Document OzVY0Z0Y23q3yg3k301oXJ8LX

FILE NAME Quebec Asbestos Mining Association QAMA DATE 1978 June DOC QAMA155 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION QAMA Bulletin Vol 2 No. 4 Asbestosis is being overcome There is no cause for complacency in the that in a survey of almost 6 800 workers in the primary asbestos industry in Qu^'becthe Special Committee on asbestosis of the Workmen's Compensation Board found only 161 cases of asbestosis Indeed if there remains even a single case of asbestosis among the asbestos mill and mine workers it is still one case too many Improvement However what is encouraging in the results of the Special Committee's study is that the enormous ef- fort and energy devoted over several years to eliminating the causes of asbestosis are proving effective and that the systematic prevention air purification and industrial hygiene programs introduced concurrently with new technological developments are providing results which are reflected in the workers generally improved health condition To verify this one need only to re- late the number of cases of asbes- tosis found by the Special Committee to the number of years of exposure of the workers in question One finds that these men started working in the mines and mills at a time when the technology used for the extraction and processing of asbestos and the means for reaching diagnosis were relatively undeveloped Situation no longer of the interpretations made of a short and rapid study carried out with a group of selected workers by Dr. Selikoff of the Mount Sinai Institute of New York comparable Today in view of the general con- Scientific exactitude ditions of hygiene the improvement It is true that Dr. Selikoff was not in equipment the efficiency of the removing methods and. the means of rapidly detecting health hazards made possible by scientific and technological progress the situ- ation of asbestos workers is no longer at all comparable with what it was 40 30 and even 20 years ago speaking of asbestosis but of radiological anomalies But by not offering any interpretation of the data contained in his study and by omitting to provide the usual definitions he permitted the most fanciful interpretations which have spread confusion and created a climate of excessive alarm- Since the incidence of asbestosis is ism mainly related to the level of ex- posure it is reasonable to assume Not the least of the Special Committee's merits is to have restored that asbestosis anomalies scientific exactitude into the debate have not only considerably decreas- ed in number but are also well on the way to being eliminated Moreover the Special Committee's results derive from an _ extensive study spread over two years and carried out with extreme rigour in the light of the most date- scientific and medical knowledge The conclusions which the Committee's specialists have produced reveal the degree of levity - to put it mildly - It is now to be hoped that the Workmen's Compensation Board or the Labour Minister will publish in addition to the report containing the findings of the Committee's study a detailed description of the methodology employed by the specialists and also issue the results of the analysis of the workers medical files with regard to the use of tobacco as the incidence of smoking was also studied by the Committee ok: | BulletinBulletin Results of the study by the Special Committee on asbestosis A study of the medical files of the 6 785 workers employed by the Qu^'bec asbestos mining companies between October 1st 1975 and December 31 1976 shows that 161 workers or 2,37 of the total have asbestosis to vary- Ing degrees This is revealed in a report by the Special Committee on asbestosis of the Workmen's Compensation Board made public at the beginning of June by Qu^'becLabour and Man- power Minister Ferre John- son The committee The Special Committee on asbestosis was set up by the Workmen's Compensation Board on May 21 1975 on the recommendation of the Qu^'- bec Natural Resources Minister It consisted of five medical specialists the director of the pneumology service of the Workmen's Compensation Board Dr. Jacques Gougoux acting as President three chest specialists Drs Jacques Gauthier Maurice Myre and Jean Mantha and a radiologist Dr Char- les Bernard The mandate The Committee's mandate was to review the results of all the compulsory annual medical examinations of the asbestos mine and mill workers and to carry out a new analysis of the chest rays The medical files of 785 workers were thus reviewed Relative incidence The results of this review of the health files of all workers indicate that the incidence of asbestosis is very much less than the figures of 60 to 80 per cent referred to after an examination of1 200 selected rays carried out in 1975 by the Mount Sinai Institute of New York under the direction of Dr. J. Sellkoff Indicators The pulmonary indicators which the Committee took to be relevant to its study are a dry r^le respiratory difficulties or shortness of breath dyspnoea and drumstick fingers