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International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

lkaz@btconnect.com

 

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Oct 22, 2024

A disturbing article by journalist Steve Boggan appeared in the Daily Mail on October 19, 2024. Boggan disclosed details of recent asbestos incidents in Parliament, all of which were in contravention of health and safety regulations. As a result of multiple failures to comply with mandatory guidelines, thousands of contractors, full-time and part-time Parliamentary members of staff as well as MPs could have been exposed to a known carcinogen. To protect workers and the public from future exposures, the newspaper has launched a campaign for the creation of a national asbestos database. See [subscription site]: Exposed. How the Palace of Westminster is riddled with deadly asbestos – and there have already been two terrifying incidences which may have endangered workers and Mps.

Oct 22, 2024

On October 18, 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) held a virtual plenary session to discuss proposals which would allow asbestos mining for export purposes to continue for another five years. The law [20.514/2019] under which this contravention of the Brazilian asbestos ban persists was passed by the State of Goiás and is almost certainly unconstitutional. The STF was due to give a final ruling on shutting down mining operations months ago. The scheduled date for the verdict came and went with nothing further said about the pending asbestos litigation. Another hearing is set for October 25, 2024.

Oct 22, 2024

An asbestos fact sheet was uploaded on September 27, 2024 to the website of the World Health Organization (WHO). It was available in English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Spanish and French. The new WHO resource confirmed that: all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (white asbestos), are carcinogenic; construction workers remain at high risk of workplace exposures and the majority of all occupationally-caused deaths are due to exposures to asbestos. According to the WHO: “Asbestos-related diseases can be prevented, and the most efficient way to prevent them is to stop the use of all forms of asbestos to prevent exposure, as more than 50 WHO Member States have already done…” See: Asbestos. Key Facts.

Oct 22, 2024

Recognizing the hazard posed by the failure to regulate the disposal of asbestos-containing debris, Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) on October 18, 2024 uploaded a list of fifteen transporters and landfill sites which had been approved to handle asbestos waste in the counties of Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Migori, Taita Taveta & Kiambu. As there are a total of 47 counties in Kenya, it is clear that the level of asbestos removal capacity which exists is not adequate for the country’s needs. On August 28, 2024, the Kenyan Government ordered that asbestos roofing on public and private buildings must be removed within 90 days as it posed a serious risk to public health. See: List of NEMA-Approved Asbestos Roof Landfills.

Oct 22, 2024

A recent publication – “Impact of asbestos on mortality. Italy, 2010-2020” – by Italy’s Higher Institute of Health (ISS) reported that between 2010 and 2020, 1,545 Italians died from mesothelioma (on average) each year, of whom 1,116 were male and 429 female. Although Piedmont, Lombardy, Valle d'Aosta and Liguria were the regions with the highest number of deaths, asbestos deaths were recorded throughout the country. According to the ISS data, asbestos mortality hotspots were found in municipalities with shipyards, asbestos-cement production centers, heavy industry and asbestos mines. See: Asbestos: Every year in Italy 1,545 people die from mesothelioma.

Oct 22, 2024

New data from South Korea substantiates the high level of deaths caused by environmental exposures to toxins and carcinogens and predicts that the incidence of mortality will rise in the coming years. From 2011 to August, 2024, 8,049 people had been recognized as suffering damage due to asbestos-related diseases. There were 4,622 cases of people who died from asbestosis, 1,417 from lung cancer and 830 from mesothelioma, the signature cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. Compensation was paid by the government to 1,176 claimants suffering from these diseases. See: [단독]가습기살균제·석면·오염…'환경성 질환' 피해 1만8천명 육박 [[Exclusive] Humidifier disinfectant, asbestos, pollution… 'Environmental disease' damages approaching 18,000 people].

