Asbestos: avoiding a pyrrhic victory

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos: avoiding a pyrrhic victory, by G. Paradis (Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique, 2012).

The study

• Author: G. Paradis
• Journal: Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
• Published: 2012;103(5):e321
• Type of article: Editorial
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This was a one-page editorial, not a research study, written by the journal's scientific editor and printed in English and French. It presented no new data. The author wrote that two announcements together constituted a major public health victory: the newly elected Quebec Government said it would withdraw its loan guarantee to the Jeffrey asbestos mine, and the Federal Government said it would drop its objection to listing chrysotile asbestos under the United Nations' Rotterdam Convention. The author stated that Canada produced less than 20% of the world's asbestos, compared with 50% for Russia, but that Canada's standing gave its chrysotile position credibility. The author called indefensible and unethical Canada's assertion that chrysotile could be safely handled with proper protections, while Canada exported the fibre to countries with no or ineffective worker-safety regulations. The author argued that the former mining communities now had to renew their employment base, and that public health was accountable to them. The author also argued that public health needed close partnerships with political and economic sciences. The author concluded by urging that public health battles not become pyrrhic victories.

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 (editor's page) by the journal's scientific editor. It is an opinion piece with no original research data.
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses Canadian asbestos policy (Quebec and federal) in 2012 and the workers of Quebec asbestos mining towns.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos, in the context of Canadian mining and export and its listing under the United Nations' Rotterdam Convention. No doses or exposure measurements were reported.
• Main results:
  • The author described two announcements as a major public health victory. The Quebec Government announced it would withdraw its loan guarantee to the Jeffrey asbestos mine. The Federal Government then announced it would drop its objection to including chrysotile on the Rotterdam Convention. This is the author's assessment, not a study finding.
  • The author stated that Canada's share of world asbestos production was less than 20%, compared with Russia's 50%. The text gives no source for these figures.
  • The author called indefensible and unethical Canada's assertion that chrysotile could be safely handled with proper protections, while Canada exported the fibre to countries with no or ineffective worker-safety regulations.
  • The author argued that the former mining communities now faced the task of renewing their employment base, and that public health was collectively accountable to them.
  • The author argued that public health needed close partnerships with political and economic sciences and other disciplines to be effective.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that public health should not neglect the possible negative consequences of its interventions, and urged that public health battles not be turned into pyrrhic victories.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Quebec and Canadian governments end their historic support of the asbestos industry — K. Ruff (2012)
• Asbestos in Canada: time to change our legacy — T. Dummer, C. Gotay (2015)
• Should Canadian health care professionals support the call for a worldwide ban on asbestos? — J. Siemiatycki (2001)
• A ban on asbestos: is now the time? — (2001)
• Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy — K. Morgan (1992)
• Asbestos is still with us: Repeat call for a universal ban — C. Ramazzini (2011)

Browse more research in Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique, or return to medical research.