A worldwide ban on asbestos production and use: some recent progress, but more still to be done

Our plain-English summary of A worldwide ban on asbestos production and use: some recent progress, but more still to be done, by M.R. Sim (Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2013).

The study

• Author: M.R. Sim
• Journal: Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Published: 2013;70(1):1-2
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 12 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this commissioned editorial, the author reviewed recent progress towards a worldwide ban on asbestos production and use. He noted that the 1960 paper by Wagner et al linking crocidolite work with mesothelioma in South Africa had contributed to large reductions in asbestos mining and exposure, mainly in developed countries. By contrast, newly industrialising countries such as Brazil, China and India continued to produce, import and use large amounts of chrysotile. He summarised recent evidence. In the UK, risk of mesothelioma had shifted from mining and manufacturing workers to carpenters, plumbers and other tradespeople. Fibre length was linked to lung cancer risk among chrysotile-exposed workers. Non-occupational exposure accounted for a growing proportion of disease. The International Agency for Research on Cancer had concluded that all forms of asbestos cause cancer in humans, with the strongest evidence for mesothelioma and cancer of the lung and larynx. In 2012 the International Commission on Occupational Health and the Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology called for bans. In September 2012 Canada dropped its opposition to listing chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention, Quebec cancelled a $58 million loan to the last Canadian chrysotile mine, and the Chrysotile Institute closed. The author rejected the argument that asbestos can be used safely and concluded that much remained to be done.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This was a commissioned editorial, not a research study, and reported no new data. The author argued for a worldwide ban on asbestos production and use. The author wrote that newly industrialising countries such as Brazil, China and India continued to produce, import and use large amounts of chrysotile asbestos. The author described the International Agency for Research on Cancer's conclusion that there is sufficient evidence in humans that all forms of asbestos cause cancer. In 2012, the author noted, the International Commission on Occupational Health called for a total ban, and the Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology called for a ban on asbestos mining, use and export. The author reported that Canada announced in September 2012 it would drop its efforts to prevent chrysotile being listed as a dangerous substance under the Rotterdam Convention. The author also reported that the Quebec government cancelled a $58 million loan to keep Canada's last chrysotile mine operating, and that the Chrysotile Institute, a mining lobby group, closed its offices. The author concluded that, despite some recent progress, much remains to be done.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Editorial (commissioned, internally peer reviewed); no original research
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses asbestos production and use worldwide, with emphasis on newly industrialising countries such as Brazil, China and India
• Exposure: Asbestos production, import and use, particularly chrysotile asbestos; the editorial also refers to all forms of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, anthophyllite)
• Main results:
  • The author reported that the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in Volume 100 of its Monographs, concluded there is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of all forms of asbestos (this is IARC's conclusion, not a finding of this article)
  • The author reported that in 2012 the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) called for a total ban on the production and use of asbestos
  • The author reported that Canada announced in September 2012 that it would drop its efforts to prevent the listing of chrysotile as a dangerous substance under the Rotterdam Convention
  • The author reported that the newly elected Quebec government cancelled a $58 million loan to keep the last chrysotile mine in Canada operational
  • The author reported that the Chrysotile Institute, an asbestos mining lobby group based in Montreal, closed its offices
  • The author wrote that pressure for a total asbestos ban was building in countries such as Thailand and South Korea
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, despite some recent progress, much remains to be done, and stated that the journal supports international efforts to eliminate asbestos mining and the manufacture of asbestos-containing products and to reduce exposure to existing asbestos materials

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Crocidolite, Mesothelioma, Chrysotile, Lung Cancer, Non-Occupational Exposure, Epidemiology, Chrysotile Institute.

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