Oct 21, 2024

An October 4, 2024 technical meeting at the Geneva headquarters of the International Labor Organization, which was attended by representatives from government, employers and workers, reached a number of conclusions regarding just transition proposals for the building industry, including the cement sector, based on the report cited below. Paragraph 97 on page 35 of the report highlighted the ongoing asbestos hazard in both ban and non-ban countries: “exposure to asbestos is still a cause of concern, including for workers in the building materials industry.” For decades, construction workers have been amongst those at the highest risk of potentially deadly workplace asbestos exposures. See: Report for the meeting: Promotion of decent work and a just transition in the building materials industry, including cement.

Oct 21, 2024

On October 18, 2024, the Trieste Court of Appeal confirmed the guilt of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense for the asbestos-related death of Sergeant Dario Zuban, who had served in the Navy and died from mesothelioma 9 years ago, aged 60. Zurban was exposed to asbestos on land and at sea when he worked as a naval engineer between 1976 and 1978. The Court ordered that Zurban’s widow Gina Natalini Risi receive a lump sum payment of €285,000 (US$309,400) and a lifetime monthly pension of €2,100 ($US2,280). See: Vittima dell’amianto: maxi risarcimento alla vedova Zuban [Asbestos victim: maxi compensation to Zuban's widow].

Oct 21, 2024

A paper published in the Journal of the National Cancer Center in September 2024 by scientists from China, Germany, Sweden and Canada reported that “the burden of MM [malignant mesothelioma – the signature cancer associated with exposure to asbestos] has been significantly increasing in China over the last three decades and will continue to increase in the upcoming decade, suggesting an urgent need for a complete ban on chrysotile asbestos in China.” China is one of the few countries still mining asbestos. In 2022, it produced 130,000 tonnes (t) and consumed 261,000t. See: Burden of malignant mesothelioma in China during 1990–2019 and the projections through 2029.

Oct 21, 2024

The Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion Department of the European Commission (EC) is recruiting asbestos experts to support EC efforts to increase occupational asbestos protections by improving good practice guidelines, providing practical solutions for employers and workers, and holding online half- and full-day information workshops in October & November 2024. The vast majority of occupationally-caused cancers recognized in EU member states are due to asbestos exposures. See: Asbestos experts wanted – work with us to prepare good practice guidelines.

Oct 21, 2024

On October 15, 2024, a jury in Bridgeport, Connecticut issued a plaintiff’s verdict in a case brought by mesothelioma sufferer Evan Plotkin against Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Plotkin was diagnosed in 2021 with this asbestos cancer which he alleged had been caused by his use of J&J’s talc-based baby powder. The jury ruled that in addition to the $15 million verdict, the company must pay punitive damages, the amount of which will be determined by the trial judge at a later date. The company said it will appeal the judgment. See: J&J must pay $15 million to man who says its talc caused his cancer, jury finds.

Oct 21, 2024

The trial has started in a Turin Court of an 84-year old doctor accused of manslaughter for colluding with company directors and managers at workshops operated by the Italian State Railways, where few efforts were made to prevent workplace asbestos exposures. As a result of their negligence, 16 workers have died from asbestos-related diseases. According to the prosecutor, the doctor – the only surviving member of the conspiracy – failed to carry out mandatory medical duties. See: Sedici lavoratori morti per l'amianto alle Ogr 50 anni fa, medico a processo [Sixteen workers died from asbestos at the OGR 50 years ago, doctor on trial].

Oct 15, 2024

The prevalence of asbestos-containing products throughout homes in Kazakhstan is cited as a classic example of the dangerous technologies of yesteryear. Unfortunately, the presence of this toxic material within structures and in Kazakh homes continues to pose a serious health risk. The fact that the author of the text cited below commented on the carcinogenic nature of chrysotile asbestos is of significance as Kazakhstan is the world’s second biggest asbestos exporter and one of the key orchestrators of the global asbestos propaganda campaign. See: Какую смертельную опасность таят вещи из бабушкиного серванта [What mortal dangers are hidden in things from grandmother's sideboard].

