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California To Drop State Rock Over Asbestos Concerns

Posted by Soulskill on from the your-tax-dollars-at-work dept.

Diamonddavej writes "The LA Times reports that Californian legislators are close to dropping the translucent green rock Serpentine as the state rock of California because of its tenuous association with chrysotile asbestos. Sen. Gloria Romero declares in her bill (SB 624) that Serpentine should be dropped as California's state rock because it 'contains the deadly mineral chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of the cancer mesothelioma.' The bill has backing from mesothelioma support groups. Critics point out that Serpentine is a group of 20 different minerals, and Californian Serpentine rarely contains much chrysotile, never mind its dangerous fibrous asbestos form. Its is suspected that lawyers involved in asbestos compensation claims and cleanup companies will profit from the bill. Vast tracts of California where bedrock is made of Serpentine could be declared hazardous to health... even if it contains no crysotile at all! It looks like SB 624 will be passed; it won unanimous bi-partisan support from an Assembly committee last week."

16 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Well then... by DWMorse · · Score: 4, Funny

    Rock on.

    --
    There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
  2. The new state rock - crack. by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... like the new state plant - hemp. They can TAX IT to fix their budget crisis (or at least people won't give a %^!@* any more).

  3. Funny thing is this is the non-cancerious asbestos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    If California ever decided to do some research like the New England Journal of Medicine they would find articles all the back to the late 1980's showing that this type of asbestos is not cancerious. The other funny thing is the "doctor" in the 1960's who said that cancer was bad wasn't even a doctor but researching someone's background is a lot harder than just gining into some idiot. If they are banning this rock maybe we should ban dihydrogen monoxide I hear that kills thousnads of people every year.

  4. Pet rock by nOw2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had a pet rock. It wasn't as maintenance-free as you'd expect.

    Also, is this part of the Daily Mail's efforts to categorise all known substances/things/ideas into those that cause and those that cure cancer?

    1. Re:Pet rock by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

      For those who are unfamiliar with the style of California, ever since proposition 65, signs have been popping up everywhere warning about cancer (as this entity so eloquently points out). I'm not sure if the warning labels have achieved anything, but there have been allegations of abuse.

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      Qxe4
  5. Seriously by Becausegodhasmademe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find it amusing that a state rock even exists, let alone the fact that it's causing such a ruckus! You Americans!
    *ruffles hair*

  6. Unanimous bi-partisan support... by DarrenBaker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why is it that every time I read the words "Unanimous bi-partisan support", the result is always and without exception... Trouble?

    1. Re:Unanimous bi-partisan support... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      It means that no one voting understands the issue, and they all think that voting against it will look bad when revealed to the voters (who also don't understand the issue).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Unanimous bi-partisan support... by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is akin to the "all puppies are lovely act" - anyone who doesn't vote yes on it is a communist.

      Seriously - doesn't California have bigger problems to tackle? It really is a testament to how broken government is when the only thing they can pass is a change to the state rock.

    3. Re:Unanimous bi-partisan support... by DesScorp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is akin to the "all puppies are lovely act" - anyone who doesn't vote yes on it is a communist.

      Seriously - doesn't California have bigger problems to tackle? It really is a testament to how broken government is when the only thing they can pass is a change to the state rock.

      More than a testament to broken government, it's a reflection of the state and its people too. This is yet another sign of how California, once the greatest most glamorous state in the union, has become the nation's laughingstock. California looks more and more like Rome at the end of its life. Unfortunately, what happens to California is often a precursor of where the rest of the country is going.

      --
      Life is hard, and the world is cruel
  7. Hmmm... by decipher_saint · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't ALL rock hazardous to your health if you breathe it?

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    crazy dynamite monkey
    1. Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's been modded funny, but it's correct. The most common mineral on the land surface is quartz -- the crystalline form of SiO2. Powder it, breath it in, and eventually you get silicosis. So, obviously we must ban rocks.

      In reality, rock *dust* is harmful, but that should be fricking obvious. Take the risk seriously and wear breathing protection, and avoid powdering rocks and breathing it in if you can.

      The only rock dust that might not be particularly harmful if inhaled in small quantities could be from minerals that are reactive enough to be completely dissolved in the body. Silica and asbestos are such a problem precisely because they are silicate minerals that *aren't* easily broken down chemically, so the microscopic but sharp grains mechanically damage cells over and over again -- it's like the microscopic equivalent of crushed glass shards. Among the common rocks, limestone (CaCO3) and gypsum (CaSO4) are the only ones I can think of that are easily metabolized. We often eat these ones as food additives. Calcium supplements are often limestone. But too much of that is probably also harmful if breathed in (the lungs have a limited capacity to remove particles), and most natural limestones are not pure CaCO3 (there would be an insoluble residue left over, and that could build up).

      I can't believe they're wasting time on this. As the article mentions, much serpentine doesn't even have asbestos.

  8. It's strange by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought California was bankrupt or something. But I guess this is the biggest problem.

  9. lots of fraud around asbestos by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's been a lot of fraud around asbestos. Recently it's also transferred to silica dust somewhat. It is based in truth, because asbestosis and silicosis are real dangers, but lawyers have committed real fraud with it. In some lawsuits, the same people who were made sick and diagnosed with asbestosis were later diagnosed by the same doctors with silicosis for a different lawsuit. Here is that story. Here are some other lawyers who were recently convicted for fraud with asbestos cases.

    Lawyers are one of the biggest areas of fraud and corruption the US right now. In a lot of states, the attorney general sets up a pay-to-play system where they get kickbacks to let certain law firms handle certain legal issues (or even pursue cases that normally would be ignored). In other cases, lawyer lobby organizations try to get laws written in vague ways that will require extra legal work, or as in this case, create potential lawsuits where there doesn't seem to even be danger.

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    Qxe4
  10. Re:In other news... by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is precisely the sort of thing that politicians do when the economic and financial situation pretty much destroys any capacity at meaningful change. It's a classic stunt, where they ban things or make pointless proclamations, because these sort of actions are cheap, allow them to look populist and all governmental, even as, as you point out, Rome burns around them.

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  11. How about Pyrite... by willwinter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fools Gold seems appropriate for California these days.