Document X7zm2jOzbK3gqQVnbd8XNm5nR

FILE NAME: Abex (ABX) DATE: 1971 July 31 DOC#: ABX058 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article ^ 4k ,-. M h wtk' i ' " h TOsgt UaJd. O . pio fciv* to Im- -- ........... morata* Ed r*dit*ovrto prove It'**matter offi/e end death f P K K f can be % i "* P*r a t howed ederat or th 4,500 m m la Ociarlo who work asbestos workers will suffer serious /} eataturfw avideoew of sbatto*!*.'* with asWsio* 1* th* object of irrest- he.i'fc h .-*. a killer 'We'v i tel th Comm O'i B3 sor * im u puis*' tic' apparatus, pot* it on fcfe iso and lor the next 15mlaufea breathe* ; ia jam* oxygen. He repeal* fee same procedure be*, fore going to bed at night ' This twicHiai]y ritual Is sece*- try because Bad, 65, has asberio* ft sis a lung dicease that aiflicts peo ple employed to handle asbestos. Tbet* have already beta several deaths In Metro attributed to esbe*- f t "tests, ' i1. Asbestos b also suspected to be a health hazard to the general public. Asbestos! is the result of tiny aaberios particles becoming lodged in the laagi, Bader bas a bad esse and baa grave difficulty breathing. .. When engaged in ordinary conver sation he gasps lor breath. He can no longer push a iawnmower and , even wtiklag present# problems. At night be frequently turtles from his sleep, straggling for breath* 'I t s killing a ' Bader, tapping his chest, recently told The Star, " it's the asbestos in my hangs, ft's killing me.1' It probably is. For 22 years, while worJdrrg in a Metro factory which produces asbes tos products, he breathed Jit billions of tizry, tough asbestos fibres. The asberiosis victim is beyond medical help because the asbestos fibres are mdirttructibie. They decrease the elasticity of the lusgi ltd experience has shown (bat the condition of an asbestos! victim can only worsen. A number of recent events have drawn attention to asbestos ts health hazard. . . la s t month th* 527 members of 1 the InfenutitansJ Chemical Worker* l J Union walked out of the Johns-Man* r trill* plant hi Scarborough, eiaira- ; tog that health, not money, was the l main Issue. t Robert Stowari, the union mansg- I ar, said; "Four Qfur people have died aed - U have been disabled by asbestos- ` caused diseases. The safety tan , dards--i s cat up and policed by th# ; company and the provincial depart ? meets of labor and heallh--caiTt be ; trusted. ' ''They've done a lousy Jobfor p*. to u*.M The strike to ti&os. . William Young, the plant manag er, says, "We observe all (he safety regulation* laid down by the provin cial government" . Meanwhile, toe 210 member! of the Asbestos Workers Union (Local 95), the ether major grouping of men who handle asbestos, also wanton strike. They recently settled because they won a big raise and a shot contract, but they're stitt disgruntled over the health hazard. They work .on construction sites installing a s b e s t o s water pipes, sptfiytog an asbestos protective solu tion oa structif-al steel and applying various types of asbestos material that provides tr*suistion for heating, refrigeration d air-conditioning. The results Mthe 1971x-ray tost of 520 union members, conducted by the provincial department el health, were recently tn o x e w i: The bags of 14 men showedchanges "sugge* live of asbetoil.'' Alex Taggart, a union official, finds tlas figure highly disturbing. "We've already bad rix deaths be cause of lung disease," he said. "Only a few months ago, George Cousins passed away," During his % years as antosula- tiea worker, Cousins helped with the construction of doieas of factories, hospital*, higbriie apartments and office building. j>.j- out, jec-uie MWCMer*twin. r!b-\ avoid tefim la constant cookact with v l ashestoi today, a sew question to A S being p m di Ha aabeito become a { dangerous pollutant to the average ` ' * person? Cousins* condition worsened ana hi Aiterfai may be liberated from died. - - ?-' jMleaaobge dutch and brake fifing?, . Meri I (IMS a asbesti* *............................ . ToilsK.. fe*a rtported. i3:. T?1*?1. *** Mcbmay Bed their way into Uw I t* year *ad tthgoodreaaofiB; atmosphere. Asbestos is used In W s t o * ye of exposure to1 5 , ulteBi roofing materials, con- tsbestos dust for it* disease to fain , n ,, belts, in stoves, heeters and Rrmloottold. ' | (Jin* cabinets. It's silo significant tin t onjy is ! ' When Dr. W A. D. Anderson, * the p a s t. year* hss asbestosfef: IMvecsity oi Toronto gradual, who con a 'widely-used material. i>ur- ] Is now a pitbologut in Florida, perin* that period, Canadian usual as-1 forme! autopsies on a large number bestos ptoductlon--nearly all of'I t 1 of (Uami people who litd cBed ol nil mined in Quebec--haa risen froin causes, lie discovered that one in 0,000 f'ona t.a.....t.h...r.e..e.....t.imes U" u`t four hid asbestos fibres embedded amount ' ' in their lungs. ' When siraair aeries of autopsies A s b e s t o s e v e r y w h e r e ; were performed hs Montreal, New Today, there's hardly hernae. ffice, iactary, pisne, Mp, utomof %or c&gs that does cot contain Ycrk and other cities, asbestos was found In 31 to SO per cent of the bodie.i studied. " Ilia documents the bestos is one form or another. So , tenterai urtHalni, populationss,, aid Anof Ih*? fibres find their way kilo J< denoa. mas lung. - . f ' At present It's impossible to raea- Lari month, al the Invitation tfl lurc toe amount of asbesto pam- l^ a i jmlofts? Dr. firvlng Seliltcf! vii- [ elea <a a living person's lungs. The ited Toronto to discuss the beallh only test ;s one for geiieril luig ...... -- ...... . *" -1~ h izardi of a--sbestos h-a--n--t-grimnKo -. S--e-lT^ll disabikty. aw>ihhwicih does nnwot teull wwfucaiit i i a pari president of VatNewi . the problem la. X-rays seldom work York Academy of Science aad head ifnr ezily cues i of the emrfevameiital ecleoee ts i unmeuiate concern. Jn factories where asbestos prodnets aw made--such as the JohnsManviUe plant in Scarborough-- many precautions are taken to keep asbestos out ot the lungs of employ ees. powerful ventila_ti_n_g Ians suck toe air clean. Men handling powdered m,, i s . time , , c l f ,acom- pacy industrial hygiene unit tours the plant, taking several air sam ples. Young, the plant manager. *!, "Tlit object is to make sure that the ai,r is kepi 'safe.' ", , ... / ,n y i " 1** jegolaboos, air is sale {prm''d*i(l tb1 it contains no more F. v* asbestos fibres, no iopger p u t 1/25,000 of an inch, per cubic tealimeter. Inspectors call From time to time, th plsat is also visited by Inspectors from the Ontario department ot health and ^ pf,kleMa, t1he* hhe#a,iltthh dde-uparirmtmMen*t s.tlaAo **. rays the chests of workers once a year and administers a lung per formance test. Dr. Cowie, in charge of the chest disease unit ol the province's :___ _.. . . . ___ ______ __ , **d: ^ * * tin ch a n ts in the lung we B re a th iig labored _____ __ __ ^ , * JW,,,;l- this information S in n h . WKtiid tit tgeol 60, h* found ttat he m M ttn d w N tito m e home ot night thot he lad So xo to feed. Hi* breathing became proffeuivoiy mer labored. Alle, Mi vtldaw. who live* in the Dan- forth-Co* area, recalled: . "HU condition rip id lj,worsened ntl! he couldn't walk upa flight ol ta* without beta* completely *. lutate4. Ha had toglveuphtmttai which wa* altrayi the love ol hi* Hie. Ceorge waa fighter and Mist ed on *ow* off to workevery morn ing. But h* hud to tjult two year* before the retirement age of 65." The couple then began pendini five montisi el the year In tlelr Mus kok cottage, hoping that the pura a r would clear up hk lung candi timi, it m u a futile dream. George been atudyin* asbestos es' an cccu-i i bHctxh.usl lumca, geserri pollution J 1? 3' )ef ^ P1* wortosr toting frsns- pstiOBil hazard. . . A ef. ths sor, and cigarcUs smokmg. 'i i *rTt* le * *J*" ^ r e i "We can expect, worse (hia ' -J*/ Ws to the rnk of f *f*r* f asbesto* or to an early ahead," he predkted. " We have >34 'Bifig siaactr. retirement." to team to live with asbestos;" T i Accorcung to union officials, these r*1 Th asbestos worker on constrtid Caution is urged safety programs look p eat on paper but they're not preventing asbestos . tics sites, he said, will eventually . Like ethir authoritirs on chest dis workers from being truck down by show six or seven times th* normal eases, Dr. Josej^i Cowle, of the On- lung diseases. rate of long cancer, three time th* tons departmw.t of health, cau The assumption that air contain- norms! rate of cancer of tbecoloi tions tgai&it pressing the panic tog liv* asbestos fibres -per cubic stomach and reelton. . - button on asbestos in the generri centimeter can be inhaled with im MesotheUoma-a mafigacaltumor rimt-sphert. munity is questioned. that growt in the upper chest wall and abdomen lining--is found in on of very 8,000 people in the general populatitm. In asbestos worker, the' occurrence is one of every to. In on group of 400 asbestos werk- "The researcheri." h* said, "have /pn-i fibres in the lungs of mrn-as<beatos workers, coated by iron and proMn But it s not clearly estab- l l ^ d in what proportion ef them ths eer Is asbestos or some other article inhaled from the air ' ha;ttt_o!