Best Of The Best Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 04/5/2006 13:05

Toxic warning for nano industry
By Jonathan Fildes
BBC News website science and technology reporter



Carbon nanotubes are a basic building block of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology companies need to do more to understand potential toxic effects of their products, a senior UK researcher has warned.

Professor Anthony Seaton, of Aberdeen University, said "very little" was still known about the health impacts of particles engineered at small scales.

His concern over nanoparticles covered production and lab workers as well as consumers, he told a conference.

Businesses counter by saying there are already strict safety regulations.

"It's not like nanotechnology is appearing totally out of the blue in a completely non-regulated framework," said Dr Paul Reip, interim spokesperson for the Nanotechnology Industry Association (NIA) and founder of Qinetiq Nanomaterials.

"We're concerned as anybody else about the safety of our colleagues, workers and the products that we sell," he told the BBC News website.

Some of those existing regulations are imposed by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is in the process of extending the framework to take account of the unique properties of many nanomaterials.

Tighter controls

Professor Seaton made his remarks during the Nanoparticles for European Industry conference in London.

The event allows nanotechnology companies to showcase new ways of fabricating the tiny particles and to discuss how laboratory processes can be scaled up for manufacturing consumer products.


Some studies show carbon nanotubes have a toxic effect
He said there had been a failure to act on the recommendations of a report published in 2004 by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineers.

The report urged tighter controls in Europe and the UK on some aspects of the industry.

Professor Seaton said specific questions raised in the report about nanoparticle toxicity and how to measure it in the workplace had still not been adequately answered.

"There is very little evidence that anyone has put any thought or money into answering these questions," he told the conference.

Carbon tubes

But industry body, ENTA (European Nanotechnology Trade Alliance) believes that the perception that industry is dragging its feet is wrong.

"I don't think that it is anything to do with industry not being interested or government not being interested," said Del Stark, the Chief Executive of ENTA.

Any single incident could jeopardise the whole future of the industry

Dr Frederic Luizi, Nanocyl


Q&A Reach legislation
Instead, Mr Stark believes that both are waiting for a new European law known as Reach (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) to be passed.

The law has been described as the most important EU legislation for 20 years and puts the onus on business to show that the chemicals they use are safe.

It will also address the lack of standardised tests for assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials.

Currently there are no accepted standards. A recent paper in the journal Nano-letters reported that experiments done to assess the risk of inhaling carbon nantotubes, a common manufactured nanoparticle, sometimes showed strong toxic effects and sometimes did not depending on which methods were used.

"Once [Reach] has been agreed we will move forward," Mr Stark said.

New vulnerability

The production of nanoparticles is just one branch of nanotechnology that involves the manipulation of molecules, and even atoms, to make new materials.

Manufactured nanoparticles are dust-like fragments with a diameter of less than 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre) - one thousandth the width of a human hair.


How nanotechnology is building the future from the bottom up


In pictures

Particles on this scale already exist in the air - produced by the burning of fossil fuels and by volcanic eruptions, for example; but scientists are now able to engineer materials at these tiny sizes to give them specific, useful properties.

Nanoparticles made from metals, alloys and ceramics are already used in many products, including sunscreens, paints and sticking plasters.

Future uses include advanced electronics and drug delivery mechanisms.

Most nanotechnology poses no known risk to humans but some researchers question whether nanoparticles may be different, because they are known to be able to cross over into areas of the body that larger particulates, which humans are exposed to every day, cannot reach.

In particular, researchers like Professor Seaton are concerned about the risk posed by inhaling the particles.

Big potential

In his speech, he drew a parallel with the history of asbestos and the disease asbestosis.

"It was known as a wonder material and it got into thousands and thousands of applications," he said. "Now, thousands and thousands of people are dying from it."

Any long-term damaging effects of nanoparticles are unknown.

Frederic Luizi, research and development director for carbon nanotube producer Nanocyl, rejected the notion that asbestos and the many varieties of nanoparticle were like for like.

"They are different and they should be considered differently," he said.

