Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA)

The Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA) was a trade group representing the chrysotile asbestos mining companies of Quebec, Canada, historically the world's largest source of chrysotile. It promoted the industry's interests and funded and shaped research on asbestos health effects. Its activities are frequently cited in evidence about what the industry knew and how it responded.

Origin

Formed in the early-to-mid 20th century as Quebec's asbestos mines, centered on towns like Thetford Mines and the town of Asbestos, dominated global chrysotile production. QAMA coordinated the interests of producers operating in the region.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients, QAMA is important because of its role in funding and influencing asbestos health research, including efforts that downplayed chrysotile's dangers. Documents tied to the association can show the industry was aware of hazards while publicly reassuring workers and the market. If your exposure involved Canadian chrysotile products, records connected to QAMA and its member companies may be relevant to proving corporate knowledge.

Related Terms

Chrysotile, Thetford Mines, Industry Knowledge, State of the Art, Corporate Conduct, Johns-Manville

Notes

• If your exposure involved Canadian chrysotile products, ask whether industry trade-group documents are part of the evidence in your case.
• Preserve any product identification tying your exposure to Quebec-sourced chrysotile, which can connect to the association's member companies.
• Note that industry-funded research downplaying chrysotile risk is often countered with the funders' own internal records.

In our library

3 documents in our library name Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA), by collection.

In the Union Carbide documents

Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA) is named in 6 Union Carbide documents dated 1958 to 1979 (6 mentioned), from asbestos lawsuits over Union Carbide's Calidria asbestos. All are published in our collection.

• Braun and Truan, An Epidemiological Study of Lung Cancer in Asbestos Miners, reprint from A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Health (1958) UC-1459 (mentioned)
• Johns-Manville Asbestos Fiber Division Data Sheets for Coalinga Asbestos Fiber Grades (1969) UC-5427 (mentioned)
• B. L. Ingalls Report of Call on Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA), Montreal (1973) UC-637 (mentioned)
• Letters Page Exchange: Matthew M. Swetonic (Asbestos Information Association) and Robert Sherrill on 'The Hazards of Safety,' New York Times Magazine (1973) UC-3141 (mentioned)
• IOEH Newsletter No. 37 from P. V. Pelnar, with McGill Report on Health Surveillance in Asbestos Workers (1974) UC-240 (mentioned)
• W. G. Kahler II to T. R. Alexander and Others on DOT Docket HM-160, Transportation of Asbestos, with Commenter Lists and DOT Regulatory Evaluation (1979) UC-3329 (mentioned)

Names in the documents

The spellings documents use for Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA), OCR misreadings included, so a search for any of them finds this page: Quebec Asbestos Mining Association · Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA) · the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association.

Where this comes from

This page brings together every document in our library that names Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA), across collections. Titles and affiliations are taken from the documents themselves, and units and subsidiaries are grouped under the company they belong to.