Abstract Archive

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]

September Miracle in Northeastern Brazil!

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]

French Justice is Deaf as well as Blind

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]

Paying a Catastrophic Price for Canada’s Asbestos Riches

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]

Summer 2024 Update: Toxic Talc

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]

Press Release: Mystery at the Brazilian Supreme Court

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]

Christmas for Eternit in Brazil

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]

Russia’s Asbestos Cash Cow under Threat?

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]

July 2024 Snapshot of Global Asbestos Panorama

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]

Sacrificing Even More Lives for Asbestos Profits

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]

Asbestos Action Art Exhibition: Capturing Life

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]

One Nation’s Asbestos Catastrophe

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]

A Stranger to Their Shores: Robert Vojakovic 1940-2024.

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]

Russian Ministry Planning Action on Asbestos Hazard

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]

Italy’s Supreme Court Annuls Acquittal of Asbestos Defendants

Jun 17, 2024

Late on June 11, 2024, Italy’s Supreme Court (the Court of Cassation) announced that it had overturned a decision by the Palermo Court of Appeal which had nullified a first-instance guilty verdict for the asbestos deaths of 39 shipyard workers and the serious injuries sustained by 11 other employees. The lower court had ruled that the negligence of executives Giuseppe Cortesi and Antonio Cipponeri had resulted in dangerous workplace asbestos exposures at the Fincantieri S.p.A. shipyard in Palermo in the 1980s. The Court of Appeal rejected this decision saying that exposure to asbestos at the company’s shipyard in Palermo had ceased in the early 1980s. The Supreme Court found the decision of the Appeal Court “erroneous” and ordered a new hearing. [Read full article]

Russians Losing Key Asbestos Market

Jun 5, 2024

I’d seen it with my own eyes but hadn’t believed it. However, in the aftermath of an explosive article on the news portal of Deutsche Welle, a German state-owned international broadcaster, I’m convinced. Last year, Brazil solidified its position as the number one supplier of asbestos to India, toppling Russia into second place. Russia’s reversal of fortunes was first observed in 2022 when Indian import data recorded 169,134 tonnes (t) from Brazil and 145,398t from Russia. The slide continued in 2023, with shipments of 160,720t of Brazilian asbestos to India. This news has repercussions that far transcend mere reals, rupees and rubles: let me explain. [Read full article]

Rehabilitating the Image of Corporate Killers

Jun 3, 2024

“Sportswashing” is the latest weapon in the arsenal of tricks wielded by asbestos conglomerates to decontaminate corporate names sullied by decades of wanton behaviour, workforce deaths and environmental crimes. Around the world, former and current asbestos companies are attempting to restore their brands by a public relations sleight of hand, attaching their name to that of a popular team or sporting event. The contentious nature of this technique was confirmed last week by the reaction of sports fans in Parramatta, New South Wales who vociferously condemned a renewal of links between the local rugby team and James Hardie, formerly Australia’s largest asbestos conglomerate. [Read full article]

Russians Target Australian Campaigners

May 20, 2024

The leadership role of Australian campaigners in the struggle to eradicate the asbestos hazard in the Asia-Pacific region has not gone unnoticed. The latest newsletter (April 2024) issued by Uralasbest – Russia’s second biggest asbestos conglomerate – condemned Australia for its “sophisticated” efforts to “destroy the chrysotile (white) asbestos industry” via the UN’s Rotterdam Convention and its attempt “to add two negative paragraphs on chrysotile asbestos to the text of the Resolution on Chemicals” at the latest meeting of the UN Environment Assembly. This month’s Australian outreach project – a training initiative to build local medical capacity for the diagnosis and treatment of asbestos-related diseases in Laos and Vietnam – will almost certainly offend the Russians even more. [Read full article]

Making Progress in Catalonia!