Many producers of nanoparticles encapsulate them in polymers or liquids to reduce the risk of inhalation during industrial processes, and any that are used in consumer products are incorporated into composite materials that prevent their escape.

Dr Luizi argued that industry was actually taking a cautious approach. This was necessary, he said, because it had to anticipate the demands of the Reach legislation and because it could not afford to gamble on a market that some analysts expect to be worth one trillion dollars by 2015.

"Any single incident could jeopardise the whole future of the industry," he said. "We just cannot take any risks."

[ariane] 01/4/2006 10:32

ABB Resolves Asbestos Claims With $1.43 Billion Settlement
April 1 (Bloomberg) -- ABB Ltd., the world's largest manufacturer of power networks, won the backing of claimants for a $1.43 billion asbestos settlement, ending a liability that drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy in 2002.

A U.S. District Court on Feb. 28 approved the asbestos fund for ABB's Combustion Engineering unit, and a 30-day deadline to appeal passed without opposition from claimants, the Zurich, Switzerland-based company said in a statement today.

``This is a milestone in the history of ABB,'' Chief Executive Officer Fred Kindle said in an e-mailed statement. ``We are very glad to have a resolution of this important issue.''

ABB's trust fund follows similar moves to clear asbestos legacies by McDermott International Inc. and Halliburton Co. The Swiss company has already paid out $900 million to resolve court actions since 1990, and the final resolution of most remaining claims may allow it to regain an investment-grade credit rating.

The latest proposal was renegotiated to include larger payments after an earlier settlement was thrown out on appeal. This time, it won backing from claimants who say their health was impaired by exposure to asbestos from boilers made by Combustion Engineering until the 1960s. The unit was bought by ABB in 1990.

A heat-resistant material used in insulation, auto parts and construction products since the early 1900s, asbestos can cause respiratory illness and has been linked to a rare and lethal form of cancer that can surface years after exposure.

Lummus Pending

A settlement plan concerning ABB's Lummus Global unit is still pending, having been approved by 96 percent of respondents in a pre-filing solicitation. ABB plans to sell Lummus, a provider of equipment and services to the energy industry.

Standard and Poor's said on Nov. 7 that a resolution of ABB's asbestos liabilities would aid a higher credit rating. Moody's Investors Service followed suit on Jan. 10. The company's debt is rated BB+, one notch below investment grade, at Standard and Poor's and Ba2, two notches below, at Moody's.

An investment-grade rating will help the company, formed in 1988 through the merger of BBC Brown Boveri of Switzerland and ASEA AB of Sweden, move to a ``more offensive'' expansion strategy from 2007, Chief Executive Kindle said Feb. 16.

ABB's proposed fund compares with McDermott International's $2.06 billion settlement in August and Halliburton's $4.7 billion deal reached in November 2004. Halliburton's KBR and DII Industries units erased their asbestos liabilities in bankruptcy and emerged from Chapter 11 protection in January.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Thom Rose in Zurich at [e-mail]
Last Updated: April 1, 2006 02:40 EST

[ariane] 01/4/2006 09:36

Asbestos plan finalized for ABB subsidiary in U.S.
No objections filed in appeal period, CE Settlement Trust to be activated
Zurich, Switzerland, April 1, 2006 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, said today no appeals have been filed with the U.S. District Court opposing a revised Plan of Reorganization for its U.S. subsidiary, Combustion Engineering (CE), which means the plan is now final.

"This is a milestone in the history of ABB," said ABB President and CEO, Fred Kindle. "We are very glad to have a resolution of this important issue, which removes significant uncertainty that has harmed ABB over the years. The finalized plan brings benefits to both ABB and asbestos claimants."

The finalization of the CE Plan of Reorganization clears the way for asbestos claimants to receive payments from the trust to be set up in accordance with the Plan of Reorganization once it becomes effective.

The plan's channeling injunction will protect ABB and its subsidiaries from current and future asbestos claims against CE. ABB has committed cash and other assets worth approximately $1.43 billion to pay settled asbestos claims against CE.

The District Court's final order ends a process which began on February 17, 2003, when CE filed for pre-packaged Chapter 11 protection in U.S. bankruptcy courts.

