Document 99ee537J3337b7rz1wyJG3j7L

Letters Scientists Appeal to Quebec Premier Charest to Stop Exporting Asbestos to the Developing World January 28, 2010 Dear Premier Charest: As scientists from 28 countries, ded icated to protecting public health, we appeal to you to respect the overwhelmingly consistent body of scientific evidence and the consid ered judgment of the World Health Organization (WHO) that all forms of asbestos have been shown to be deadly and that safe use of any form of asbestos has proven impos sible anywhere in the world. We appeal to you to arr honnrably and to listen to Quebec's own public health experts,1 prominent health experts across Canada,2 as well as the Canadian Medical Asso ciation,5 the Quebec Cancer Soci ety,1 and the World Health Organi zation (WHO) ,5 who have all called for the use and export of asbestos to end. We wish to draw vour attention to the following troubling points, which suggest that your govern ment is practicing a double stan dard, thus bringing dishonor on Quebec's international reputation. 1) Quebec itself is experiencing an epidemic of asbestos-related disease. In Quebec itself, exposure to asbestos is the single biggest cause of worker death. Figures for 2009 from the Quebec Workers' Compensation The views expressed in this letter are those of the individuals signing it. The affili ations listed with those signers are for iden tification purposes only, and the views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of those affiliate entities. Board show 60% of occupational deaths were caused by asbestos.6 Other statistics confirm that Quebec is experiencing an appalling epidemic of asbestos-related disease. Official data shows 134 new cases of mesothelioma reported in Quebec in 2004," and Quebec's National Public Health Institute (INSPQ) reports 211 cases of asbestosis in 2004.8 It is well-recognized that for every case of mesothelioma, asbestos causes two to three times as many cases of lung cancer.9 This gives a total of 612 new cases nf aKhtiKioK-Ypln.ipfl dixp.axe in Chiehec in 2004 (134 recorded cases of mesothelioma, 211 recorded cases of asbestosis, and a conservative esti mate of 268 cases of lung cancer). From 1992 to 2006, the annual number of Quebec cases of meso thelioma has risen from 92 to 142/ We note that in 2007, facing high numbers of cases of asbestosis, your government's health authori ties set up a special program, using a mobile x-ray clinic to travel around the province and give chest x-rays to construction workers, in an endeavor to identify and aid workers with signs of asbestosis.10 This is a public health calamity and one that would not have hap pened if the industry's denial of the hazards of asbestos had not been believed. And as leading expert Professor Paul Demers of the University of British Columbia states, "Much of the burden of asbestos-related disease remains unrecognized."11 We call on you not to export this same public health tragedy to developing countries, where surely there is more than enough injustice and suffering already. 2) Quebec itself does not use chrysotile asbestos. Quebec itself uses virtually none of the asbestos it mines, in spite of major infrastructure projects cur rently underway. The government's 2002 policy of increased use of chry sotile asbestos in Quebec12 is a policy that has not been implemented, as the people of Quebec, in order to protect their own and their chil dren's health, do not want asbestos in their schools, hospitals, or homes. Instead, virtually all Quebec's asbestos is exported to developing countries, where protections are few and awareness of the hazards of asbestos almost non-existent. 3) Quebec is removing chrysotile asbestos from its buildings. Your government is spending mil lions of dollars to remove chrysotile asbestos and other forms of asbestos from Quebec's schools, hospitals, and buildings, while at the same time exporting it to devel oping countries and telling them it is safe. This seems to represent a high level of hypocrisy. Furthermore, Quebec has the financial resources, trained experts and specialized equipment to remove dangerous deteriorated chrysotile asbestos from its build ings; developing countries do not. 4) Quebec itself has failed to achieve "safe use " of chrysotile asbestos. Your government's own expert Public1" Health Institute (INSPQ) has published 15 reports,13 all of them documenting that it has proven impossible to handle 241 chrysoti]e asbestos safely in Quebec itself. The INSPQ states that "safe use" of chrysotile asbestos is likely impossible, particularly for con struction workers, and it therefore opposes your government's policy of increased use of chrysotile asbestos.14 A research project by several of your government's top health agen cies found that, in the miniscule number of workplaces in Quebec still using chrysotile asbestos today, there was a 100% failure rate to practice "safe use" standards. The report recommended that equip ment containing asbestos be replaced by safer, non-asbestos con taining equipment.15 When Quebec itself is unable to achieve "safe use" of chrysotile asbestos, how can anyone pretend that chrysotile asbestos can be han dled safely in developing countries, which lack the resources, regula tory controls, and technological advantages Quebec enjoys? 