Document zzEOJo5aQ22nZRw7x6G7JM6y0
west puauuon-joustPyery: Asbestos can be a,
At m'oq as M wakes up cub morning E<! Rader r*ach over to
dte el hi* bed far a small pUstic apparatus, puli U os hi* (ice tad (or to# dcit IS miouUs bmthet I tapureoxygan
| H repeats the saxna procedure b*.' foregoing to bed at night
Uric* drily ritual U necev ik uxy because Bador, 65, has asbeito* jpj iii, a lung disease that afnJcts peoJ- 'k1 pi* employed to handle tsbestoi
Things Inxlda the pimibava to Im
prove It's a matter of tl/e and death
to us'*
,
The strike It lUU on WUllam Young, the plant manag er, lays, "We ewarve all toe safety rtgulaUcna laid dewp by the provin cial government."
Meanwhlla, the 75Q members of tha Aibastos Workers Union (Local W), the ether major grouping of men
who handle asbestos, also went on
aUi* *'60 per cent showed moderate or the 4,5 reo In OoUrto who work
extondvw avldenc* of asbeitosls "
wtOi asbei ** U (he object of graw
1 But, because uiuaa dwelt*** can't ail Immediate concern.
CodsW coodltW worms'} a4
avoid befog In constant contact with \ asbestos today, new question is ,w befog peerdt Has asbestos becoms a
dangerous pollutant to ths average
peraoet ,msy be liberated from
In factor aa whera asbestos prod
ucls ax* mide^sucb as the Johns* MsnvJtto flant Id Scarborough--
many precautions are taken to keep aibeiloa oo; of tbe lungs of employ ees
MMoAs'l.t'i.''no'fl
1 IthKe* Aduile<l
Aofl
. If ubottof*
!' j
<BM1 .tu..r1_in1l_.dJD_iIU_n.g(JcsluticHh
and brake Uidnxt belAg de'MOUShed
Unkod *dUaasei and deaths hfvo- wwhwiechn aarree rniechn imn auswbehstoms mnwatieerritaulss
Powerful veoUlatlng fans suck the air dean. Men handling powdered *, b a a t o are required to wear
brea reported only wllMa the pall which may fled their way Into the * mwk<
times a year a com-
/ 1 There have already beta several deaths in Metro attributed to arise*-
1*V, * losls* Ji Asbestos It eho suspected to be a
> \ health hazard to the genual public. AibeitoiU U the result ot Uny at*
bestoa particle* becoming lodged In the lungs Bader bai a bad cue and hat pave difficulty breathing (
itrtke They recently willed bacauss they woo a big rats* and a short
Contract, but they're still disgruntled over the health hazard.
They week ,tn construction sites Installing a a b a t o i water pipes, spfaying an asbestos protective solu tion on structural steal and applying
various types of asbestos material
lew years mid with good ms4* It atmosphere Asbestos is used to
take* 3D to 90 yeare of exposure to floor tlllngy, roofing materials, con
asbestos dust for tbe disease to galp veyor belts, in stoves, heelers and
firm foothold.
' * *, } ;1 tUing cabinets
jt'a also slgnlficknV thek onl/'ln When Dr. W A D Anderson, a
the past 25 yean has sibeitost^* Uoiveislty of Toronto gradust* who
come a Sriddy-used msUriaL pur- ( U now a pathologist in Florida por
ing that period, Canadian annual'll-1 formed autopsies on* large number
bestos producUoiv-nearly *U of R of Miami people who lad died of *11
pan/ mdusl 4*1 hygiene unit tours the plant, tklng several air sam ples
Young, th* plant manager, said, 'TIi* object is to make aure that the air Is kept's ife * "
/ In official regulations, air Is safe (provided tiut it contains no more
When engaged in ordinary coover-
aatloD ha gups (or breath He can bo longer ptub a Uwoxnower and
that provfdts insulation for heating, refrigeration and air-conditioning.