A much smaller number of asbestos claims against another U.S. subsidiary - ABB Lummus Global Inc. - are in the process of being resolved. In September 2005, claimants to the Lummus Plan of Reorganization voted 96 percent in favor of the plan. ABB expects to file the Lummus Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization in the very near future.

From the time ABB acquired CE in January 1990 until CE filed for Chapter 11 in February 2003, CE settled approximately 438,000 claims, many of them without payment, and paid out approximately $1.1 billion to claimants.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 104,000 people.

[waldron] 13/3/2006 06:51

Law lords to rule on asbestos
By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor
(Filed: 13/03/2006)

Families of workers killed by the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma will be waiting anxiously for the outcome of the latest test case to be heard by the law lords today.

Insurers acting for the French-owned drainage supplier Saint Gobain Pipelines are challenging damages of £152,000 they were ordered to pay to Sylvia Barker, whose husband, Vernon, died in 1996 aged 57.

Mr Barker was exposed to asbestos dust when he worked for most of the 1960s at the Shotton steelworks in Deeside, for whose liabilities Saint Gobain is now responsible.

The former labourer had also been exposed to asbestos during a previous six-week job as a pipe-lagger and for a subsequent 20-year period as a self-employed plasterer.

The law lords held in May 2002 that a former employee suffering from mesothelioma, who had been exposed to significant amounts of asbestos dust by different employers, could sue any one of them without trying to prove which exposure caused the cancer, something regarded as medically impossible.

Mesothelioma claims approximately 2,000 lives a year. The hearing is expected to last three days

[waldron] 27/2/2006 05:38

Home improvement fans warned of asbestos risk
By Maxine Frith
Published: 27 February 2006
Britain's craze for home improvements could be putting people at risk of a deadly asbestos-related lung disease, medical experts warn today.

A conference will hear that doctors believe an epidemic of mesothelioma is set to hit Britain in the next five to 10 years, killing thousands of people a year.

The cancer, which is caused by asbestos poisoning, has no cure or treatment and the average length of survival from diagnosis to death is just nine months.

About 1,800 people die every year from the disease and experts believe that by 2011 up to 3,300 people will die from it each year.

Doctors want to raise awareness of the risks of asbestos exposure as well as campaign for more funding for research into treatments for the agonising illness, which occurs in the membranes surrounding the lungs and often spreads throughout the body.

Research has predicted that deaths from the disease in Britain will peak between 2011 and 2015 before declining. The people most at risk are workers in the building trade who may have been exposed to asbestos before strict new rules were brought in on its importation in 1980.

But a British Lung Foundation Conference will hear today that low awareness of the disease, coupled with the UK's enthusiasm for home improvement could be putting even younger people at risk.

Dr Mark Britton, of the British Lung Foundation, said: "One of the myths that people have is that during the Seventies asbestos was ripped out of any building that contained it. That is not true. It was simply not put into new houses. So if you are living in a house built before 1980 it is possible that it could have asbestos.''

He added: "We don't want to create panic but I think that people should be aware of this issue. If you don't know what you're doing and you start playing around with asbestos that is in an unstable condition you could be putting yourself at risk.''

Researchers in Australia have predicted that up to 30 per cent of new cases of mesothelioma there could be attributed to do-it-yourself enthusiasts who are unwittingly exposing themselves to asbestos.

Dr Britton said: "This is one of the most agonising diseases. You can't get oxygen in or out of your body and it slowly gets worse.

"We desperately need more funding to come up with better treatments to prolong people's lives.''

[waldron] 22/2/2006 07:30

ABB says no objections filed ahead of Feb 28 asbestos court hearing in US

ZURICH (AFX) - ABB Ltd said that no objections had been filed by the Feb 21
deadline to the US District Court's notice of a hearing on Feb 28 to confirm the
revised reorganisation plan for ABB's US subsidiary, Combustion Engineering
(CE).
Under the plan, which will protect ABB and its subsidiaries against current
and future asbestos claims, ABB has committed 1.43 bln usd for a trust fund for
asbestos claims against CE.
The absence of objections means that parties need not attend the scheduled
Feb 28 hearing at the District Court, the Swiss/Swedish engineering group said
in a statement today.
The District Court indicated that it is likely to issue the order affirming
the CE Plan of Reorganization on that day, and this would be followed by a
30-day appeals period, after which assuming no appeals were filed the order
becomes final, ABB said.





