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Chrysotile asbestos use is not safe and must be banned

On February 22, 2013, one hundred and forty-three scientists and organisations from thirty countries released the following Statement:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the dangerous misinformation that the International Chrysotile Association is disseminating in its effort to defeat a proposed ban on asbestos in Pakistan.

The International Chrysotile Association “actively represents the interest of Chrysotile Industry world over”.[1]

In a letter dated January 31, 2013 to Dr. Mahmood A. Khwaja (Senior Adviser, Chemicals and Sustainable Industrial Development, Sustainable Development Policy Institute of Pakistan), the Chairman of the International Chrysotile Association (Mr. Jean-Marc Leblond) expresses the opposition of that Association to the recommendation made, in January 2013, by the Pakistan National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Resource Development to ban the import and use of asbestos.

Mr. Leblond is a long-time salesman of asbestos. From 1986 to 2007, he was Vice President in charge of Sales for LAB Chrysotile Inc., a Quebec asbestos mining company. From 2008 to 2011, he was President of Chrysotile Canada Inc., the marketing agency for Quebec asbestos mining companies. He sat as a director of the discredited asbestos lobby organisation, the Chrysotile Institute. Presently, he is President of Polyser Inc., a consulting company in international trade.

The directors of the International Chrysotile Association do not have scientific credentials. They are executives and promoters of the asbestos industry, with a vested interest in selling asbestos.

Scientists and scientific organisations have condemned these asbestos lobby organisations for “endangering public health by disseminating misleading and untruthful information about chrysotile asbestos, especially in the world’s emerging economies.”[2]

The information that the International Chrysotile Association (I.C.A.) puts forward in its letter is false.

1) The I.C.A. claims in its letter that “the scientific evidence is overwhelming which supports the safe and responsible use of chrysotile.”

In fact, the overwhelming scientific evidence shows that chrysotile asbestos causes deadly diseases and that “safe use” of chrysotile asbestos has not ever been documented. Even in Canada, a highly regulated and technologically advanced country, where chrysotile asbestos has been mined and used in the province of Quebec for a hundred years, all the Quebec government’s directors of Public Health warn that “safe use of chrysotile asbestos” cannot be achieved and that Quebec’s “safe use” policy has been a complete failure.[3] The present government of Quebec has consequently ended its support for the Quebec asbestos industry. Because of past use of asbestos, Quebec’s Occupational Health & Safety Commission reports that asbestos-related diseases continue to represent 70% of deaths caused by occupational diseases.[4]

While a handful of scientists financed by the asbestos industry, such as those the I.C.A. cites in its letter, deny the health risks of chrysotile asbestos and promote its continued used, not a single reputable scientific body in the world supports this position.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization and the World Bank have all called for an end to the use of chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile asbestos represents 100% of the global asbestos trade today. Over the past century, chrysotile asbestos represented 95% of all asbestos sold, with all other forms of asbestos representing 5% of asbestos sold. The WHO cites 107,000 occupational deaths yearly from exposure to asbestos.

The Union for the International Control of Cancer (2012), comprising more than 700 member organisations in 155 countries, the World Federation of Public Health Associations (2005), the International Commission on Occupational Health (2000), the International Social Security Association (2004), the Collegium Ramazzini (1999, 20105) and the International Trade Union Confederation (2004) – representing 175 million workers in 151 countries – have all called for a global ban on the use of all forms of asbestos, particularly chrysotile asbestos.

A recent Position Statement published by the Joint Policy Committee of Societies of Epidemiology (JPC-SE)6, endorsed by numerous scientific organisations around the world[7] and individual scientists8, calls for a global ban on the mining, use and export of all forms of asbestos.

2) The I.C.A. claims in its letter that chrysotile cement building materials, “with the application of simple control measures … do not present any significant risk to workers, the general public or the environment.”

In fact, the WHO has particularly emphasized the dangers of chrysotile cement building materials, noting that: “The workforce involved is large, exposure is difficult to control, and in-place materials have the potential to deteriorate and pose a risk to those carrying out alterations, maintenance, and demolition.”[9]

3) The I.C.A. claims in its letter that others forms of asbestos are hazardous, but that chrysotile asbestos “can and is being used safely, i.e. at low exposures it does not present a detectable risk to health.”

