Mesothelioma

"We see it quite a bit," said Joe Walkenhauer, a longtime Yakima contractor who is semiretired from Sun Professional Services, which cleans up asbestos.

"The popcorn ceiling is one people should stay away from," he said, referring to a technique popular in the '70s of texturing with a lumpy, asbestos-rich spray.

Asbestos is often thought to be a problem of the past, something the federal government took care of decades ago.

But that's a misconception, according to Sen.

Patty Murray, D-Wash., who has spent six years pushing for an all-out ban on the product.

It continues to be legally used in certain industrial and consumer products, such as brake pads, which can pose a hazard to mechanics.

In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to ban asbestos, but some of those regulations were overturned in a 1991 court ruling.

Last month, Murray reintroduced her Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007, which would prohibit the manufacture, importation, processing and distribution of products containing the product.

While exposure at work - pipefitting, ship-building - is most common, Murray said in a statement that homeowners doing renovation projects aren't immune.

As many as 35 million homes and businesse...

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