[e-mail]
scs/hjp

[ariane] 15/2/2006 17:48

Hanson, Saint-Gobain Hurt by U.S. Asbestos Upset, Dresdner Says
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Hanson Plc, the world's biggest supplier of sand and gravel for building, may be a less attractive takeover prospect after the U.S. Senate blocked a proposed $140 billion fund for asbestos victims, said Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA may also suffer.

The fund was blocked yesterday amid concern that the company-financed plan would cost taxpayers billions of dollars. The measure was intended to end asbestos lawsuits that have forced almost 80 businesses into bankruptcy, among them USG Corp., the world's largest wallboard maker.

``We remain unconvinced that an acquirer would be interested in buying/merging with Hanson, unless the asbestos liabilities were capped in law,'' London-based Dresdner analyst Darren Shaw wrote in a note. ``We continue to believe that the probability of asbestos reform becoming law in 2006 is extremely thin.''

The purchase by Aggregate Industries Plc by Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland last year demonstrates the likely appeal of Hanson to takeover, according to Shaw. The London-based company set aside $488 million to cover asbestos liabilities relating to Kaiser Cement Corp., bought in 1988, and Beazer Plc, acquired in 1991.

Shares of Hanson, whose U.S. asbestos claims are `its elephant in the room,'' according to Teather & Greenwood analyst David Taylor, slipped as much as 8.5 pence, or 1.2 percent, to 678 pence and traded at 683.5 pence as of 4:26 p.m. in London. Saint-Gobain, Europe's biggest distributor of building materials changed hands at 55.4 euros in Paris, down 1.3 percent.

The impact of yesterday's Senate failure is negative for both stocks, Shaw wrote in the note. Saint-Gobain, based near Paris, had 100,000 pending asbestos claims as of Dec. 31.

Respiratory Illness

Asbestos, a heat-resistant material used in insulation, auto parts and construction products since the early 1900s, can cause respiratory illness and has been linked to a rare and particularly lethal form of cancer that can surface years after exposure.

Supporters of the fund yesterday fell one vote short of the required 60 votes to waive a budget rule barring legislation that increases government spending by $5 billion in any of four decades after 2016. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist held out a slim hope that the measure might be revived because of the absence of one senator, Democrat Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

``It is probably fair to assume that there are Senators who voted for last night's procedural vote who want further discussion but are ultimately against the bill,'' Shaw wrote.



To contact the reporter for this story:
Brian McGee in London at [e-mail].
Last Updated: February 15, 2006 11:29 EST

[ariane] 15/2/2006 10:27

ABB Unaffected By Failed US Abestos Fund Plan

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 4:59:42 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0843 GMT [Dow Jones] ABB (ABB) is unlikely to be hurt by a failure of the US senate to pass a bill to create a national asbestos fund, says Helvea. Expects ABB to settle the $1.43B lawsuit against its unit, Combustion Engineering, around February 28 when the final hearing on the settlement takes place. Meanwhile, ABB will likely to have to go back to court because its Lummus unit still faces asbestos lawsuits, bank says. Shares trade -1.1% at CHF14. (GOM)

