Canadian asbestos: A global concern

International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health

Volumn 10, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 121-143

  Kazan Allen, Laurie ^a  

^a NONE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Asbestos; Ban Asbestos Canada; Canada; Chrysotile

Indexed keywords

ASBESTOS; CHRYSOTILE;

CANADA; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; HEALTH EDUCATION; HEALTH PROGRAM; MARKETING; MINING; POLITICS; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PUBLIC HEALTH; REVIEW; RISK REDUCTION; VICTIM;

EID: 2942674982     PISSN: 10773525     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1179/oeh.2004.10.2.121     Document Type: Review

References (28)

1. The event was organized and sponsored by a range of Canadian and international groups, including: the New Democratic Party, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Canadian Autoworkers Union, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Mining Watch Canada, the White Lung Association (USA), the Society of Occupational and Environmental Health (USA), the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, and the Global Ban Asbestos Movement. The officers of the conference were: Joe Comartin (President); Elizabeth May and Anthony Pizzino (Vice Presidents).
2. The fact that hundreds of letters protesting the conference were faxed to the offices of two MPs is more a measure of the effectiveness of the industry in mobilizing its employees than a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. Virtually all the faxes were identical in layout and content, the only difference being the handwritten name and address at the bottom of the typed page. The French text of the faxes deplored the involvement in the conference of MP Joe Comartin, accusing him of trying to destroy Thetford's chrysotile industry. Furthermore, the petitioners complained, Comartin and his colleague Jack Layton were endangering 25 years of progress during which working conditions in the chrysotile mines and factories in Canada had immeasurably improved.
3. The full name of this union is the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada).
4. The program for September 12 and 13, 2003, is attached as Appendix A.
5. The first day of the conference was recorded by CPAC and was shown on their Web site on several occasions during the last two weeks of September. A copy of the tape with English or French audio can be purchased from CPAC, 〈www.cpac.ca〉.
6. Catherine Coumans: Magnola Metallurgy Inc. November 2002; paper obtained at the conference.
7. Roch Lanthier. Magnola Magnesium Smelter: The POPs trial; paper obtained at the conference.
8. In recent years, the Jeffrey mine has been working under capacity, producing 125,000 t annually.
9. Since the mid-1980s, this Québec-based association has been working with Canadian and international asbestos interests to promote global sales of chrysotile despite mounting evidence that it causes a variety of diseases.
10. The AI is located at 1200 McGill College Avenue-Suite 1640, Montreal. Clearly, the AI is able to afford these premises; it had, after all, received C$54 million between 1984 and 2001 from the Federal Government, the Québec Government, and the asbestos industry.
11. Jock McCulloch: Notes for Presentation to the Ottawa Conference. September 12, 2003.
12. Due to strict libel laws in the United Kingdom, the scientist identified is not named here; however, Dr. McCulloch plans to name him in an academic paper to be published shortly.
13. Brophy J, Parent M. Documenting the asbestos story in Sarnia. New Solutions. 1999; 9:297-316.
14. Responding to a letter from Dr. Castleman in 1986, the head of the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency admitted that such devices were not used in Brazil.
15. Canada's Comments on the Experts' Responses to the Questions from the Panel. December 13, 1999, European Communities-Measures concerning asbestos and asbestos containing products.
16. There was an asbestos mine in Peru but it was operational only for two years.
17. The Asociacion Frente al Asbesto-Programa de Estudios del Asbesto y Riesgos del Trabajo [AFA-PEART/Association Against Asbestos-Program for Study of the Occupational Risks of Asbestos].
18. Since 1996 there have been four Ministers of Water in the Lebanese Government.
19. The shipping of the entire exhibition is a massive operation as it includes 90 large photographs, 35 vintage photographs, actual asbestos products, asbestos advertisements, packaging, archive documents, a 2,000-item bibliography, and a "Wall of Shame" listing negligent asbestos corporations, insurers, and individuals.
20. Sabatini AJ. Taking Photographs, Making Statements: Bill Ravanesi's Asbestos Project. The Breath Taken catalogue. 1991.
21. The first OHCOW clinic was set up in Hamilton in 1989 by the Ontario Federation of Labour. Since then, clinics have been opened in Sarnia-Lambton, Sudbury, Toronto, and Windsor. They are funded by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
22. VOCV Web site: 〈www.vocv.org〉.
23. The GMB membership of 720,000 includes asbestos-removal workers, gas service engineers, construction workers, former asbestos-product-manufacturer workers, and shipyard employees, all of whom are considered to be at high risk of developing asbestos-related diseases due to current and/or previous exposures.
24. The Dresden Declaration on the Protection of Workers against Asbestos was adopted in September 2003.
25. Segura O, Burdorf A, Looman C. Update of predictions of mortality from pleural mesothelioma in The Netherlands. Occup Environ Med. 2003;60:50-5.
26. Ian Bussieres, Reuters Canada. La mine Jeffrey reprend temporairement ses activities. September 7, 2003.
27. Egilman D. Exposing the "myth" of ABC, "anything but chrysotile": a critique of the Canadian asbestos mining industry and McGill University chrysotile studies. Am J Ind Med. 2003;44:540-57.
28. A letter from BANI was presented by Gopal Krishna to M. P. Comartin, Conference President, on September 15, 2003; on September 26, 2003, Joe wrote to the President of India and 18 other high-ranking officials: "As a fellow parliamentarian and someone with a concern for the well being of your constituents, I would urge you and the Parliament of India to consider enacting the necessary legislation to ban the importation and use of asbestos in your country."