In fact, the scientific consensus is overwhelming that, as the WHO states, there is no safe exposure level to chrysotile asbestos and the only way to prevent epidemics of  asbestos related diseases is to stop the use of all forms of asbestos. Not a single reputable scientific organisation in the world agrees with the assertion made by Mr. Leblond and the asbestos lobby.

4) The I.C.A. claims in its letter that substitute fibers are “non-regulated, more expensive, less durable and, unlike the minimal risk associated with chrysotile, their potential risk to the health of workers is unknown.”

In fact, as the WHO and the World Bank state, safer non-fibrous and fibrous alternatives to asbestos are available and have been satisfactorily used for decades. Studies carried out in Thailand show that the price difference is minimal.[10] Use of chrysotile asbestos, however, causes enormous economic costs in health care, as well as in safety measures when buildings are constructed, renovated, repaired or demolished, or after a natural disaster causes devastation, such as an earthquake or hurricane.  These costs are externalized by the asbestos industry and paid by citizens and governments in both money and lives.

According to Phaskorn Buranawit, the managing director of Siam Fibre Cement, the leading manufacturer of fibre cement roof tiles in Thailand, the purchase price difference between asbestos and non-asbestos roofing products is only 2 to 5%.[11]

5) The I.C.A. claims in its letter that 129 countries Member States of the WHO, including the U.S. and Canada, are using asbestos today.

In fact, use of asbestos has virtually ceased in the U.S. and Canada. In 1980, the U.S. used 350,000 tonnes of asbestos. In 2011, the U.S. used 961 tonnes – 0.3% of the 1980 figure.[12]

In 2011, just five countries – China, India, Russia, Brazil and Kazakhstan – accounted for 74% of all asbestos consumed globally. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of  countries banning asbestos tripled from 18 countries to 54; the number of countries using asbestos dropped by 53% in this time period. By 2012, only 15 countries were using more than 500 tonnes of asbestos a year.[13] (Note: The correct figure is 35 countries were using more than 500 tonnes of asbestos in 2011. The typographical error on the IBAS website, stating 15 countries, was corrected to say 35 countries on February 23, 2013.)

In every country where asbestos has been used, it has created a financial and human disaster. Consequently, more and more countries refuse to use asbestos. The asbestos industry, in its efforts to protect its profits, therefore targets countries, such as Pakistan, that are considering a ban on asbestos. The industry is indifferent to the economic and human costs that Pakistan will face if it allows continued use of asbestos.

6) The scientist that the I.C.A. most strongly relies on in its letter is consultant, David Bernstein, Ph.D., who claims that chrysotile asbestos is quickly expelled from the lungs and poses little risk to health.

In its letter, the I.C.A. states that a recent study – Health risk of chrysotile revisited by Bernstein et al – is “of paramount relevance to your deliberations”. The I.C.A. “urge your and your colleagues’ close attention to its  contents”. The I.C.A. did not disclose that the I.C.A. had funded this study.

While Dr. Bernstein presents himself as an independent scientist, he admitted, when questioned by a judge, that all his studies on chrysotile asbestos had been funded by the chrysotile asbestos industry and by corporations facing litigation cases for harm caused by chrysotile asbestos. Dr. Bernstein admitted to the judge that not a single scientific body anywhere agreed with his views on chrysotile asbestos.[14]

Dr. Bernstein is reported to have received a million dollars from the Canadian chrysotile asbestos lobby organisation (the Asbestos Institute, now renamed the Chrysotile Institute) to carry out his study Biopersistence of Canadian Chrysotile[15], which is #1 in the list of studies put forward by the I.C.A. in their letter. The Asbestos Institute released Dr. Bernstein’s study, with great fanfare, on September 9, 2003. In its media release, the Asbestos Institute stated “Buoyed by the results of the biopersistence study on Quebec chrysotile, the Asbestos Institute will now focus on (…) encouraging various players to increase their consumption of chrysotile”.[16]

In fact, many chrysotile fibres are not expelled from the lung, but are moved to the pleura where mesotheliomas occur. Studies from France, the U.S. and Japan show that the most common form of fibre found in the pleura of mesothelioma cases is short chrysotile fibres, sometimes the only fibre type found.[17]

Furthermore, other recognized human carcinogens have much shorter residence in the body (formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, benzidine) than the mineral fibres of chrysotile.