Oct 15, 2024

A case against the former UK conglomerate Cape Asbestos and other defendants has been listed for a February 2025 trial by a South Carolina (SC) Court. The litigation arises from historic sales by Cape of asbestos-containing material in SC and other US states. The case is Cape, PLC, individually and successor in interest to Cape Asbestos Company Limited, by and through its duly appointed receiver, Peter D. Protopapas v. Anglo American PLC, et. al., case number 2020-CP-4001759. See: Anglo American PLC, ESAB Corp. and Billionaire Mohed Altrad to Stand Trial for Cape Asbestos Liabilities.

Oct 15, 2024

The 4th Division of a Regional Labor Court in São Paulo, last week ordered Brazil’s asbestos giant Eternit, SA to pay compensation of R$1 million (US$178,000) to a worker who had contracted mesothelioma as a result of workplace asbestos exposures. The 76-year old claimant worked for Eternit for thirty years. The plaintiff’s lawyer Janaína Amadeu said the verdict could become a precedent for similar cases. See [subscription site]: Eternit é condenada a pagar R$ 1 milhão a trabalhador que comprometeu pulmão com amianto [Eternit ordered to pay R$1 million to worker whose lungs were compromised by asbestos].

Oct 15, 2024

On October 11, 2024, the Uganda Minister of State for the Luwero-Rwenzori Region Alice Kaboyo launched a new government initiative when she distributed asbestos-free replacement roofing material to schools in the Busoga and Luwero sub-regions. These buildings are currently roofed with asbestos-containing sheeting, a product which the Government has deemed a hazard to human health. In addition to the 15,333 iron sheets distributed in 2023-24, this year the Government will distribute an additional 15,000 iron sheets. See: Gov't starts iron sheet distribution to replace asbestos roofing in schools.

Oct 18, 2024

As the 21st century dawned, China was both the world’s second biggest asbestos-consuming (382,315 tonnes/t) and producing (315,000t) country. By 2022, however, annual usage had fallen to 261,000t (a decrease of 32%) and production to 130,000t (a 59% fall). Figures for the last few years corroborated the continued decline. The reason for this U-turn was explained in a paper published last month which stated that China’s official policy on asbestos had undergone a major shift in 2013-14; intriguingly, the co-authors gave no more information and declined to provide footnotes to substantiate this statement. This being the case, the content of another September article was in direct contrast to observed trends. Want to know more…. [Read full article]

Oct 14, 2024

Just when you thought you had seen it all, you realize you were wrong. The lengths to which asbestos pushers will go to continue to ride the asbestos gravy train truly knows no bounds. This year, an asbestos trade association – Indonesia’s Fibre Cement Manufacturers’ Association (FICMA) – is trialing a new legal stratagem designed to: counteract a Supreme Court ruling unfavorable to the asbestos sector and cower campaigners brave enough to challenge the industry’s dominance. The audacity of this legal manoeuvre is breathtaking and, to my knowledge, totally unprecedented. The FICMA lawsuit, which targeted the consumers’ protection organization that had petitioned the Supreme Court to mandate Government action on the asbestos hazard, is claiming substantial damages from the NGO for loss of future profits. [Read full article]

Sep 22, 2024

Romana Blasotti Pavesi was a member of a club that no one wanted to join; she lost her husband Mario, daughter Maria Rosa, son Ottavio, sister Libera, nephew Enrico and cousin Anna to the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Only Mario had worked with asbestos. All the others had been exposed to carcinogenic fibers in the built environment and in the air of their home town Casale Monferrato, the municipality at the center of Italy’s asbestos epidemic. In the face of her own losses and those of so many others, Romana dedicated her life to “the fight against asbestos.” The news of Romana’s death, at the age of 95 on September 11, 2024, sparked off intensive media coverage at home and a global outpouring of appreciation from fellow campaigners. [Read full article]