The results of tho 1971 x-ray test of
mined In Quebec-hai risen from 1 cause*, be discovered that one In l[5,n Ji* ?***,t0<
*
466000 tons amount.
to
three
times that four had uboilot fibres embedded i In tbeir lungs
Uhan 1/25,OOi* oi an inch, per cubic tenUmeler
even walking presasta problems At MO uolon members, conducted by night be frequently startles from bit tho provincial department of beaUb,
What similar series of autopsies
Asbestos `everywhere wefo perfoxmod in Montreal. New
lusjiectors call
.
aleep, atrtggUog tor breath.
, `It's killing me'
,,
`
were recently unometd. Tko toil o( M men i&xnOI ejatje. "outtw
Bv, 01 ubeiloeU,"
<1
Today, there1, hudly . hum.. $ factorJ, pi,,., lhlPi ,uUnMMi
or But doc, eat Nnlota .1
*ii t f
York and other dUes, asbestos was found la 25 to SO per cent of the .bodies studied. "This documents the
From Unit to time, th* plant is
also visited by inspectors from th* Ontario departments of health and
t Bader, tapping hi* cheat, recently
t told The Star. "It's the asbestos to
' my lungs It's killing roe "
,
U probably lx
s pqr 22 years, while working la a
Metro lector/ which produces asbe*
' toe products, he breathed In billions
o( tiny, tough asbestos tibres The
ubejtosU vlciim Is beyond medical
' help because tha asbestos fibres aro
mdestnicbblc
The/ decrease the elasticity o( the
,' 1 . lungs and experience has shown U>a|
Alex Taggart, a union edict*!, finds this figure highly disturbing "We've already had six deaths be -ausa of lung disease,'* he said
Only low month..,., Otoere CHo/wusuilnnst npaistuteidi atuwat*y. *
During his 90 years asanlnsulation worker. Cousins helped with tho construction of doseea of factories hospitals, highrisa apartment* and oific* buildings,
aBsreicatttuhiinnigb liattbuoorreedu
bastes to one form or another Son of th* fibres find their way into hi man lunge
Urt monlh> M lhf j,,,,utloo of
ioc,T'mloM.,fc~in&' SeUVcTTvUttei ir"foiron--tio* 'itoj'-diiisc us**s' th. e_ ih' ae-ultll Istatd* ot asbestos hsndhifig tel
rgMoc-smitft-rrraalMll nurr.hbaaoDnl npocmpuslaliltliaonn*s,M'1 ta&rildd AA^nn. j*lt.pb.leoa.r,..th.Ino. .,h_de_t_Ua.l.Ut.huid,te_o_p_la^_r,dtr_an__ej_oUt ralisno x,
derson. At present it's impossible to met-
ray* lb* chests of worker* once a year and administers * lung per
-sure the amount of asbestos psiil formance tea.
del la a living person's lungs The only test la on* for' genera! luog dlskbiHty, which does not teU what
Dr Cowle, in charge of the chest disease unit of th* province's
solf li part present of u Nef York Academy of Sctoacaand hea W*-- of th* corironmenUl idenco dir
"Maa
Xp.^."ffiffl^xrr
slon of New York's Mount Sinai Hq threat ( th. ,,ijrbm dlfr
pltol school of medicine
jU Bill (MV cpra qire.Ki. ArKlreion
TM self1.1
For tb, pitt yewt> h# h*V^Vsnlfeiwccr.tihteudl tIhhaltl, a(llAonfl^gw*wrliltkhAuiitoilmAo (m *InII lOWt* 5C!l"Silt,'1UudO!e lnformaUon
asbestos workers will suffer serious "We*** got the right tsstaew,*
hcUh duoiegg.
