mesothelioma

For the last six years, University of Michigan research funded by Dow Chemical has figured prominently in public discussions over what to do about the dioxin contamination caused by the company in the Saginaw River watershed. Federal and state environmental agencies have warned that U-M’s Dioxin Exposure Study has failed to answer crucial questions and that its results are being misinterpreted.

Despite this, the U-M’s lead researcher on the project — a man some environmental health scientists say should not be seen as an objective because of his track record of working for industry interests — is actively insisting his study should shape regulatory action on dioxin.

Automaker Chrysler filed a subpoena for tissue samples from a dead man who’d sued the corporation prior to his death. The deceased, Harold St. John, apparently died of mesothelioma, a lung disease most often caused by exposure to asbestos. St. John believed that the source of asbestos to which he was exposed was [...]