National Specialty Society for Community Medicine

National Specialty Society for Community Medicine Position Statement on Chrysotile Asbestos June 2010 Background The adverse health effects associated with exposure to asbestos exposure have been well established. Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies have shown that asbestos is capable of causing lung cancer, mesothelioma, and a range of asbestos‐related diseases (International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC], 1987). Asbestos is one of the most important occupational carcinogens causing about half of all deaths from occupational cancer. Currently, about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos in the workplace, and at least 90,000 people die each year from lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures (Driscoll et al., 2005). In addition, it is believed that thousands of deaths can be attributed to other asbestos‐related diseases as well as to non‐occupational exposures, and the global burden of disease is still rising (World Health Organization [WHO], 2006). Asbestos is a commercial term used to describe minerals whose crystals occur in fibrous forms. There are two major species of asbestos: the serpentines comprising the curly and soft chrysotile fibres (white asbestos) and the amphiboles, which include a series of subvarieties such as crocidolite (blue asbestos), amosite (brown/grey asbestos), anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite, presenting as hard needle‐shaped rods. Chrysotile is mined for use in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat‐resistant fabrics. Over 99% of the world's current asbestos production is chrysotile, and with 8.1% of the world production, Canada is the fourth‐largest producer of chrysotile in the world next to Russia, China, and Brazil (Natural Resources Canada, 2009). Knowledge of the associations between asbestos and adverse health effects has resulted in mounting public pressure against the further release of asbestos into the environment. New use of asbestos has almost completely ended in most developed nations as the result of government bans and market pressures. In contrast to this, and despite criticism from an international community of health professionals (Burki, 2009; Chaturvedi & Chaturvedi, 2001; Joshi & Gupta, 2004; Karzan‐Allen, 2002; Karzan‐Allen, 2004; Landrigan, 1998), Canada continues to export and extensively market chrysotile and chrysotile‐based products to more than 70 countries around the world (Asbestos Institute, n.d.; Chrysotile Institute, 2005; Natural Resources Canada, 2006). Rotterdam Convention The Rotterdam Convention is an international treaty intended to promote cooperative efforts and shared responsibilities among member countries in relation to international trade and environmentally‐sound use of hazardous chemicals. Through a legally‐binding Prior Informed