Heat and Frost Insulators News and Events

Cambridge, UK, and Lanham, MD, USA June 05, 2019: Owlstone Medical, a global diagnostics company developing a breathalyzer for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, announced today the formation of a partnership with the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (IAHFIAW), formerly known as the Asbestos Workers, a building trades union in the United States and Canada, to identify and verify breath-based biomarkers for the early detection of malignant mesothelioma.

On March 18, Rep. John Katko, a Republican from New York’s 24^th District, introduced the Mary Jo Lawyer-Spano Mesothelioma Patient Registry Act of 2019 (H.R. 1824) into Congress.

The Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (HFIAW) organized a two-day conference bringing together doctors, researchers and other professions the deal with the impact asbestos has played on multiple generations of mechanical insulators and other construction workers.

A great amount of our government advocacy is focused on improving the health of our membership and
their families.

A New Year is upon us, and a renewed call has been issued to sign up with the Insulators Tissue Bank (ITB).  New forms for 2016 are now available on our website and, once again, we are encouraging all members to get involved and help us find a way to end asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma.

Forms from 2015 will no longer be accepted.

The purpose of the ITB is to establish a repository of high quality, asbestos-related-tumor tissue specimens and fluid samples from a highly exposed population of Insulators to support research that finds new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions.

As we work to promote the health of Insulator members and families, we are continuing our work to promote the Mesothelioma Patient Registry Act (H.R. 3284).

In October, General President McCourt wrote to Congressman Katko, the sponsor of H.R. 3284, thanking him for his leadership by introducing this important legislation.