' Slewarl of th* Internaton^yj
"Neither (he company nor th* gov- Cbemfcii Worker/ Vain. *Tof Bg,
eroment can refute this concfuslon vl|*J * msfier ef fife or danth. We*ve
Ucause they don't know enough Nheu? that tomeoftheigttpliitott
about the tong term hasirdsef expo-
checked out et lO How
sure to asbestos
above the maximum safety limit. I '
'Us no accident (Jut so many cases of ubeituilt ht\e betn show log up in tlio past (ew >ears The Johns Manvlile plant uas opened
here O years ago-and it lakes 20 to 30 years for thddamaga to be done "
think we should b* Uktngourown
samplei" Yooge, mesagat of tog/
Johns-Mtnvllto plant, Bajwhjsooo
pany is wlHlng to dlscuaatfindbd^-'
sure of afr ssodtostog letuMs vUh
toe Ulrica
.'a1
,
Auilihtoonruillaeii ULkiee Dr
Ccoowwle admit
,
Stowaxt ttnpha^ipp'toe.pMlfar, Mi&USUtonnll mturrevcCUlUtooDnCM* eeff tthoe*raollgkW*.t
Ih.l EJps .till .till La our kno<vlt4{. >, cure prevwUoo U th. Ur wt
ao(f thhe. Khaazuarfddsl ao(t tadsbtfeislAtost tetxnpaosiiumrei
s.lo_p...t...U...U...U..f.l.( a..m...on.g. >.U. m**-
"Asbestos." ho pointed out, "la a 20th century mjnerti It'* only com
,ortOT, .
, /) nat,.,
paratively recently that Us dangers / Symplqlni mU*)sdf;l> ?
nave been recognised The safely
standards wa let are based on th*
"Sure," b* arid, "ayary y*ar Uiij
best scieotifip Information avail
able *'
'
But. because th* demand for as bestos is Increasing by 3 per cent
each ) ear, it's Ukely that the num ber of occupational casualties will
increase la the future, he predicted.
lk* an x ray of ouzlupg>B4fr'W ( valuabt* ia ttt By to* tfraa csa > se* th* symptom* oiluagdlMM#op
, the Ulm, Uto too lit* todo anything K about IL" a ) i
> Dr. Cowle arteei toad *a/ty ayzpp-' toms of dUeiMf of top'mof trq ;
oftoo miaied by radiology, fie p- {
Tbs air monitoring program ba* plained: "U ttw.Wnagelwiue '
alto been singled out for attack by doean't threw e.ehaiVnr^ tr* W1 ,
union officials and members
' nuke a diagnosis,7 j,* ".{j',
non Proudfoot, 42 who has in . Kpw can lh' number of ashsslos-
stalled Insulation In dozens of new Unked heallbcMualUMbereduoadt, buddings in tha Me__tr_o__a_r_e_a_, _aeyi, Follower are aome of the iqmi;/
'"OOfriieen if yotif look up towards thoe* ; Houx toad* to Th* ftar:,
sunlight when you're working, you , U> A progtaca ot reseg^toW'
can tea millions of asbestos parti due* improved ventilation and t-
cles floating in the air. You seldom i |iauit ryvtemiy respfrttny &askgl
see ao inspector and air samples are and ewetosod coauuemln^rbkhto'1
rarely taken."
> mix powdered tfboric*. -r, ^,<1.
James Irwin, of the Toronto 4e- ,<L (?) A more _q_o_o_r_tx_iUn-ainndTntctyfl-dmkvt
partment
buddings, explained /'aytfom of tncsjlortaf to* Afrfffai*'
the condition of ao sibeitorii victim
( * can only worsen
i A Dumber of recentevents have
L drawn attention to asbestos aa a
| i health hazard
i Last month tha 927 member* of
1 ' the International Chemical Worker* ij Union walked out of the Johns Man*
` vtuo plant in Scarborough, claim*
> lag that health, not money, was tho
| ,tnala issue Bobert Stewart, the union mantg-
1 v, said:
i "Four ot our popple have dkdaod
`it have been disabled byaebeetos*
t canted disease* Tha lately eutv*
, dards-^at set up and policed by the
` company and the prorinclal depart
tnents of labor and health-can'l be
* trusted
"They've done a lousy job for Ul
When h* retched the ago of 60, ha
fo^und that he .w.a..a...u....tvir.e,d.mwhen be cam* hom* at nlcht that he bad to go to bed Uls breathing became propeieivgly mot* labored Altos, nit widow, wbo Uvea in tbe Dapforth-Coiwcll area, reealbed:
"Hti condition rapidly,worsened
untU ha couldn't walk up x (tight of stair* without being completely ex-
housled He had to giv* up bunting which wra* always the love of hit
Mfc George wain fighter and Insist
ed on going off to trork ovry ntors-
lag But h* had to quit two year* before the retirement age ef 65."