digital hippocratism Other related symptoms in particular coughing spitting and chest pains cannot be considered sufficient evidence for the diagnosis of a pneumoconiosis as is made clear in the Committee's official report International classification The ray analysis was carried out in accordance with the international UC 1971 Cincinnati classification by means of matching film controls from the ILO at Geneva The rays analysis was made in relation to the other medical data and to the details of work activity in each case in order to reach a diagnosis requiring the agreement of all five members Findings The analysis revealed that 79 of the rays were normal and that 21 of the rays presented ab- normalities Of these 435 ,, or 6.41 of the total - showed signs which may have been due to as- bestosis These 435 cases 6,41 occurred almost exclusively among workers whose exposure had been over a period of more than 20 years and in 38 of these cases the expo- sure was over a period of more than 40 years All these cases were studied in depth by the pneumoconiosis committee of the Work men's Compensation Board or by the Special Committee After a final analysis a positive diagnosis of asbestosis was made in 161 cases and all the other cases were declared free from this disease Other indicators The results of the Committee's study also deal with dry r^les hippocratism and dyspnoea Thus 3,9 of the workers 265 in number were found to be suffering from dry r^les while 113 cases of hippocratism were found being 1,67 of the total number of cases examined The Committee identified 438 cases of dyspnoea or shortness of breath that is 21,2 of the total which were graded from 1 to 4 according to their seriousness the majority of cases came into category 1. that is they were considered minor Lung diseases unrelated to asbestosis The Committee also studied a number of lung ailments unrelated to asbestosis such as emphysema lung cancer and tuberculosis A total of 26 cases of pulmonary emphysema were identified by rays with two cases of lung cancer no mesothelioma and 14 cases of possible but probably inactive tuberculosis these patients were referred to their per- sonal doctor Reference document According to the members of the Committee the study proved to be 2 Development of Ilmitations of their development in Qu^'bec research on asbestos A study on the possibilities and means of developing asbestos research in Qu^'bechas been commissioned by the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bec AMAQ and will be carried out by the Centre de d^'veloppementtechnologique CDT of Montr^'al'sEcole Polytechnique The AMAQ has also asked the CDT to prepare a comprehensive project outlining the steps to be taken for developing this research including financing and operational procedures Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to speed up the process of developing research into asbestos in Qu^'becso that the best possible performance is obtained in viable economic candi- tions by making optimum use of the human material and technological resources available Inventory and prospects To this effect experts from the Centre de d^'veloppementtechnologique who may be joined by specialists from other research and study organizations or agencies will make an exhaustive survey of all research activities relating to and will assess the possibilities and Report in 4 months The CDT has set up a team of four experts headed by Laurier Juteau engineer resident Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique who was mem- ber of the Comit^'d'^'tudesur la salubrit^' dans l'Industrie de l'amiante the Beaudry Committee and the results of their work together with specific recommendations will be given in a report to be issued within four months Evaluation committee In addition the Association has ask ed the CDT to act as advisor in the formation of an independent evaluation committee consisting of Qu^'bec scientists and research workers which would be responsible for analyzing all aspects of the research projects or proposals submitted to the Association and for making re- commendations Constructive contribution By virtue of this Initiative the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becwill be able to make a more constructive and better informed contribution to the elaboration of as- bestos research development pro- grams in Qu^'beccoming from either the public or the private sector and will be better equipped to appreciate the value and relevance of the pro- Present at the signing of the agreement by representatives of the AMAQ and the CDT were from left to right Laurier Juleau eng project leader Michael Messel President of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becand President of Lake Asbestos of Black Lake and Robert Hay Director of the Centre de d^'velop- jects submitted for consideration and to identify those areas where the member companies might consider undertaking research work in com- pement technologique mon extremely useful in verifying the pulmonary health of workers in asbestos