May 10, 2024

On May 7, 2024, the Government of Catalonia approved draft legislation to address the region’s deadly asbestos legacy. The Asbestos Eradication Bill, when it’s ratified by Parliament, will facilitate a timely and safe removal of asbestos from buildings and facilities. Commenting on the significance of this development, Catalonia’s President Pere Aragonès acknowledged “the commitment and involvement of civic and social entities, neighborhood associations, local governments and social agents, and various departments of the Government of Catalonia” which had led to the adoption of this landmark bill. One can but hope that the coalition of stakeholders praised by the President will continue to press for much-needed change; the sooner The Asbestos Eradication Bill becomes law, the better! [Read full article]

Letter to Stephan Schmidheiny

May 9, 2024

This article comprises the English translation of an open letter to the Swiss asbestos billionaire Stephen Schmidheiny, written by Italian journalist Silvana Mossano, whose husband Marco Giorcelli died from environmental asbestos exposures experienced in Casale Monferrato, his home town. Ms. Mossano has seen with her own eyes the dreadful repercussions of the asbestos manufacturing operations owned by Schmidheiny, who has been tried and convicted in multiple Italian courts for his role in this deadly epidemic. Ms Mossano’s letter is both heartfelt and well reasoned. It deserves to be read. [Read full article]

Italian Journalist’s Asbestos War

May 2, 2024

Italians were shocked to the core by the appearance of journalist Franco Di Mare on the Sunday night TV chatshow – Che tempo che fa (What's the weather like) – on April 28, 2024. Sixty-eight-year old Di Mare, who was speaking remotely, was shown using a respirator as he announced that he was seriously ill with the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. During a dramatic interview with Fabio Fazio, Di Mare laid bare the devastating impact of the disease and its poor prognosis: mesothelioma has, he said “a very long latency period and when it manifests itself it is too late.” Di Mare castigated the RAI TV channel, owned & operated by the Italian Government, for turning its back on him after his diagnosis. [Read full article]

Victory in Indonesia!

May 1, 2024

As a result of a Supreme Court ruling, it will now become obligatory for all asbestos-containing products sold in Indonesia to feature warning labels in Bahasa, the country’s official language. This landmark decision was issued further to a petition submitted in December 2023 by the Independent Community Consumer Protection Institute, the Yasa Nata Budi Foundation – a consumer advocacy body – and the Local Initiative for OSH Network. Celebrating this victory, campaigner Muchamad Darisman said: “By granting our request, the Judges took a giant leap forward in safeguarding the lives not only of workers but also of members of the public and consumers. It is essential that the Government and all relevant authorities take prompt action to implement the Court’s ruling...” [Read full article]

Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Asian Ban Asbestos Network

Apr 29, 2024

Between 2009 – when the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN) was founded – and 2023, global asbestos production fell from almost 2 million tonnes/t to 1,300,000t a year, a whopping 35% decline. There are many factors which adversely affected the asbestos industry’s bottom line during this time; the work of ABAN was one of them. On ABAN’s 15th year anniversary, its members take stock of what has been achieved by the journey which began in Hong Kong so many years ago and reaffirm their determination to continue the campaign to rid Asia of the scourge caused by the continuing use of asbestos. [Read full article]

Revisiting a WA Institution: The Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia

Apr 24, 2024

Now in its 46th year of operations, the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia (ADSA) is more relevant than ever. Having had the privilege of catching up with ADSA colleagues during a recent trip to Western Australia (WA), it was clear that the Society’s staff were even busier than usual. During our stay in Perth, we were delighted on April 18, 2024, to learn that the much-hated “once and for all rule,” which had disadvantaged ADSA members by barring them from accepting provisional damages, had been overturned by the adoption of the Civil Liability Amendment (Provisional Damages for Dust Diseases) Bill 2024. Commenting on this momentous development, the ADSA’s CEO Melita Markey said: “asbestos and silicosis sufferers in WA will have the same legal rights as sufferers elsewhere in the country.” [Read full article]

More Asbestos Subterfuge in the Urals

Apr 19, 2024

Last month was the grand opening of a factory in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. The Vestra plant which is owned by Uralasbest – Russia’s 2nd biggest asbestos mining conglomerate – is located conveniently near the group’s chrysotile (white) asbestos mine in the Urals’ monotown of Asbest. Although the nature of the “mineral dust” used in the facility remains unspecified, it is likely that it is material reclaimed from chrysotile asbestos mining waste. In due course, the toxic secret at the heart of this shiny new factory will be exposed. One can but hope that this day comes sooner rather than later. [Read full article]