases put them at the forefront of treating asbestos-related cancers. They are America’s first cancer center and the only upstate New York facility to hold the National Cancer Center designation of “comprehensive cancer center”.
Of great benefit to cancer patients in the region is the University of Rochester Cancer Center, named the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, a division of the University of Rochester Medical Center. The Wilmot Cancer Center, through association with the leading academic medical colleges in the area, allows for consistent collaboration between medical doctors and medical scientists, bringing treatments from the lab to the hospital in record time. Patients have access to numerous ongoing clinical trials that test new cancer drugs and therapies.
Patients in New York have access to another University of Rochester Medical Center affiliate at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Strong provides a comprehensive range of general and highly specialized services, including treatment of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.
