What Would You Do If Your Government Knowingly and Willfully Put Your Life At Risk From Asbestos Exposure?
By Theodora Filis
Every year, over 10,000 people die from complications related to asbestos exposure in the US alone. Despite everything known about the danger of asbestos, halting its use has been a difficult process in Canada and the United States.
In the 1990s, many countries adopted bans on the use and importation of asbestos to protect their citizens – except the US and Canada – strong economic and political forces still conspire against the movement to ban asbestos.
When France announced in 1996 that it would ban the use of asbestos, Canada (a major exporter of chrysotile asbestos) felt threatened. The Canadian government took its concerns to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to argue that the ban was an “unreasonable restriction of international trade.”
However, disputing the resolution panel, the WTO rejected Canada’s argument, finding that France and other countries involved in the ban had valid public health concerns. Today, asbestos has been banned in more than 55 countries around the world, including all 25 countries in the European Union.
Why no Asbestos ban in the US and Canada? In 1989 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule – later overturned in 1991 in the case of Corrosion Proof Fittings v. EPA.
Asbestos exposure has been known to cause malignant and non-malignant diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, heart, abdomen, and other organs. The average age at diagnosis is 62 years of age, occurs about four times more frequently in men than in women, and is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.
The life expectancy for mesothelioma patients is generally reported as less than one year following diagnosis, however, a patient's prognosis can be positively affected by numerous factors including how early the cancer is diagnosed and how aggressively it is treated.
The three widely accepted ways to treat mesothelioma are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Studies show that a combination of these treatments can ease pain, help eliminate symptoms and slow the progress of mesothelioma cancer. Treatment options that are available depend heavily on what stage the mesothelioma is in when diagnosed.
Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been used commonly in a variety of building construction materials for insulation and as a fire-retardant. Because of its fiber strength and heat-resistant properties, asbestos has been used for a wide range of manufactured goods, mostly in building materials (roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper products, and asbestos cement products), friction products (automobile clutch, brake, and transmission parts), heat-resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.
When asbestos-containing materials are damaged or disturbed by repair, remodeling, or demolition activities, microscopic fibers become airborne and can be inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause significant health problems.
Most Common Sources of Asbestos Exposure:
Workplace exposure to people that work in industries that mine make or use asbestos products and those living near these industries, including the construction industry (particularly building demolition and renovation activities), the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials), and during automotive brake and clutch repair work. Deteriorating, damaged, or disturbed asbestos-containing products such as insulation, fireproofing, acoustical materials, and floor tiles.
There are other countries where asbestos use is legal and, in some cases, on the rise. The Canadian government, having failed to win over the WTO, realized that it would have to work directly with developing countries to support a market for its asbestos.
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