Wake Up Canada and Smell the Asbestos
May 18th, 2010. By janem
Canadians are proud of their healthy lifestyle– surrounded by wide open spaces, fresh air and clean water. But there’s a nasty blight on this near-perfect landscape: Quebec’s asbestos mine. Yep, Canadians still allow asbestos mining, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) plea to ban asbestos in every country and despite medical and political professionals warning about asbestos mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.
Quebec exports mined asbestos to many underdeveloped countries and Canada is the leading exporter of chrysotile asbestos–putting at stake the lives of countless people who will be exposed to the deadly asbestos fibers and likely unaware of the danger. Even if they knew the risk of asbestos exposure, many people couldn’t afford, or don’t have access to, safety equipment. And their employers aren’t likely to have safety regulations in place.
WHO estimates that 125 million people around the world are exposed to asbestos in the workplace today, and in 2004 alone, 107,000 people died from occupational exposure to the fibre. The use of asbestos is restricted in the US, but not banned.
Last week in Ottawa about 100 medical and political professionals–including a handful of people from Quebec’s own professional, medical, academic and scientific communities– held an anti-asbestos rally to protest the last active asbestos mining in Asbestos (yes, the town is actually called Asbestos!), Quebec. Increasing pressure on the government couldn’t come at a better time: asbestos industry officials are waiting on yet another loan from the government, this time to approve another underground asbestos mine. It would mean about 30 years of exports and it could create 450 jobs. BIG DEAL.
The two asbestos mines in Quebec only have about 700 people on the payroll. In 1979, the Canadian asbestos industry was valued at US$652 million, and that amount has decreased significantly. Not much for so much misery it has caused.
So how about the government coming up with another means of income for miners? After all, they’ve done it before with pulp and paper mills that went belly-up. In 2008 the Canadian government spent nearly $20 million in the past two decades to promote exports of the mineral, almost all of it going to developing nations. How about spending on alternative job creation instead of asbestos promotion?
Do Canadians want to be known for the next 30 years as the biggest exporter of asbestos? That’s grounds for separation from Quebec!
Of course the asbestos industry defends itself by denials and lies. Industry spokespersons in Asbestos (town of) claim that chrysotile is less dangerous than other forms and with care can be used safely. But just about everyone in the know vehemently disagree.WHO claims that all types of asbestos cause asbestosis, cancer and mesothelioma and in a report last year, the former Assistant Surgeon General of the US said that “the chrysotile lobby relies on misinterpretations, false claims, and undocumented statements to advance its global propaganda campaign for the continued use of chrysotile asbestos. . . . Blow away their smoke . . . and truth emerges for all to see: asbestos is deadly . . . and the continued use of chrysotile is unconscionable.”
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Definitely some sad figures in here. If nothing else, while Canada still has a major asbestos problem, at least the issue is making national headlines. I'd like to see us reach a similar level of awareness about the material (let alone toxic chemical reform in general) in the U.S. too.
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