[ariane] 14/2/2006 10:38

Hanson says unit's insurance deal to cut asbestos costs by 20 pct a yr UPDATE

(Adds backgrond, details)
LONDON (AFX) - Hanson PLC said one of its US units, responsible for about a
fifth of the group's present asbestos costs, reached a settlement with its
insurers and that as a result Hanson expects the group's total net asbestos
costs to be reduced by 20 pct to 48 mln usd a year after 2008.
The international building materials company said under the settlement, the
subsidiary will pay the first 35 mln usd of its future asbestos costs. Hanson
estimates that this will be paid over about three years.
The remaining subsidiary's asbestos costs will be paid in full by the
insurance carriers and are expected to provide asbestos insurance cover for the
unit well beyond 2020.
Some other US subsidiaries of Hanson continue to litigate for asbestos
coverage under their insurance policies, although resolution may take a number
of years to complete, the group said.
Last December, Hanson provided an update on new asbestos claimants, which it
said are expected to be around 4,000 in the second half compared with 6,700 in
the first half of 2005. The gross cost of settlements and legal fees for the
second half of the year was expected to be similar to the first half of the year
at around 22 mln usd and significantly below last year's cost of 59.3 mln usd.
At that time and until today's settlement announcement, Hanson retained its
estimate of average underlying annual gross asbestos costs over the next eight
years of about 60 mln usd (about 34 mln stg, or 21 mln stg after tax).



[e-mail]
jc/jc

[waldron] 09/2/2006 07:06

Asbestos Hearing

RNS Number:1546Y
ABB Ltd
09 February 2006


U.S. District Court sets February 28 for confirmation of Combustion Engineering
Plan of Reorganization

Zurich, Switzerland, February 8, 2006 - A District Court judge in the United
States has set the hearing of the revised Plan of Reorganization for Combustion
Engineering, an ABB subsidiary in the U.S., for February 28, 2006.

The judge said he intended to issue an entry and affirmance of the confirmation
order of the Plan of Reorganization on that date. If there are no objections
during the 30-day appeals period following the February 28 hearing, the plan
would then become effective. ABB could then start the process of setting up the
Trust Fund for asbestos claimants.

"This is a very positive step forward. If the judge confirms the plan, and no
appeals are filed during the 30-day period, the order will become final and the
plan effective, to the benefit of all parties involved," said Fred Kindle, ABB
President and CEO.

No appeals were filed against the Plan of Reorganization before it was confirmed
by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 19, 2005.

In September 2005, claimants to a parallel asbestos-related Plan of
Reorganization for another U.S. subsidiary, ABB Lummus Global Inc., voted 96
percent in favor of the plan. That plan has not yet been filed with the
Bankruptcy Court.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies
that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100
countries and employs about 103,000 people.

For more information please contact:

Media Relations:
ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich
Thomas Schmidt. Wolfram Eberhardt
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Investor Relations:
Switzerland: Tel. [phone]
Sweden: Tel. [phone]
USA: Tel. [phone]
[e-mail]



This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END
MSCSSSSMUSMSEIE

[grupo guitarlumber] 04/2/2006 08:22

New Report on Asbestos Litigation Trends and Reforms

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Actuaries' Mass Torts Subcommittee released a report today, Current Issues in Asbestos Litigation, examining recent trends in asbestos litigation. Included is a brief overview of asbestos litigation and highlights of recent changes in the litigation environment.

According to the report, at least half a million more asbestos claims are expected to be filed over the next several decades. However, resources to compensate victims of asbestos diseases are limited and the litigation has resulted in at least 78 corporate bankruptcies.

Despite the huge costs, the asbestos litigation system has been inefficient, with only 41% of total spending reaching claimants. Two concerns identified in the report are: 1) the sickest individuals might not be compensated adequately or promptly, and 2) the majority of claimants in recent years have not shown signs of impairment, which has led to stricter medical criteria for bringing a claim in some forums.

While Congress has been debating the issue during the past few years, several state and local jurisdictions have implemented their own reforms. "Stricter medical criteria, combined with heightened scrutiny of potentially fraudulent claims, might lead to fewer mass settlements of pending claim inventories and will likely affect whether and how mass screening activities are conducted in the future," said Jenni Biggs, Chairperson of the subcommittee.

Projections of future asbestos costs are uncertain because historical data is incomplete, the litigation environment is changing, and asbestos diseases will emerge over the next several decades. "Claims for malignant diseases are estimable based on the population exposed, timing of exposure and disease latency. However, estimating the number of claims for nonmalignant diseases is much more difficult because of the complexity of the asbestos litigation environment," Biggs said. "Nonetheless, informed and objective analysis can provide meaningful support to the public policy debate."

