Asbestos Exposure & Bans News

The fight to impose tough trade restrictions on chrysotile asbestos — a toxic mineral that causes mesothelioma cancer and other serious health conditions — will have to wait at least another two years. For the sixth consecutive time, a handful of countries blocked the inclusion of the carcinogenic mineral from the Rotterdam Convention Hazardous Substances…

Fear and frustration best describes emotions felt by University of Toronto faculty and students after they say administration delayed notification that asbestos contaminated some of the university’s science labs. “The emotional experience is really devastating,” said physiology and medicine professor Adria Giacca in an interview with CBC News. Another professor, who didn’t want to be…

Deaths related to malignant mesothelioma are at a record high, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mesothelioma was the underlying or contributing cause of death on more than 45,200 U.S. death certificates between 1999 and 2015, the most recent years for which complete data is available. Annual…

While the physical symptoms of deadly asbestos contamination can take decades to develop, some Australian homeowners are feeling a more immediate and sometimes lethal form of repercussions. An Australian government survey reveals a quarter of homeowners affected by the ongoing Mr. Fluffy asbestos crisis in Canberra have mental health issues, some as serious as suicide,…

Ireland’s annual number of deaths from mesothelioma cancer is expected to double by 2020, despite prohibitions on the use of asbestos and increased efforts to combat its lingering dangers. The continued rise is a growing concern as a younger workforce emerges without the experience to properly identify the toxic mineral. “There is this misperception here…

A case in the British High Court alleges a man posed as a sympathetic documentary filmmaker to infiltrate workers’ rights groups campaigning against asbestos, the toxic mineral linked to mesothelioma and other diseases. Rob Moore is accused of acting as part of a worldwide espionage plan to gain secrets from organizations working in key countries…

An $80 million asbestos settlement involving two former Jackson County courthouse employees led to Missouri’s largest medical monitoring fund established in an asbestos case. The class-action asbestos lawsuit settled more than 30 years after a renovation exposed thousands of government workers to deadly asbestos fibers. Jackson County and Kansas City-based U.S. Engineering, the firm responsible…

A study analyzing mesothelioma incidence rates in Eastern China produced unusual findings, contrasting significantly from statistics of the asbestos-related cancer in the U.S. Reported incidence rates in China are significantly lower than the U.S. Only 15 percent of cases examined in the study were linked to asbestos exposure, the overwhelming cause of mesothelioma in most…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made a “last call” at the Libby Asbestos Superfund site, giving residential and commercial property owners one final chance to benefit from its asbestos cleanup efforts. Property owners in Libby and nearby Troy, Montana, will have until March 31 to sign up, bringing closure to the largest, longest-running…

After the latest push from unions and federal labor advocates, the Canadian government is moving to ban asbestos by 2018. Science Minister Kirsty Duncan announced the long-awaited news in late December. The ban will apply to the manufacture of any products containing asbestos, as well as imports made with the deadly mineral. It could be…