The JPC-SE Position Statement on Asbestos points out how the asbestos industry has undermined public health policy: “Similar to the tobacco industry, the asbestos industry has funded and manipulated research to manufacture findings favourable to its own interests.” The Position Statement documents how the industry has set up front organizations, which claim that, “while other forms of asbestos are hazardous, chrysotile asbestos is quickly expelled from the lungs and presents little hazard to health.”

The Position Statement emphasizes that: “Independent and reputable scientific authorities reject these claims as erroneous, dangerous, and deceptive.

THEREFORE, WE, THE SIGNERS OF THIS STATEMENT:

· Categorically condemn the dangerous misinformation that the International Chrysotile Association is disseminating, because it will cause unnecessary disease and death.

· Categorically condemn the efforts of the International Chrysotile Association to undermine a public health initiative in Pakistan to protect the people of Pakistan from asbestos-related diseases and death.

· Call on the asbestos industry to cease its interference in public health initiatives in other countries, since these initiatives should be dealt with by the people of those countries without interference by foreign agencies who are pursuing their own vested interests.

· Encourage the Government of Pakistan to recognize the letter from the International Chrysotile Association as the dangerous misinformation it is.

· Emphasize that the scientific consensus is clear that chrysotile asbestos causes harm to health, that it cannot be safely used and that the use of any form of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, should be globally banned.

· Urge the Government of Pakistan to protect the health of its citizens by banning the import and use of asbestos, as the Pakistan National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has recommended.

SIGNERS:

INDIVIDUAL SCIENTISTS

NOTE: Titles and affiliations for individual signers are given for identification purposes only.

DR. GUADALUPE AGUILAR MADRID, PhD, Unidad de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI.IMSS, Mexico

DR. MICHELINE BEAUDRY, Ph.D., professeure retraitée, l’Université Laval, Québec, Canada

DR WARREN BELL, MD, former President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada

DR. DENISE BOWES, MD, CCFP, rural family physician (retired); member Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada

DR. JAMES BROPHY, PhD, University of Windsor; former Executive Director, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Canada

PROF ALEX BURDORF, PHD, Chair in Determinants of Population Health, Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands

DR. CHRIS CARLSTEN, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Chair in Occupational and Environmental Lung Disease; Director, Occupational Lung Disease Clinic; Associate Faculty, School of Population and Public Health Associate, UBC James Hogg Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada

DR BARRY CASTLEMAN, ScD, Environmental Consultant, USA; author, Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects; Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini.

DR SANJAY CHATURVEDI, MD, FAMS, FIPHA, FIAPSM, Professor & Head, Dept. of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India

PROF. MARCELO ENRIQUE CONTI, Ph.D. Department of Management, Sapienza, University of Rome; International Commission on Occupational Health (Toxicology of Metals & Nanomaterial Workers’ Health Scientific Committees); Editor in Chief, International Journal of Environment and Health, Rome, Italy

DR. LILIAN CORRA, MD, International Secretary, International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE); Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy; President, Asociación Argentina de Médicos por el Medio Ambiente (AAMMA); Director, Career of Medical Specialists on Health and Environment , School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

DR. HELENO R. CORRÊA FILHO, Epidemiologist – Associate Professor, UNICAMP – FCM – DSC – Brazil

DR. CARL F. CRANOR, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Faculty Member, Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, Department of Philosophy, University of California, USA

DR ELIZABETH CULLEN, MB, MCh, BAO, M Sc, Ph D, member of Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association, Ireland

DR. AQIEL DALVIE, Associate Professor; Programme Leader, Chemical Toxicity and Exposures, University of Cape Town, South Africa

DR. ROBERT C. DICKSON, MD, Calgary, AB, Canada

DR ANA DIGON, Medica toxicóloga, Primera Cátedra de Toxicología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

DR. DAVID EGILMAN, MD, MPH, Editor, International Journal Of Occupational and Environmental Health; Clinical Professor Department of Family Medicine, Brown University, USA

DR. CATHEY EISNER FALVO, MD, MPH, President, International Society of Doctors for the Environment; Professor and Chair, International Public Health, New York  Medical College (retired); Professor of Pediatrics, NYMC (retired), USA

DR. ERICA FISCHER, M.D., University of Toronto Health Service, Canada

DR ARTHUR L. FRANK, MD, PhD, Professor of Public Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy

DR. ERICA FRANK, MD, MPH, Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine; President and Executive Director, NextGenU.org

DAVID GEE, Senior Adviser, Science Policy, Emerging Issues, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark

FERNANDA GIANNASI, Civil engineer, post-graduate in Health and Safety Engineering; Labor Inspector, Brazilian Federal Ministry of Labor and Employment; Coordinator, GIA — Inter-Institutional Group on Asbestos; Coordinator, Virtual Citizens’ Network for the Banning of Asbestos in Latin America; founder, ABREA, the Brazilian Association of People Exposed to Asbestos, Brazil

DR BERNARD D. GOLDSTEIN, MD, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, USA

DR MORRIS GREENBERG, MB, FRCP, FFOM, former, HM Medical Inspector of Factories, England

DR TEE L. GUIDOTTI, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Emeritus President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

DR. W. ANDREW HARRIS, MD, Senior Lecturer, Global Health Center, Oregon Health & Science University, USA

DR. MARC HINDRY, PhD, professor, Université Paris Diderot, France

DR ANDREW HOULSON, Environmental Scientist, Eng.D, Canada

DR. HOWARD HU, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D. Director/Dean & Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada

DR JAMES HUFF, PhD., Staff Scientist Chemical Carcinogenesis, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research, Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

DR. PETER F. INFANTE, D.D.S., Dr.P.H., F.A.C.E., Peter F. Infante Consulting, LLC; Formerly Director, Office of Standards Review, Health Standards Program, Occupational  Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Washington, D.C., USA

DR. JAYABALAN THAMBYAPPA, MBBS, M.Sc., Consultant, National Poison Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia; Collaborating Center For Drug Information, World Health Organization; President, Persatuan Penasihat Kesihatan Dan Keselamatan Pekerjaan Pulau Pinang; Member, Academy Of Occupational And Environmental Medicine, Malaysia

DR. CUAUHTEMOC A. JUAREZ PEREZ, MSc, MD, Unidad de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI.IMSS, Mexico

PROF. MOHAMED F JEEBHAY, MBChB, PhD, Director, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa

DR. T K JOSHI, Director, OEM Programme, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, New Delhi; Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy; Visiting Professor, Drexel  University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, USA

DR. MARGARET KEITH, PhD, University of Windsor; former Research Coordinator, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, ON, Canada

DR JOHN R. KEYSERLINGK, MD., MSc., FRCS(C)., FACS, Director, Medicine & Surgical Oncology, Ville Marie Oncology Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

DR KAPIL KHATTER, MD, CCFP, MES, Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada

DR. DAVID KING, MBBS, MPH, FRACGP, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of General

Practice: School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Australia

Dr. NAJI KODEIH, Dr. Eng., Long-Term Technical Advisor & Key Environmental Expert, Egyptian Power Transmission Project, Egypt

DR. JOHN KRISTENSEN, MD, CCFP, member, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada

DR. VITHAYA KULSOMBOON, PH.D., Associate Professor and Director of Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

DR. PHILIP J. LANDRIGAN, MD, MSc, Dean for Global Health, Ethel H. Wise Professor and Chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine; Professor of Pediatrics; Director, Children’s Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

DR CHRISTOPHER W. LEE, MD FRCPC, Medical Oncologist, BC Cancer Agency, Canada

DR. JAMES LEIGH, MD, PhD, Senior Research Consultant, Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, University of Sydney, Australia

DR RICHARD A. LEMEN, Ph.D., MSPH, Assistant Surgeon General (ret.), Rear Admiral, USPHS (ret.); Adjunct Professor, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy.

DR. ABBY LIPPMAN, PhD, Professor Emerita, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

PROFESSOR LESLIE LONDON, Director: School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town Health Sciences Faculty, South Africa

DR. RICHARD MATZOPOULOS, MPhil (Epi), PhD (Public Health), Honorary Research Associate, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town; Specialist Scientist, Burden of Disease Research Unit, Medical Research Council, South Africa

Dr. JOCK McCULLOCH, Professor of History, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Australia; fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences, Australia

DR. MELISSA A. McDIARMID, MD, MPH, DABT, Professor, Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology & Public Health; Director, Occupational Health Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA

DR. RAMIN MEHRDAD, MD, MPH, Associate professor of Occupational Medicine, Center for Research on Occupational Diseases, Tehran, Iran