^ "That iUndard may ultimately fall all of us." aid Stewart of the International Chemical Workers Un ion "it mean that the average guy is inhaling 15 miHlofi fibre* very eight-hour shift According to !> Setikoff, ibis mean* that after 28 y g p ot exposure, th* majority ef "Neither the company nor the goveminent can Tefute this conclusion because Uwy don't *1W enough about the tong-term hazards of expo sure to asbestos, "It's no accident that so many casts of ssbeslosis have been showing up in the past few years. The Johm-ManviUe plant was opened here 72 years ago--and it takes 20 to 30 years for the damage to be done." Authorities like Dr. Cowle admit that gaps sttll exist in our knowledge of the hazards of asbestos exposure. "A sbestoshe pointed out, "is a 20th century mineral. It's only com paratively recently that <Udangers have bees recognized. The safety standards we set are ba&ed on the best scientific information avail able." But, because the demand for as bestos Js Increasing by 3 per cent each year, its likely that the num ber of occupational casualties will increase in the future, be predicted. The air monitoring program baa Chemical Workers Union. "For us, U.ti*t'3s a* mraa*tuter oif hraieeorrodeamth. Wwwehvre that jora, of Us*n m jd n tefe en have checked out f t id tizo# above U maximum safety t ig tit! ; ! tshaimnkplwese" shYooualdgeb, essttaaksingegcouerlotwbnf ' j Johns-Menviie plant, say M s com- ; pony is willing to discuss tito <Bsd> sure of a- mroitorint m t i p w i f e the untori v; >. Stewart empbeutos the S h elter coMtttt tuneltiaiiee of the air be cause prevention to the enferway ta stop fatalitins among the asbestos worker*. -, SymptommissedftV "Sure." ba aald, "veryyeaf they take a : x-ray of oar lungs. But hoir vaiuabre to It? By the time yen cs ee the symptontoo(bi2lgdtots*o8 the film, it*s too tots to do anything ; bout it." ' } . y ' j Dr. Cowls agrees that a y s y s ^ .1 tora* of dlseuos ol th* lung is / oftop mined by ra & to tf. m^v piained: "If tim. damaged tissue j _u_n_i_on__o,fff;i.c,i,atl.s --an^d _m__e_m(bers=. * i r Ro Proudfoot, 42, who has tosialled insulation in dozens ot new buildings m the Metro area, ays, ' Often, if yott look up towards the sunlight when you're working, you ca, n s,,ee nuUio, nJ of asb.estos .partihie Bualii* la ih at, Yee Idem te aiiinsperier and air sample are rarely (altee." . r . r T * * " 1 W3<r ` : make a diagnoti,*' -'"4 | . Hw caa thd'nmterefi*io. f UnXed health CMuaibe, be reduced! j ` FoUewk* tre (wo* ef lb*'ni|m d o made io Ti (U A Fregrta .ef e u ^ toytdt i duce imteoved veotihtlea u d * 'J i hauit syefemij esDratorv maria T I u d eoclojed coatabtem tewMcHt* : mix pewfend aghetto. , , : dame$ frwis, ef the Terente de- ' (21 A me,* .vwitiee lie eWtriet~ partmeot ej budding,, plained rMffhm et iS r^ V . that Ml ialetjf ciatructfcin branch proved tedmiqdea is nuuifeckiritif i tries to havk an imneutor visit each \and UstalJaUbS ef u b e ri neduria'.; bniidmj site at least once a week. . that decrease'!! amount pipolVJ- , , l.atit be e tfryu h ere (.won. ! [; ^ Greater'ie-eperatioebeteeeli " We usJy have eight inspector, and they can't be everywhere at once, standing behind each worker aH to time," M said "If there's a tot of pollutiod to the air, the worker should b* wearing a mask. That' a regulation. Bui lot ef them won't do ii It's a hard regulation to en force, especially in the warm weaib- \ 1pwernmnu h u m d e p a r t a e r ia , ; ,.'anatementa u d tuhiu. ; ty | Th* t&tRktoctioa of previa- Mai Mberiosii Act, ctaSatog comptehetutiv* guider*# gar' tbs sa l* . V handling of asbestog. HopefaHy, It would accompMahfor asteria work er what the SUcmIi Act tebfewd by enforcing rirtog*rt saftty rogai#* tions for miners, The refusal of uvernmrm health ; "If we adopt auch ttiaiu rti/'isM /dfpwimeriU mid manacemeni to i Dr. Irving Sctico during hi m e e t disclose th* i{iiunuty of asbestos ! trip to Toronto, "then i eo letra found to tit* au sampi is another i to Uva d work safely wttiiaibo* Dureef union apprehension, 1 toi-" . .ft ' ' S P N Y 000115