mines and mills The study is currently being used as a basis for the annual issue of certificates and it allows for a fuller interpretation of the medicat clinical and X- ray data in the workers files It has given specialists in industrial chest diseases the opportunity to develop a much clearer idea of the nature of asbestosis and other pulmonary ailments The study will also be the starting point for the setting up of a central data bank on all mine and quarry workers The relevant information emerg- ing from the 8 785 cases studied has been placed on computer and other data could be added to the program such as years of exposure and the clinical and ray indica- tions of each of the persons studied | Bulletin | Asbestos Asbestos strong and durable With its resistance 10 smoke flames humidity and mildew toge- ther with its dimensional stability asbestos is the addilive preferred by manufacturers of vinyl floor tiles used in commercial and industrial premises and places of frequent transit made in the other Canadian provin- ces Stabilization In the last few years the manufacturers most of whom also pro- Homogeneous mixture These asbestos tiles which are strong and durable are made up of 15 per cent vinyl plus a homogeneous mixture containing a thermoplastic binding agent asbestos mineral additives and pigments The proportion of asbestos thus used in the tiles varies between 10 and 20 per cent according to the formula employed the thickness of the product and its quality However this is sufficient to make the tile fireproof unless subjected constantly to an intense flame and to protect it from the deterioration caused by numerous chemical agents The manufacturers themselves declare that for the production of this kind of tile there is no substitute offering the advantages to be had with asbestos particularly as regards dimensional stability and durability Above after being cut the ties are subjected to a series of tests Below a range of asbestos tile samples Canadian production There are four asbestos tile producers in Canada of which three are located in Qu^'becand a fourth is in Ontario Their production in 1977 amounted to 90 million square feet of tile using some 5 000 tons of short fibres generally of grade 7 Though most of the production of asbestos tiles comes from the Qu^'bec plants almost 80 per cent of the sales totalling approximately 22,5 million in 1977 are At the Armstrong Cork plant in Montr^'al presses print the desired design on the asbestos sheets as they come out of the mixer on conveyors this operation precedes the cooling process and the cutting of the tiles duce vinyl floor coverings with flooring telts containing up to 85 per cent a asbestos have encountered fall in demand for asbestos tiles due among other things to the increased popularity of industrial and commercial carpeting However market surveys show a decline in the use of carpeting for these specific purposes which promises a stabilization of the asbestos market in which the Canadian production is sufficient to meet the domestic demand The manufacturers The asbestos companies in Qu^'becemploy some 1 100 people comprising 300 at Domco Ltd. at Farnham which is the oldest firm manufacturing floor coverings in Qu^'bec400 at the Montr^'alsubsidiary of Armstrong Cork and 400 at American Biltrite in Sherbrooke a subsidiary of the American company of the same name Domico devotes 10 of its activities to the production of asbestos tiles the corresponding proportion for the production of both Armstrong Cork and American Biltrite is about 45 per cent Method of . manufacturing Though each manufacturing firm may add its own particular variations as regards the mixture of ingredients which are used in the products or when it comes to pressing or adding the adhesive products their method of manufacturing asbestos tile is basically the same When it leaves the mixers the mixture of asbestos vinyl binding agents and pigments is cast into long sheets which are cooled and then cut to the required dimensions Depending on the type of equipment there is a period of about ten minu- tes between the moment when the mixture is submitted to the heating process and the cutting of the tile This is then checked with regard to thickness size colouring stability resistance to heat and design All defective tiles are rejected and recycled Variety The designs that are used on asbestos tiles can be applied to the surface only or through the whole thickness of the sheet The range of designs is as wide as that of the : tiles themselves of which some manufacturers offer more than 150 | different samples ! Qu^'becasbestos- cement in Africa Part of the university complex at Abomey in B^'nin consisting of nine buildings Asbestos is the principal covering material used in their construction Asbestos Is the principal covering material used in a new university complex in Africa built under the auspices of the Canadian International Development Agency and designed by the Montr^'al architects Labelle Marchand Geoffroy The fibrocement products used in the