Document B8k6rQYBjE3pMVLJb3QreNeEX

Page Four October 5 19Bl . Because of decreasing exposure in the last 15 to 20 years, asbestos caused pleural plaques are blending into the noise background of cigarette and other environmentally caused disease. . Finding new evidence that fiber type is a factor in mesothelioma and that this disease might also be caused by other minerals (reference to some village in Turkey where mesothelioma occurs commonly, and where no asbestos could be found). Gary J. Nash - Industry, Trade and Commerce, Government of Canada - Opened a Pre sentation on Canada's feeling on the future of asbestos. . Nash announced that a world sumposium on asbestos, health and society will be held May 1982 in Montreal. Purpose will be to bring to regulators from all. parts of the world, the letest evidence on what is/is not a safe level of exposure. Symposium will ^ouch on substitutes, economics, etc. Attendance will be limited to only 600 with 150 seats for industry. Attendees to this AJA conference will receive notices of the meeting. Jacques Dunnigan - Institute for Research and Development on Asbestos (IRDA), University of Sherbrooke, Quebec - Talked of Canadian health research. . He believes the future of the asbestos industry depends on proving to the general public that asbestos is as safe as he believes it to be which is: exposure to a workplace concentration of 2 fibers/cc equals 1 cigarette/day. He believes that labor is now satisfied with safety controls. . He is convinced that hazard of raw asbestos no longer exists, after "locking up" the fibers in a mixture as in asbestos cement (A/C). He quoted from a study in which asbestos filled thermoplastic was machined and the dust analyzed. Zero to very small amounts of unmodified asbestos fiber were detected in the dust. (Further work might show brake wear material not cancer causing). . He says researchers are finding that treatment by milling or phosphating "pacifies" the biological effects. Treated asbestos shows a unique spectrograptic signature. Daniel Perlstein, President - Quebec Nationalized Asbestos Industry. . The Quebec government created its own asbestos industry 3 years ago, has in vested $50 million, now employs 1200 people and has opened a new friction materials plant to manufacture brake pads. They are betting that future will show no excessive risk in mining or use and will take up the production lost by U.S. suppliers. . Said that asbestos products are today effectively outlawed by regulation in Denmark, Sweden and Germany. He believes this to be partly economic since their regulators are vague on evidence of a problem and these countries have no commercial asbestos. Accordingly, he intends to price his product low. 8003 0764 PRODUCED BY FORD