An Ohio woman who lost her father to asbestos mesothelioma is calling for a complete asbestos banin the United States.

Cindy Z. grew up in a small camping and canoeing town, Loudonville, in North Central Ohio and her family has lived in this area for many years.

When she spoke to the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, she said, “My parents were born and raised in this area as well… Family was always very important to us. We spent a lot of time with our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.”

She told the Alliance that after she graduated from high school, she got married and had three kids: a daughter and two sons. Cindy says that they are all grown up and are now parents themselves. Cindy has several grandchildren.

When she found out her father had been diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure, Cindy and her family were devastated.

She reports that her father came down with something that resembled bronchitis last winter.

She says, “His cough continued for two months, and in March the doctor took an X-ray of his chest. They found a small mass on the outside of his lung.”

Her father’s doctors told the family that there was some hope. Cindy told the Alliance, “The doctor said it was operable and was confident that dad would be okay after they removed the mass and he went through radiation treatment. He referred dad to an oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.”

However, her father’s lungs started filling up with fluid. The Cleveland Clinic oncologist needed to surgically put a tube in his lung to keep the fluid drained.

As a result, the doctor performed a biopsy on her father’s lung and discovered mesothelioma.

The family was shocked. They didn’t know anyone with mesothelioma because of its rarity.

By the time the mesothelioma was discovered, it was too late for Cindy’s father. It had already progressed too far to be treated.

Cindy talked about her father’s condition, “While dad was sick, he lost his appetite, which caused him to lose weight and get real thin… He didn’t have much energy and would tire easily.”

After a long battle with the asbestos-caused disease, Cindy’s father passed away on June 12, 2016.

Asbestos and Mesothelioma

Nearly every case of mesothelioma is connected to asbestos exposure.

Cindy’s father was exposed to the mineral as a member of the U.S. Army after he was drafted before he went to college. He lived on an army base in Chicago and then later, went on to work in the maintenance department of a plumbing products manufacturer in Ohio.

Cindy said, “He worked his way up to becoming a tool and die maker. He was the only one who made tools to fit the machines.”

In 1994, Cindy’s father retired, however, the years spent working in an industrial setting had a bad effect on him.

Exposed to asbestos for so many years, he retired with lungs full of asbestos fibers. This ultimately developed into mesothelioma.

Woman Calls for Asbestos Ban

It wasn’t until 1973 that any type of asbestos ban was put into place. At that time, under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act, most spray-applied asbestos products were banned for fireproofing and insulating.

In 1989, an asbestos ban called the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule was initiated. It hoped to impose a full asbestos ban on the manufacturing, importation, processing and sale of products that contained asbestos.

However, many older buildings and structures still contain vast amounts of asbestos that can be harmful if inhaled.

Cindy believes that the only true way to make mesothelioma a thing of the past is to institute a complete asbestos ban in the United States. She wants to hold the government responsible for an asbestos ban on every asbestos product in the U.S.