construction of the nine buildings of the Coll^gePolytechnique universitaire in B^'nin exDahomey amount to nearly 316 000 000 square feet 29 340 mof asbestos and were all manufactured at the Atlas As- bestos plant in Montr^'al The supply and the installation cost close on 452 000 No maintenance The architects chose asbestoscement because it is sturdy exceptionally resistant to climatic and other forms of erosion and apart from being easy to install requires no further maintenance The roofing on the buildings consists of corrugated Trafford liles 6 800 sheets 2417 2417 moulded parts and 2 819 standard accessory parts were needed to complete this part of the work In addition the capping of the roofs and the oblique walls are covered with 2 091 flat asbestos sheets and 4 934 moulded louvers were used in the construction of the shield walls which close off the ends of the sided roofs 800 students The Coll^gePolytechnique universitaire is located at Abomey- Calavi 16 km to the north of Cotonou the capital of B^'nin There are 800 students of the humanities of administrative studies of biological sciences and techniques and of industrial and sciences techniques 4 Bulletin including 130 locomotives and 800 hundred wagons which cover a total of 500 kilometres of railway A delegation of the to transport the ore to the mills and the waste material to the failings 112 mechanical shovels are used for Canadian asbestos loading the ore The tour of the UralAsbest Instal- industry visits the USSR lations lasted three days and included a visit to an important asbestos extraction and processing research centre VN11 procktasbest A delegation of the Canadian asbestos mining Industry accompanied by representatives of the Federal departments of Industry Trade and Commerce and of Energy Mines and Resources made an official visit to the Soviet Union in May at the Invitation of the Soviet government and in particular of the USSR Committee for Science and Technology kilometres and a width of 1,2 kilo- metres The delegates also visited the processing plants one of which was During this stay in the Siberian region the Canadian delegates were the guests of Mr. A. Korolev who is manager of the mining installations and also responsible for all activities relating to the life of the complex and of the town of 000 The visit lasting from May 14 to May 23 consisted mainly of a tour of the asbestos mining facilities at the two largest mining complexes in the USSR located in the Republics of Russia and Kazakhstan UralAsbest The UralAsbest industrial com- plex which is the largest of its kind in the world with its three adjacent asbestos mines has an annual production of 1 750 000 tons of fibre of grades 1 to 6. It is also believed to produce 000 tons per year of grade 7 fibre not included in the official Soviet production figures Part of the asbestos mining complex of UralAsbest in USSR Soviet officials estimate that with the proposed construction of a new mill the production capacity at UralAsbest will increase to nearly 3 million tons by 1983 built less than ten years ago which employ in mining maintenance and auxiliary services a total of 20 000 people and operate day and night 365 days per year In the course of its visit to this Siberian mining complex the Canadian delegation witnessed a primary blasting in the largest of the three mines which is as much as 190 metres deep over a length of 2,8 Considerable equipment The UralAsbest complex uses a considerable amount of equipment inhabitants which has grown up around it Koustanai The delegation also Koustanai installations in the Republic of Kazakhstan about 2500 miles to the south east of Moscow They were received there by Mr Vladimir whole Federovitch Director of the whole of this mining complex 6 which has been in operation since 1965. The mine and the mill at Koustanai employ 500 people and the annual production is of 700 000 tons due to increase to 1 150 000 by 1985 The Koustanai mill like the most recent processing plant at the UralAsbest complex has very similar charcteristc charteisc to installations In Asbestos from which the Soviets Moscow The Canadian representatives had a short stay in Moscow where they were received by Mr. Anpilov Soviet deputy minister for construction materials Mr. Y.P. Fokeev also of the Ministry for construction materials asbestos division and Mr. Ivan I. Ischenko President of the construction Committee of the representatives We observed that the Soviet authorities had installed new equipment and modern technological systems he said in their effort to reduce as much as possible the emission of dust in their plants and in other related installations Demand for asbestos There is currently a substantial increase in industrial and residen- tial construction in the Soviet Union and over the last few years Investments of the order of 200 million 120 million roubles have been assigned to the construction of asbescement plants whose products are used in new buildings Between 800 000 and one million new build- ings are completed each year The