Sep 16, 2024

In a place long forgotten by the industrial enterprises which abused its people and polluted their land, a human-made miracle is taking place. From September 2 until September 20, 2024 an asbestos taskforce is providing free health screening for 450 individuals from the towns of Bom Jesus da Serra, Poçes, Caetanos and Planalto in the Brazilian State of Bahia. The bulk of the funding for this program was allocated from money impounded by the Labor Public Ministry from penalties paid by defendants which had been convicted of failing to provide mandatory occupational protections for their workers. [Read full article]

Sep 6, 2024

September 3, 2024 marked a turning point in the 30-year French battle for asbestos justice. A struggle to hold to account some of the people responsible for the country’s deadly asbestos epidemic collapsed when the Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) issued a ruling upholding a 2023 dismissal by the Paris Court of Appeals of criminal charges against executives of the country’s biggest asbestos group: Eternit. This was the latest in a series of defeats faced by asbestos victims and their legal representatives. More than a hundred years after Labor Inspector Denis Auribault reported excess mortality of asbestos workers in a textile factory in Condé-sur-Noireau, Calvados, French courts continue to fail the victims. Shame on them! [Read full article]

Sep 3, 2024

Until the 1970s, Canada was the world’s largest asbestos producer with mines in Quebec, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Although it was soon to be overtaken by output from mines in Soviet Russia, Canada remained the global asbestos cheerleader for decades to come. The price paid for Canada’s asbestos profits included lives shortened and families shattered. A national epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, discoveries of asbestos material contained within the national infrastructure and the perennial problem of what to do with huge mountains of asbestos mining waste continue long after the asbestos cash flow evaporated. [Read full article]

Aug 27, 2024

An insightful podcast broadcast on the BBC this summer raised the profile of the hazard posed by the presence of talc in make-up, cosmetics and personal hygiene products in the UK. The first 14-minute episode of “Talc Tales” – part of the How They Made Us Doubt Everything series – featured the case of British woman Hannah Fletcher, who was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma at the age of 41. Ms. Fletcher believed that she contracted the signature asbestos cancer as a result of exposures to toxic talcum powder. Spurred by this allegation, podcaster Phoebe Keane submitted the contents of her make-up bag for analysis. The results, which were delivered in the last of the five episodes, validated the ongoing hazard posed by the use of talc in cosmetics. [Read full article]

Aug 20, 2024

In a joint press release issued on August 20, 2024, representatives of asbestos victims and trade unionists from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia expressed concern over recent developments at Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), an esteemed and venerable institution. According to the official court schedule, the verdict on the unconstitutionality of a state law allowing asbestos mining and exporting to continue despite a national ban was expected on August 14. Without a word of warning or explanation, the case disappeared from the court docket. An appeal was made to the STF to “take the right course of action and reschedule the delivery of this ruling for the earliest opportunity” (Clique aqui para ler a versão em português). [Read full article]

Aug 19, 2024

Even though it is winter now in Brazil, Christmas has come early for Eternit SA, the country’s sole remaining asbestos producer. The week beginning August 12, 2024 was a bumper one for the company with plaudits a-plenty and gifts raining down. As Eternit emerged from more than six years of a court-supervised judicial reorganization process, it was lauded as an inspiration to Brazilian corporations “as a valuable example of how companies in crisis can reinvent themselves and thrive.” Contemporaneous developments at the Supreme Court and Goiás State Legislature made it abundantly clear that Eternit, whose asbestos exports are worth US $4,750,000+ per month, still had plenty of influential friends left. [Read full article]

Aug 13, 2024

As global demand collapses and competitors crowd into remaining markets, the Russian asbestos behemoth is weakening. At the same time as Russia’s traditional customer base is disintegrating, competitors in Kazakhstan and China are developing new trade routes and streamlining logistics to capitalize on the woes of Russian suppliers. As demand continues to decline, market forces may succeed where the Russian government has failed. With dwindling sales, Russia’s once mighty asbestos industry may no longer be financially viable. Time will tell. [Read full article]