Copies of the report can be found at

The Academy is a 15,000-member non-profit, non-partisan professional association representing all actuaries practicing in the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the Academy conducts an extensive public policy program at the state, federal, and international levels, bringing actuarial expertise to bear on issues such as Social Security, Medicare, insurance regulation, and pension reform. The Academy also sets and maintains standards of actuarial qualification and practice.

DATASOURCE: American Academy of Actuaries


CONTACT: Andrew Simonelli of the American Academy of Actuaries,

[phone],


Web site:

[grupo guitarlumber] 03/2/2006 09:06

Saint-Gobain Profit Probably Rose on U.S. Demand, BPB (Update1)
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA, the world's biggest maker of insulation, may say profit rose because of increased U.S. sales and the acquisition of U.K. plasterboard supplier BPB Plc.

Second-half net income probably climbed 5.7 percent to 723 million euros ($873 million), according to the median of eight analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. The company, based near Paris, reports after the close of trading today.

Chief Executive Officer Jean-Louis Beffa spent almost $7 billion on BPB, the biggest purchase in Saint-Gobain's 340-year- history. The acquisition will add a month of BPB's earnings to second-half profit, helping to offset rising energy prices that prompted Beffa to cut his profit forecast in October.

``I'm happy they bought this company,'' said Serge Van Ingelgem, who manages $295 million at Petercam SA in Brussels and owns Saint-Gobain shares. ``The price was high, but it was worth it. It's good to make the business less cyclical.''

Shares of Saint-Gobain, formed in 1665 under King Louis XIV, rose 13 percent last year, ranking them the sixth-worst performers on the 17-member Bloomberg Europe Building-Materials index. The stock has added 2.4 percent this year.

Of the 22 analysts tracked by Bloomberg who follow Saint- Gobain, 16 have a ``buy'' rating and six say ``hold.'' None say sell. The French company's six-month results have beaten analyst estimates on two of the last four occasions.

Earnings Profile

``BPB will add to the earnings profile of the group,'' said Tobias Woerner, a London-based analyst at Man Financial Ltd. who recommends buying the shares. ``In the short-term there could be concerns about gas prices and a slowdown in U.S. housing.''

Saint-Gobain spokeswoman Jacques Valentin declined to comment before the earnings.

The BPB deal created the world's largest maker of building interiors such as ceilings, partitions and walls. The unit's inclusion in Saint-Gobain's results from Dec. 1 may add 42 million euros, based on BPB's Nov. 10 forecast of record annual pretax profit of 350 million pounds or 29 million pounds a month.

``If Saint-Gobain doesn't generate any growth in 2005 results then this would be taken badly by the market,'' Paris- based Ixis Securities analyst Rafic El Haddad said.

Saint-Gobain, Europe's biggest distributor of building materials, and BPB are benefiting from construction work in the U.S. and growth in emerging markets. Nine-month sales at Saint- Gobain added 6.9 percent to 25.74 billion euros.

Beffa, 64, whose annual salary remained unchanged at 980,000 euros in 2004, plans to sell assets to help pay for BPB. St. Gobain has hired Lazard Ltd. to advise on the disposal of Calmar, a U.S.-based plastic-pumps unit, valued by analysts at as much as $900 million. Saint-Gobain is also targeting savings of 100 million euros in the first two years of BPB ownership.

Energy Costs

The company, also the world's biggest glassmaker, incurred higher energy costs to run furnaces and delivery trucks as oil and gas prices rose to records last year. Saint-Gobain struggled to raise prices to compensate, and Beffa on Oct. 25 lowered his forecast for growth in annual earnings before interest and tax to less than 4.9 percent from a previous 6 percent target.

``Energy remains very problematic for them,'' El Haddad said.

Saint-Gobain, which made the glass for the pyramids at the Louvre museum in Paris, annually supplies more than 30 billion bottles, flasks and jars.

Asbestos Costs

Saint-Gobain's share price and earnings have also been hurt by liabilities from U.S. lawsuits related to asbestos, a mineral linked to respiratory illnesses. The company had 99,000 pending claims as of Sept. 30. The average cost of claims settled over the past 12 months was about $2,500, Saint-Gobain says.