Soviet Ministry for Construc- tlon furthermore requires that ascement materials be used in all new buildings The Canadian delegation The Canadian visitors leaving the town of UralAsbest in the company of their Soviet hosts From left to right LM Remennik Assistant Manager of the Ural- Asbest mines Y K. Korablev Production Manager G.O Vagt of the Department of Energy Mines and Resources Ottawa A Siderov Mills Manager AA Sokolov of the VN11 prockfasbest Research Centre into and Deputy Marketing of asbestos A. Milyavsky Director Sales and Section B Zarubin interpreter N Gritzuck Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cassiar Asbestos Corp. PC Slinn Deputy Director industrial minerals divi- sion Industry and Trade Ottawa AS Polushin Personnel UrafAs- best A Korolev Director of mining AMAQ P.A. Filteau Executive President of the Manager at M. Dorais President of Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. of Thetford Mines and President of the AMAQ V. Boranov of the USSR Asbestos Industry division A. Gauthier President of Lake Asbestos of Black Lake | Wood Commercial Attach^'at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow JMR Hutcheson Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canadian Johns Ltd. Y. , of the USSR Asbestos Industry Divi- sion drew both the technology and the design It should be noted however that in grades 1 to 6 the Soviet Union only produces about 20 different types or mixtures of fibre whereas in Qu^'bec there are around 150 types Soviet Council of Ministers The Canadians and their hosts expressed the wish to cooperate in technical and scientific matters AMAQ President Paul Filteau stated that asbestos and health were also discussed at meetings between Canadian and Soviet The Canadian industry and government representatives were Marcel Dorais President of Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. and Presldent of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becJ.R.M Hutcheson Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canadian Johns vilfe Ltd. Nick Gritzuck Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cassiar Asbestos Corp Andr^' Gauthier President Operations of Lake Asbestos Ltd Paul Filteau AMAQ Executive President G.O. Vagt of the Department of Energy Mines and Resources Ottawa and P.C. Slinn Deputy Director of the industrial minerals division at the Department of Trade and Commerce Ottawa The Commercial Attach^' to the Canadian Embassy in Moscow Mr. Ian Wood travelled with the delegation during its visit The Canadians were accompanied by two Soviet government representatives Mr. Victor Boranov and Mr. Y.I Glazunov from the asbestos industry di- vision The asbestos textile manufacturers at Qu^'becCity The Asbestos Textile Institute an American association whose membership consists of asbestos textile manufacturers not only in the United States and Canada but also in Japan Mexico Brazil and Great Britain in June held its quarterly meeting at Qu^'becCity for the first time Most of the Canadian asbestos mining companies are associate members of the Institute and one of them Canadian Manville of Asbestos which owns an asbestos textile plant in Qu^'bec is a full member The manufacturers who are members of the Asbestos Tex- tile Institute use substantial quantities of long fibres in the manufacture of their products and Qu^'becis an important source of supply for them Research and information Since it was founded in 1944 this organization has set up and develop- ed a continuous research and test- ing program intended to guarantee a high level of quality in the products manufactured by its members The Institute serves also as an important clearing house for the dissemination of useful information relating to as- bestos textiles and as a medium for familiarizing the public with the nu- merous uses and characteristics of the various products that can be made from them The Qu^'becCity meeting consisted mainly of workshops on environment on research and on a variety of technical matters Qu^'becMinister of Natural Resources Yves B^'- rub^'was the guest of honour at the closing dinner Canada Postes i Post Canada Postage pard Port paye Third Troisi^me class classe 683 Montreal P.Q. . mate. Po vi. 2a! Natural Qu^'becMinister of closing dinner at the Resources Yves B^'rub^w'as the guest of honour at the meeting of the Asbestos Textile Institute From left to right Walter Smith sales and technical services Manager at Bell Asbestos Mines Ltd. of Thetford Mines M. J. Scanlan President of the Asbestos Textile Institute and President of Amatex Corp. UFS.A. Yves B^'rub^'M. J. Messel President of Lake Asbestos of Black Lake and President of the Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'becand Paul A. Filteau Executive President of the AMAQ Bulletin Bulletin This BULLETIN is published by l'Association des mines d'amiante du Qu^'bec 1130 Sherbrooke Street West Suite 410 Montr^'al H3A 2M8 The Post Office Department in Ottawa has authorized postage paid in cash and forwarding of the publication by third class mail