Jul 26, 2024

In the compilation of the July 25, 2024 asbestos news items for IBAS, I noticed a pattern in the content available. The developments reported on that day from Asia, Europe and North America illustrated the evolution of the global asbestos agenda from the early days of promotion to the end stage of eradication with a stop en route to address claims by the injured. With so much political uncertainty and social instability on the horizon, it is reassuring to see that progress is being made to end the global epidemic of asbestos-related diseases and provide justice for the injured. The sooner humankind transitions to asbestos-free technology, the safer the world will be. [Read full article]

Jul 18, 2024

If asbestos producers have their way, the global epidemic of asbestos-related deaths could well continue into the 25th century. And yet asbestos, in all its forms, is categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen (“carcinogenic to humans”) by the International Agency on Research for Cancer. According to data published on July 22, 2024 in The Lancet, Asia bears the highest disease burden of lung cancer, with 63.1% of newly diagnosed lung cancers and 62.9% of lung cancer deaths occurring in the region…” It is no coincidence that the region with “the highest disease burden of lung cancer” is also the region with the highest consumption of asbestos. [Read full article]

Jul 16, 2024

At an art exhibition held in Dundee, Scotland on May 9, 2024 by the Scottish asbestos charity Asbestos Action, ten original portraits of asbestos victims by artist Craig Semple were displayed. The objective of the event was to show that people are “much more than their diagnoses.” Commenting on the day, the Charity’s General Manager Dianne Foster said: “Every single person who is diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition has a life, has a family, has friends, and it is a very unfair situation that people have been exposed to asbestos.” Positive feedback was received from many of the hundred or so people who attended the showing. [Read full article]

Jul 8, 2024

Last week, millions of readers of major UK newspapers were reminded of the country’s tragic asbestos legacy in stories about asbestos-related deaths from occupational, second-hand and environmental exposures. Almost simultaneously, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released figures confirming the continuation of the epidemic which has been killing Britons for over a century. According to new HSE data, 5,000 people+ die annually from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, cancers of the larynx and stomach; there is no data for the number of asbestos-related deaths caused by cancers of the ovary and pharynx. Calls are being made for the new Labour Government to take action on this national scandal. [Read full article]

Jul 1, 2024

The death of Robert Vojakovic was announced on June 27, 2024. Robert was a star in the galaxy of asbestos campaigners: he was indefatigable, incontrovertible and irrepressible. Coming from thousands of miles away, Robert Vojakovic grew to represent the very best of Australian values in his fight for a “Fair Go” for workers in his new country. Over the span of fifty years, he devoted his time and energy initially as a volunteer, latterly as the President of the Australian Diseases Society of Australia, to making manifest the devastating impact asbestos exposures had had on miners, millers, transport workers and family members from the infamous asbestos mining town of Wittenoom, where he himself once worked. [Read full article]

Jun 18, 2024

The news released last week that Russia’s Ministry of Health (MoH) was considering plans to recognize occupational cancers, including those caused by exposures to asbestos, as industrial diseases was as huge a surprise to ban asbestos campaigners as it was a shock to Russian vested interests. The consultation period was due to close yesterday (June 17, 2024). No doubt the MoH received angry complaints from Orenburg Minerals, Uralasbest and other asbestos stakeholders over the implicit threat to the substance at the heart of their enterprises. After all, if asbestos is hazardous enough to be on the authorized list of diseases caused by occupational exposures in Russia, then the industry propaganda which affirms that asbestos use is safe is patently untrue, as we all know it to be. [Read full article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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USGS Asbestos Trade Data

Fiber Producers (2022)
(tonnes):
   Russia750,000
   Kazakhstan250,000
   Brazil197,000
   China130,000
    
 Top Five Users (2022)
(tonnes):
   India424,000
   China261,000
   Russia230,000
   Uzbekistan108,000
   Indonesia104,000