Moody's Investors Service expects the number of asbestos cases to stabilize, with little change in the level of payouts, it said on Nov. 22. The credit rating company downgraded Saint- Gobain's debt rating to Baa1 from A2 after the BPB deal.

``The real story is going to be 2006 and where they are with the integration of BPB and whether after one month they see more savings than expected,'' Ixis's El Haddad said. ``The BPB outlook is very important for the stock at a time when the market now fears a slowing in U.S. housing.''



To contact the reporter on this story:
Nicolas Johnson in Paris [e-mail].
Last Updated: January 26, 2006 02:00 EST

[grupo guitarlumber] 27/1/2006 06:32

Landmark asbestos ruling expected to save underwriters £1.4bn
By Yvette Essen (Filed: 27/01/2006)


People who have been exposed to asbestos but are not suffering from any illness should not receive compensation, the Court of Appeal said yesterday in a landmark ruling that over-turned an earlier High Court judgment.



The court said pleural plaques - small, flat discs formed on the membrane between the lungs and the ribcage, which show exposure to asbestos fibres - are "neither visible, nor symptomatic" and "in no way impairs the bodily functions".

Trade union Amicus estimates there are 14,000 cases a year of pleural plaque - a benign scarring of the lung lining - which account for around 75pc of all asbestos-related claims. The Asbestos Working Party found in 2002 that pleural plague claims could cost the insurers £1.4billion during the next 35 years, with more than 100,000 claims expected.

The ruling came after two claimants, named as Mr Hindson and Mr Grieves, sought to increase damages awarded by the High Court for pleural plaques. However, the pair were yesterday given the right to take their cases against Norwich Union and Zurich Insurance to the House of Lords.

The High Court case began in November 2004, with the two insurers arguing, along with the Department of Trade and Industry, that 10 men with pleural plaques, including Mr Hindson and Mr Grieves, should not be given compensation.

One lawyer speculated that the ruling could lead to underwriters being able to reclaim money previously paid out for settlements. But Steve Thomas, technical claims manager of Zurich UK General Insurance, said it would not go down this route.

Dominic Clayden, Norwich Union's technical claims director, said: "We welcome the judgment and believe it to be a pragmatic result on the issue of compensation being awarded for an asymptomatic condition."

Lex Dowie, a litigation consultant at Simpson & Marwick, said: "Twenty years of practice in the civil courts have been overturned. No one can deny the huge importance of the financial aspects of the case."

[waldron] 14/11/2005 13:47

Asbestos compensation bid starts

It is thought up to £1bn could be paid to people with pleural plaques
Lawyers are set to mount a bid to win compensation for thousands of workers who have been struck down by an asbestos-related health condition.
If successful, solicitors believe up to £1bn could be paid to people with pleural plaques - scarring on the lung lining due to asbestos exposure.

Ian McFall, of Thompsons law firm, said most asbestos-related disease was due to "negligent" employers.

The insurance industry is keen to end compensation claims for the condition.

It hopes to do so by taking a case to the Court of Appeal in London.

Mr McFall said: "For over 20 years the courts have accepted that pleural plaques, together with the increased risk of future disease and related anxiety, constitutes an injury and should therefore be compensated.

"The majority of people who develop any type of asbestos-related disease, including pleural plaques, do so because their employers were negligent in failing to protect them from exposure to asbestos.

"This case is about the right of those people to continue to receive awards of compensation for the injury they have suffered."

[ariane] 26/10/2005 09:25

French Senate sees asbestos victim treatment costing 27-37 bln eur over 20 yrs

PARIS (AFX) - A French Senate report blamed the government for failing to
manage the country's asbestos contamination problem properly and estimated it
will cost 27-37 bln eur in the next 20 years to treat victims of what
researchers see as an "inescapable and irreversible" cancer epidemic.
Cancer deaths attributable to asbestos will accelerate to 60,000-100,000 in
the next 20-25 years from 35,000 in the 30 years that ended in 1995, the report
forecast.
It particularly criticised a permanent committee of government, business and
scientific officials on the asbestos issue, calling it "a 'model' of lobbying,
communication and manipulation."
[e-mail]
afp/mjs/jsa