5) There is no safe exposure levelfor chrysotile asbestos. According to a spokesperson for Quebec's Occupational Health and Safety Commission (CSST), the government of Quebec has adopted a "zero tolerance" policy for exposure to asbestos.16 We applaud your government for seek ing thus to protect Quebec workers from asbestos harm. We call on you to show equal concern for the lives of workers in the developing world. We are deeply troubled that, instead, your government is endorsing the position of the Chrysotile Institute, telling devel oping countries that exposure of 1 fibre of chrysotile asbestos per cubic centimetre of air (1 f/cc) is perfectly safe for them.3' While this is indeed the position of the asbestos industry, it is not the posi tion of independent experts. The WHO, the Canadian Cancer Soci ety, the US Surgeon General, and the fifty' countries who have banned chrysotile asbestos state that there is no safe exposure level for chrysotile asbestos. Exposure levels of 1 f/cc will cause unnecessary dis ease and death for those exposed. We find it shocking that the expo sure level you endorse for people overseas is ten times higher than the level permitted by all of the other provinces in Canada, by the US, by the European Union, and by other Western industrialized countries. It is one hundred limes higher than the exposure level permitted in sev eral countries, such as Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. We note that samples taken during a five-year period from 1995 to 2000 for asbestos workers at Thetford Mines showed that the 1 f/cc standard wras exceeded in more than 10% of the samples, with workers being exposed to levels from 1.02 f/cc to 5.1.5 f/cc.18 A recent CBC documentary Canada's Ugly SecretTM showed work ers in India handling Quebec's asbestos who are exposed to far higher levels than 1 f/cc. 6) Industry misinformation is funded by your government. Chrysotile asbestos represents 100% of the world asbestos trade. It represents 95% of all the asbestos ever used. The chrysotile asbestos industry in Quebec, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, and Russia all claim that chrysotile asbestos can and is being safely used. The information put out by the asbestos industrv is, however, com pletely discredited. Health experts in Quebec and around the world have documented and condemned the misleading and untruthful infor mation the industry disseminates.-0 We draw? to your attention to the fact that a favorite expert of the Chrysotile Institute (a registered lobby group for the Quebec asbestos industry funded by your government21 and on whose board a representative of your govern ment sits) is Christopher Booker,22 who has no apparent scientific cre dentials and who considers climate change, harm from chrysotile asbestos, harm from tobacco smoke, and harm from lead in gaso line to all be hysterical hoaxes.23 Recently, the pro-chrysotile movement and Dr. Jacques Dunnigan fa long-time employee and spokesperson for the Chrysotile Institute) falsely presented to the Quebec public a US Department of of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Priority List of Hazardous Substances based on the Compre hensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as "Super fund")24 as evidence proving that chrysotile asbestos is a low' threat to health, noting that chrysotile asbestos is #119 on the list. 'What they did not disclose, how ever, is that the list relates only to clean-up of wastes at Superfund toxic sites in the US, where chrysotile asbestos is not signifi cantly present. If Dr. Dunnigan and the pro-chrysotile movement had bothered t o read the list, they would have seen that amosite asbestos, which they themselves recognize as an extremely hazardous substance, is listed at #131, that is, less haz ardous than chrysotile asbestos, and plutonium, an extremely deadly substance, is listed at #121. In fact, the US DHHS website specifically provides a warning that the list is NOT a list of most toxic substances and should NOT be treated as such.25 We find it incomprehensible and extremely disappointing to learn that Radio-Canacla's news program Le Telejournal presented the list to its viewers as authentic evidence of the low risk of chrysotile asbestos, when the most elementary journal istic standards, such as reading the list or the document containing the list, would immediately reveal this purported evidence to be a hoax.26 It is hard to believe that Dr. Dunni gan and Radio-Canada could demonstrate such extreme igno rance and irresponsibility', but the alternative explanation of deliberate deception is even more disturbing. 242 Letters www.ijoeh.com * INT J OCCUR ENVIRON HEALTH We note that in an earJier pro gram on chrysodie asbestos, Le Telejournal interviewed five people, every one of whom was a proponent of. and had a connec tion to, the asbestos industry. In response to complaints, the RadioCanada ombudsman ruled that Le Telejournal's program was biased and violated the journalism stan dards of Radio-Canada. 