Two Canadian scientists have protested to the Canadian Health Minister after a representative of the town of Asbestos, Canada used the scientists’ unpublished Health Canada report to suggest to Canada’s government that the continued export of chrysotile asbestos is justified. Canada produces chrysotile asbestos, which Canada claims is safer than amphibole asbestos, though many experts believe it is just as dangerous. Most of Canada’s asbestos exports are sent to developing countries in Asia, such as India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh, where the asbestos is mixed with cement to make cheap infrastructure. In November 2006, Canada vetoed an effort by the United Nations to require countries exporting chrysotile asbestos to warn of its possible harm.
The Health Canada report examining the potency of chrysotile asbestos was finalized in March, but Health Canada still has not released it for publication. One of the report’s authors suggested that the findings of the unpublished report have been misused, especially given the scientists’ view that it is”impossible to control exposures from these materials even in our most industrially advanced countries, never mind in developing countries.” The scientists also reported that “the tragedy of disease from the use and production of asbestos in the West is now being repeated in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Canada has a pivotal leadership role to play on this vitally important international issue.”
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