[waldron] 23/10/2005 20:48

Husband fights to prove asbestos killed his wife
Stewart Littlemore has launched a desperate bid for help proving his wife was killed by deadly asbestos. Mr Littlemore is fighting to claim compensation after his wife Margaret died in July aged 54 of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. He said: 'I wouldn't want anyone else to have to die in such pain the way Margaret did.' Mr Littlemore is certain his wife's death is linked to her job at Plessey Telecommunications in Sunderland, where she worked in the late 60s and early 70s, and is appealing to anybody who knew or worked with Margaret - or can confirm she was exposed to asbestos dust - to come forward and help his family win justice. He said: 'After Margaret's diagnosis, other people said that they believe asbestos was present in the Plessey factory. If anyone knows anything about asbestos at the factory I'd like them to get in touch.' Solicitor Lucy Hindmarch, from personal injury specialists Irwin Mitchell, said she is confident a case can be brought if a source of asbestos exposure is found. 'Margaret Littlemore was relatively young to be diagnosed with this illness and I'm appealing for witnesses to come forward to confirm that she was exposed to asbestos,' she said. 'There is some evidence to suggest that there was asbestos in the Plessey factory, and we believe it may have been used in the assembly process.'

Sunderland Today. Anyone able to help can contact Lucy Hindmarch on 0870 1500 100

[ariane] 20/10/2005 09:01

Allianz moves 882 mln usd to Fireman's Fund reserves to cover asbestos claims

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Allianz AG is moving 882 mln usd from its existing
reserves to US unit Fireman's Fund's reserves to cover asbestos and envionmental
claims, a spokeswoman for the company said, confirming a press report.
Financial Times Deutschland earlier cited Allianz's tender document for
its's planned takeover of Italian unit Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta SpA as
saying the insurance giant is hiking Fireman's Fund's reserves to fulfill a
reinsurance contract.
Allianz acts as Fireman's Fund's reinsurer, covering the unit's burden from
asbestos and environmental claims.
The newspaper cited a spokesman as saying the transaction will have no
impact on Allianz's full-year results.
[e-mail]
ms/lam

[grupo guitarlumber] 29/9/2005 06:52

ABB says asbestos plan won 'overwhelming' support with claimants

ZURICH (AFX) - ABB Ltd said that its proposed asbestos settlement plan
received "overwhelming voting support" by claimants.
A bankruptcy court in Pittsburgh yesterday concluded its confirmation
hearing, ABB said in a statement late yesterday.
Judge Fitzgerald asked the company to submit a proposed confirmation order
within the next two weeks.
After approval by the bankruptcy court, the plan needs approval by a U.S.
district court.
ABB's previous settlement plan was rejected by a US court last year. It then
revised the plan.
scs/jfr

[grupo guitarlumber] 29/9/2005 06:27

ABB Says Court Hearing Over; Asbestos Plan Resolution Closer
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- ABB Ltd., the world's biggest maker of power transformers, said a U.S. bankruptcy court hearing over its revised asbestos plan has been concluded, moving the matter closer to resolution.

``ABB has advanced a further step for a final asbestos resolution,'' the Zurich-based company said in an e-mailed statement sent out late yesterday. The Lummus pre-packaged plan has received ``overwhelming'' voting support by claimants, the company said.

The judge has also asked Combustion Engineering to submit a proposed confirmation order within the next two weeks, it said. The asbestos plan will then need to be approved by a U.S. district court, ABB said.

The company has paid about $900 million since 1990 to settle thousands of asbestos claims against its U.S.-based units Lummus Global and Combustion Engineering. If settlement plans are approved, it will pay $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion more.

Norwalk, Connecticut-based Combustion Engineering used asbestos to insulate boilers made until the 1960s. ABB, whose factory controls paint General Motors Corp.'s Hummer vehicles, purchased the company in 1990.

The use of asbestos as an insulator and for fireproofing, which was widespread in the U.S. until the 1970s, has been linked to respiratory illnesses and mesothelioma, a form of cancer.