7) Efforts by the asbestos industry to intimidate and silence scientists. We note with dismay that the asbestos industry as well as Laurent Lessard, a minister in your govern ment who represents the asbestos mining area, have vilified and threatened your government's National Public Health Institute (INSPQ), thus creating a climate of intimidation to inhibit health pro fessionals from practicing inde pendent science without fear or favor. Bernard Coulombe, who is a director of the Chrysodie Institute and president of the Jeffrey asbestos mine, has called the INSPQ "a little bunch of Talibans"27 and Minister Lessard has spoken of '`repercussions" on the INSPQ.28 We note also that the asbestos industry's supporters have informed your government that they are dis pleased that the INSPQ's research reveals health problems caused by asbestos, strongly implying that they would like you to silence the incon venient truths about asbestos that the INSPQ documents.29 We are extremely disturbed that the asbestos industry in India-- Quebec's number one asbestos cus tomer, with whom the Quebec indus try works closely--has recently sent letters to a number of scientists in India saying that legal action will be taken against them if they do not retract their statements and pub lished articles concerning the threat to health posed by chrysotile asbestos. The asbestos industry including the Quebec Chrysotile Institute that your government funds, has a long history of seeking to silence, by lawsuits or other means, those who oppose the use of asbestos. In November 2007, the Quebec Chrysotile Institute filed a lawsuit in France against the National Asso ciation of Victims of Asbestos (ANDEVA), causing them financial and human costs, only to withdraw the case on the courthouse steps in March 2009 after ANDEVA refused to he intimidated. These actions by the asbestos industry to intimidate and silence scientists are a threat by vested interests to scientific and academic freedom of speech and we call on you, on the eve of your trade mis sion to India, to categorically con demn such actions against scientists and to give your unequivocal sup port to your government's own health scientists. 8) Sabotage of a United Nations environmental convention. We note that your government and the asbestos industry have success fully lobbied the Canadian govern ment to block the listing of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance under a United Nations (UN) environmental convention (the Rotterdam Convention), thus preventing the recommendation of the Convention's expert scientific body from being implemented, and thus also jeopardizing the mandate of the Convention. The Rotterdam Convention was created specifically to protect people in developing countries and countries in economic transition from being harmed by hazardous substances. It provides the basic human right of prior informed consent, requiring that countries be informed that a substance they may import is hazardous. It is extremely troubling to see Quebec instigate sabotage of a UN environmental convention and thus deny a basic human right that is taken for granted in Quebec itself. This obstruction helps the indus try's sales. But it brings Quebec into international disrepute. Under Canadian law, chrysotile asbestos is classified as a hazardous substance, but the Quebec govern ment has successfully lobbied to prevent it being recognized as such under international environmental law, thus creating a double stan dard of protection as if some lives were less deserving of protection than others. We note that at the December 2009 Copenhagen Conference you called on Canada to show stronger commitment to implementing the UN Climate Change Convention. We ask you to show similar commit ment to implementing the UN Rot terdam Convention. OUR APPEAL TO YOU In light of the above disturbing facts, we appeal to you, as you are about to leave on a trade mission to India, to show the integrity and honor that the world expects of Quebec. We ask that you listen to the overwhelming evidence put for ward by independent health experts, including your own Quebec health experts, and not succumb to the political lobbying of the asbestos industry. We call on you, as well as the leaders of the other Quebec politi cal parties, to end Quebec's export of asbestos, to stop funding the Chrysotile Institute, to support the listing of chrysotile asbestos under the UN Rotterdam Convention, to assist the last 340 asbestos miners and their community with eco nomic diversification, and to address the asbestos disease epi demic in Quebec. We thank you for giving our request your consideration and look forward with hope and antici pation to receiving your response. Sincerely, . Tim K. Takaro, MD, MPH, MS Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Research Faculty of Health Sciences Simon Fraser University British Columbia, Canada VOL 16/NO 2, APR/JUN 2010 www,ijoeh.com Letters * 243