Canada Won’t Use Asbestos In Their Buildings But They Will Export It
Asbestos may be banned in many countries however some developed countries like Canada still produce asbestos and exports it to developing countries such as India. The woman pictured on the left is filtering asbestos and as you can see she has nothing protecting her from it’s harmful dust. Rates of Mesothelioma cancer are increasing in India and Maneka Gandhi, a former Indian minister says that
“Our entire policy on asbestos needs to be changed. We must stop being the junkyard of the world”.
CBC reports that the province of Quebec has 9 asbestos mines and one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. Ontario also mines asbestos, one Ontario health clinic says that they register a new Mesothelioma patient each day. Ontario’s and Quebec’s provincial governments are working hard to protect the Asbestos industry and have claimed that the Asbestos used today (chrysotile) is not deadly however researchers hired by Health Canada says that chrysotile abestos has a strong link to lung cancer.
I find it difficult to understand how the provincial governments can be okay with exporting this material to developing countries yet they have been ridding their building of Asbestos for the last 20 years. Sounds like greed to me.
This post has one comment
June 24th, 2009
The above photograph makes me sick and very afraid for that woman and the countless other people just like her.
Another place in Canada where people are being diagnosed with Mesothelioma is Trail, B.C. Employees of Teck Cominco have been diagnosed with and are dying from this cruel disease. Some have already died and there will be more who go on to develop this.
Hardworking individuals do not deserve such a tragic end to their lives.
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