DR. DARIO MIRABELLI, MD, Unità di Epidemiologia dei Tumori, Torino, Italy

PROF. DR. HANNS MOSHAMMER, Institute of Environmental Health, Department of Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria

DR ÉRIC NOTEBAERT, MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Montreal, Quebec; Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

ZULEICA NYCZ, Civil Society Representative in the National Environment Council (CONAMA), Brazil

ANDREW F. OBERTA, MPH, CIH, The Environmental Consultancy; Certified in Comprehensive Practice by American Board of Industrial Hygiene; Licensed Asbestos Consultant; Author, ASTM Manual on Asbestos Control; Past President. Environmental Information Association; Fellow, American Industrial Hygiene Association, USA

DR JOHN O’CONNOR, MD, Canada

RORY O’NEILL, Editor, Hazards magazine; Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, University of Stirling, Scotland

Dr. PETER ORRIS, MD, MPH, Professor and Chief of Service, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, USA

DR DAVID OZONOFF, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, USA

DR DOMYUNG PAEK, MD, MSc, ScD, Dean, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

CHRISTOPHER RICKARD, BSc, PhD, MCIC, former technical director, Polyresins Inc. (retired), Canada

DR. EDUARDO JORGE RODRIGUEZ, médico, Especialista en Medicina del Trabajo; Jefe del Programa Nacional de Salud del Trabajador de la Dirección Nacional de Determinantes de la Salud e Investigación; Coordinador de la Comision Asesora sobre el Asbesto Crisotilo, Ministerio de Salud de la Nacion, Argentina

DR. JENNIFER SASS, Ph.D., Environmental and Occupational Health Department, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

DR KYLA ELIZABETH SENTES, PhD, Public Health and Political Science, Quebec, Canada

DR IAN MCD. SIMPSON, MA, MB, Bchir, CCFP, FCFP, Canada

DOTT. MORANDO SOFFRITTI, Direttore Scientifico, Istituto Ramazzini e Segretario Generale, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy

DR COLIN L. SOSKOLNE, Professor of Epidemiology, Dept of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Australia; Immediate Past-President, Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Fellow, American College of Epidemiology; Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy

DR. SYDNEY PRICE SPARLING, BA, MDCM, Canada

DR. JERRY SPIEGEL, MA, MSc, PhD, Professor, School of Population and Public Health; Director, Global Health Research Program, Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

DR. KEN TAKAHASHI, MD, PhD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, IIES; Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health; Director of the International Center, University of Occupational & Environmental Health, Kitakyushu City, Japan

DR.TIM K. TAKARO, MD, MPH, MS., Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada

DR BENEDETTO TERRACINI, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Torino (retired), Italy

DR ANNIE THÉBAUD-MONY, PhD, Directeur de recherche honoraire, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), France; Specialist in occupational cancer, University Paris 13; President, Association Henri Pézerat (Santé Travail Environnement); Spokesperson for Ban Asbestos France

DR. IVANCICA TROSIC, PhD, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia

DR FERNAND TURCOTTE, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

DR. CATHY VAKIL, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

DR ANITA VAN DER WALT, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

DR. YVONNE R.K. WATERMAN, Sc.D., LL.M., director, Waterman Legal Consultancy, The Netherlands.

PROFESSOR ANDREW WATTERSON, PhD, CSHP, Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, University of Stirling, Scotland

DR. DAVID H WEGMAN, MD, MSc, Occupational Disease Epidemiologist; Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

DR. LAURA S. WELCH, MD, Medical Director, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring MD, USA

DR. STANLEY H. WEISS, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

DR. ROBERT WINSTON, MD, FACP, FRCPC, BCCA, Abbotsford, BC, Canada

DR. ANNALEE YASSI, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Professor and Canada Research Chair, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

ORGANISATIONS

AerztInnen fuer eine gesunde Umwelt (Doctors for a Healthy Environment), Austria

AMAR – Environment Defense Association of Araucaria – Brazil

APROMAC – Environment Protection Association – Brazil

APEDDUB, Tunisia

Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), USA

Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia Inc., Australia

Asbestos-related Research, Education & Advocacy Fund (AREA), Canada

Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum, UK

Asia Monitoring Resource Centre, Hong Kong

Asian Ban Asbestos Network (A-BAN), Asia

Asian Citizens Centre for the Environment, South Korea

Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l’Amiante (National Association for the Defence of Victims of Asbestos), France

Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV)

Associação Brasileira dos Expostos ao Amianto – ABREA (Brazilan Asociation of Exposed People to Asbestos), Brazil

Associated Consulting Engineers Employees Union, Pakistan

Australian Medical Students’ Association, Australia

A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos, Sarnia, Canada

Ban Asbestos Network Japan (BANJAN), Japan

Ban Asbestos Network Korea (BANKO), South Korea

Barrow Trades Union Council, UK

Building Workers International

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada

Canadian Health Coalition, Canada

Corporate Accountability International

Eco-Accord Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, Russia

Health Consumer Protection program, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

IndyACT, Lebanon

Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, USA

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, UK

International Society of Doctors for the Environment

Irish Doctors Environmental Association (IDEA), Ireland

Island Sustainability Alliance CIS Inc. (“ISACI”), Cook Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean

London Hazards Centre, UK

Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Group (Mavsg), UK

Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, UK

MiningWatch Canada

National Toxics Network Inc., Australia

Northeast Asbestos Support and Awareness Group, UK

Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI)

Occupational Health and Safety Association, India

Occupational Health and Safety Centre, India

MERCURIADOS mercury patients, Spain

Pakistan Construction Federation

Pakistan Federation of Building and Wood Workers (PFBWW), Pakistan

Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Nigeria

People’s Training & Research Centre, India

Prevent Cancer Now, Canada

RightOnCanada.ca, Canada

Saskatchewan Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Canada

School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Sierra Club Canada

Thailand Ban Asbestos Network (TBAN), Thailand

The Cancer Prevention and Education Society, UK

ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), New Delhi, India

TOXISPHERA Environmental Health Association, Brazil

Walk for Truth – Asbestos Kills. A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos, Canada

 

1 Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association of India, 2012. About Us.

2 Letter from health experts to Prime Minister Harper of Canada, January 23, 2009

3 Quebec, Public Health Directors, 2011. Les directions régionales de santé publique constatent l’échec de l’utilisation sécuritaire de l’amiante chrysotile.

4 Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail du Québec, 2010. Portrait des lésions professionnelles chez les travailleurs de 45 ans et plus 1999-2008.

5 The Case for a Global Ban on Asbestos, LaDou et al, Environmental Health Perspectives, volume 118, number 7, July 2010

6 Position Statement on Asbestos, JPC-SE, June 4, 2012

7 Endorsements from Organizations, JPC-SE Position Statement on Asbestos.

8 Endorsements from Individuals, JPC-SE Position Statement on Asbestos.

9 World Health Organization (WHO), 2006. Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases, Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

10 National Programmes for Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases: Review and Assessment, 07-08 June 2011, Bonn, WHO Regional Office for Europe, pp 22-29, 2012, Substitutes for Asbestos Construction Products, Barry Castleman, ScD.

11 Dec. 21, 2012, New homes drive tile growth, http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/327227/new-homes-drive-tile-growth.

12 Correction. The correct figure is 35 countries. The typographical error on the IBAS website, stating 15 countries, was corrected to say 35 countries on Feb 23, 2013.

13 Virta, RL, Asbestos: US Geological Survey, Asbestos Production, Trade & Consumption in 2011.

14 Charting the Changing Pattern of Asbestos Production and Use 1950-2012, Laurie Kazan-Allen, International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Jan. 22, 2013

15 Testimony of David Bernstein in Emma Josephine Maloney Martin vs Quigley Company, Inc., District Court, Ellis County, Texas 40th Judicial District, Oct. 16, 2007. Transcript available on request.

16 Mealey’s International Asbestos Liability Report November 19, 2003, 1-9 Mealey’s Intl. Asb. Liab. Rep. 7 (2003).

17 Chrysotile Institute media release, With new supporting evidence, Quebec chrysotile is entitled to fair and balanced treatment, Sept. 9, 2003

18 Suzuki, Y, Yuen, SR, Ashley, R, Short, thin asbestos fibers contributed to the development of human malignant mesothelioma: Pathological evidence. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health, 208:201-10,2005. Also Dodson,RF, Analysis and relevance of asbestos burden in tissue, 2nd ed. In: Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology and Health. Hammar and Dodson eds., CRC Press,Boca Raton,Fl., 2011, pp 49-108.