The couple then began Spending
five months of the vetr Id Uelr Mui koka cottage, hoping that the pure *lr would clear up his lung condl
tion It was a futil* dreaml Georg*
been studying aibailoi ai as occu l jMeMbaustfumci. general pallution
TiVre SSf-f iSi
pattonal hazard "We can expect, worse thing.
ahead," he predicted- "We h*Yt Vd, to leant to bve with asbyztos/* ^ *
1 The tsbeslo* aorker onconatrcu
,lof, the air. and cigarette smoking 'ibestos limply adds to the risk of i topi cancer
fit. Caution is urged
s'(emexrproetsdurteo l*ao ijaoosbbbewsthoesraormthtoerraeento*eallMerslIys retirement." According to union officials, thts*
safely progra m look great on paper but they're rot preventing asbestos
tion sites, he said, will eventual! Uke other authorities on chest dU- workers from being struck down by
- show six or sqven limes the abrmi I tasei, Dr Joseph Cowle. o( the On- lung diseases.
rate of long cancer, three times th i larin department of health, cau The assumption that air contain
normal rat* of canetr of the color, lions agamri presneg tha panto ing five asbestos libras -per cubic
stomach and rectum .
bytton on asbestos in tha general centimeter cut be inhaled with Im
Mejotheboma-e maligoact tumor itinttpbgre.
munity U questioned
that groax In tha upper chest will `"Tlte researchers," hs said, "hato "That sUndttd may ulUmaltly
and abdomen jinisf-is found in one Obnij fibres in (be lungs of non as- kill ail of us" said Slewart of th*
of every S,(XX> people in tha general1 icstos workers, coated by iron and International Chemical Workers Un
population In asbestos workers, the hrotoin. But it s not clearly estab ton "It mears that tha average guy
occurrence U one of every 16
listed fo what proportion of them is inhaling I' million fibre* every
Id one group of 40(1 asbestos work tha cor* Is asbesloj or some other right-hour shit According to Dr
ers who had been on the job for Jo firiieto Inhaled from the air "
be..U..k..o..ff this means that after 30
year* cr more, SelikoU reported that 1
hMithjrf^ yegg of expdure. tho majority of
that his safety construction branch fries to^ havi in inspector visit each building site atleail once a week.
Can't be ctcryuhcre
"W< only have eight Inspectors and they can l be everywhere at once, standing behind each worker aH th* Umi.'j he said "If there's a lot of polluUoQ In toe air, the worker should b* wearing a mask Thai s a regulation But a lot of them won't do it U'f a hard regulation to en
force, especially in the warm weath er "
The refusal of guvrromont health y departments and manaxrmerl to r disclose iho, titiantlly of asbosto*
found In tha air sempltn la jootoer souree of union apprehension
. prqved <w?hntq^** In \ajt0 installation of asbtttoj product^ '
nop.
i It) GrulKT--p|l(go IgpvdTimmt'h. < 11 () (toirlmnUt mmkj.ra.irt* md uoljiB.; <* -
" <0 'll. tytm^stUvn'<
did Aabamd. Act.
ton-
praltmdv, julddlpn nr Ik. dl,
V tuwirtHnj. ot ameitra, HopdoH,, 11
Would accoovUik (orutxitoiwork-
,n whit UM SUItMll Act VU*vwi
, I)/ .afordul drinjaq} uUj
I Uoni lor mlDdi.
`
"Urn .dept .tick m-murai".*1*
Dr Irvloj fidlkoHduriojUi neat
trio to Tomato, "tkminariUo
to Itv. nd work tfriy wttti.it-.
to,"
. ^1 * o `
SPNY 000115