UK Chief Scientist Confirms White Asbestos Risks As Canada Removes It From It’s Parliament Building
White asbestos deserves its top level cancer rating, the government's chief scientific adviser has told ministers.
In a move thought to have been a response to lobbying of the work and pensions secretary by asbestos-industry linked groups, Iain Duncan Smith asked Sir John Beddington, head of the Government Office for Science, to consider whether any evidence exists that would 'justify an imminent change to the "international scientific consensus on the classification of asbestos' and so allow ministers to reconsider UK legislation."
A March 2011 meeting of experts, chaired by Sir John, considered evidence including several papers by scientists associated with the asbestos industry. Reporting his findings in a letter to the secretary of state, Sir John wrote "it is not possible to determine a threshold level below which exposure to 'pure' chrysotile could be deemed 'safe' for human health. The same applies for exposure to chrysotile from cement during removal and disposal activities."
He concluded "it is my opinion that on the evidence available there is no justification for an imminent change to the international scientific consensus on the classification of chrysotile as a Class 1 carcinogen."
This ranks chrysotile as an unequivocal cause of cancer in humans. In February, the European Commission told the UK government in a 'reasoned opinion' the UK interpretation of the EU asbestos directive was illegally lax.
The Health and Safety Executive has since 'confirmed its agreement' with the EC finding that it under-implemented the law and has agreed to amend the legislation. It is believed HSE will recommend an extension of the regulations, with more but not all asbestos work required to be done by licensed contractors. All asbestos work will have to be notified to the authorities along with the submission of a method statement for how the work is to be done, the HSE proposals are expected to say.
Meanwhile as 1st July was both Action Mesothelioma Day UK and Canada Day activists around the world called upon the Canadian government to recognise that White Asbestos is extremely toxic and dangerous to human health.
Canada is the only country not to agree to ratify the Rotterdam convention on classifying white asbestos (chrysotile) as dangerous. Given it is also the worlds leading export and manufacturer of asbestos, clearly money comes before the science!
John McClean GMB National Health and Safety officer said:
“The fact that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgeare in Canada shows the close links between the UK and Canada.
GMB, on Action Mesothelioma Day UK and Canada Day, calls on the Canadian Government to reverse its decision last week on white asbestos. It is the only country not to agree to ratify the Rotterdam convention on classifying white asbestos (chrysotile) as dangerous.
GMB also calls on the Canadian Government to ensure that asbestos mines are not reopened with illegal public subsidies in order to export asbestos to Commonwealth countries such as India and Bangladesh.
There has already been enough human misery and suffering due to asbestos. On Canada Day it is not too much to ask that Canada ratify the Rotterdam convention.”
Canada, as the biggest exporter of Asbestos is blamed for world wide annual deaths from asbestos related illnesses in the region of 900,000.
In March this year, the CWU's National Health, Safety & Environment Officer Dave Joyce wrote to Normand Paulin, eng.
Director of Occupational Safety,
Occupational Health & Safety Commission of Québec with regard to the Canadian government's plans to expand Asbestos Mining and to export 5 Million Tonnes of Asbestos to developing Countries over the next 25 Years.
Dave Wrote:
"The World Health Organization estimates that more than 107,000 people die worldwide each year from asbestos diseases, and the fibers that cause it have made asbestos a pariah in most developed nations. At least 55 countries have already outlawed the use and importation of asbestos.
If you support the export of Asbestos from the Jeffrey mine it will undoubtedly be a death sentence for untold thousands of innocent victims over coming years. Can you live with that on your conscience?
The CWU(UK) would ask you to listen to Quebec's medical and health authorities and experts across the world and withdraw from a project, which has been labelled as “medically unacceptable”.
We therefore urgently ask that you immediately withdraw from this project."
The CWU has also called on the Canadian Government to stop asbestos production and export. A letter has been sent to the Quebec Regional Government's Prime Minister Premier Jean Charest.
In the States, a major U.S. online magazine criticised Canada for its "breathtaking hypocrisy" for exporting asbestos while seeking to rid the product at home.
A recent Slate article decries how the Canadian government is spending millions to remove asbestos from three buildings on Parliament Hill, but opposed the addition of chrysotile asbestos to a United Nations hazardous industrial chemicals treaty last month.
The renovation of West Block in Ottawa will cost $873 million alone and is part of a $5-billion, two-decade plan to fix up Canada's Parliament buildings.
The article from the on-line version of Slate Magazine reported that:
“This massive project makes recent events surprising, particularly Canada's opposition, at an international conference in Switzerland, to adding chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention, a U.N. treaty on hazardous substances.
If asbestos were added to the Rotterdam Convention, Canada and other exporters would be required to warn all importing countries of the dangers of asbestos and inform purchasers how to mitigate risks.
The listing would not have required Canada to ban asbestos exports. It would have forced Canada and other countries to acknowledge what asbestos is: a material that has, repeatedly and consistently, been linked to various forms of cancer and other diseases. Canada now appears to be either oblivious to the health effects of asbestos or to be willfully ignoring them in the pursuit of export income.
Even India, which imports more Canadian asbestos than any other country, was in favor of adding the material to the convention. But Canada was resolute, and, because the convention operates by consensus, asbestos stayed off the list.”
Canada, along with the few other countries that produce asbestos -- Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan -- blocked the move at the June conference held in Geneva.
Despite the World Health Organization’s findings that, 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases, the Canadian government insists the product can be used safely. Canada has "promoted the safe and controlled use of chrysotile, both domestically and internationally," for more than 30 years, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's spokesperson Dmitri Soudas told The Canadian Press.
Source: TUC Risks / Slate On-line / CTV News / CWU / GMB
See also: CWU Issues Asbestos In The Home Campaign Warning
