Asbestos in Canada: the end is in sight

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos in Canada: the end is in sight, by T.L. Guidotti (Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2012).

The study

• Author: T.L. Guidotti
• Journal: Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
• Published: 2012;67(1):1-2
• Type of article: Editorial, Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is an editorial by the journal's editor-in-chief, not a research study, and it presents no new health data. The author wrote that in 2011, for the first time in 130 years, the Canadian asbestos industry stopped production, for economic and operational rather than political reasons. Production stopped in November 2011 at the Lac d'amiante du Canada mine in Thetford Mines, Quebec, pending a Quebec government loan guarantee for a new underground mine. Production at the Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos had already been suspended because of technical problems. The author described Canada joining four other countries in blocking a June 2011 United Nations procedure under the Rotterdam Convention. The author also cited a poll in which 76% of Quebecers opposed spending provincial funds to reopen the mine, 10% had no opinion and 14% were in favor. The author traced long-standing government support for the industry to political and cultural reasons, including the 1949 Quebec asbestos miners' strike. The author wrote that it was uncertain whether production would resume and that reopening the mines would be a world tragedy.

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 (opinion piece by the journal's editor-in-chief); not a research study
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses the Canadian asbestos mining industry in Quebec (Lac d'amiante du Canada mine in Thetford Mines and Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos) around 2011.
• Exposure: Asbestos mining and export from Canada in general. No exposure was measured.
• Main results:
  • The author reported that in 2011 the Canadian asbestos industry stopped production for the first time in 130 years, for economic and operational rather than political reasons.
  • Production stopped in November 2011 at the Lac d'amiante du Canada mine, pending a Quebec government loan guarantee for a new underground mine. Production at Jeffrey Mine had already been suspended because of technical problems.
  • Canada, with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam, blocked a United Nations procedure in Geneva in June 2011 under the Rotterdam Convention.
  • Citing a poll (not conducted by the author): among Quebecers, 76% opposed spending provincial funds to reopen the mine, 10% had no opinion, and 14% were in favor.
  • The author attributed Canadian resistance to ending the industry to one political reason and one cultural reason, the latter linked to the 1949 Quebec asbestos miners' strike.
• The authors' conclusion: The author wrote that it was uncertain whether production would ever resume and expressed the hope that it would not, stating it would be a world tragedy if the mines reopened.

Related studies

• How Canada's Asbestos Industry Was Defeated in Quebec — K. Ruff (2017)
• Canada accused of hypocrisy over asbestos exports — T. Kirby (2010)
• How Canada Changed from Exporting Asbestos to Banning Asbestos: The Challenges That Had to Be Overcome — K. Ruff (2017)
• Canada, chrysotile and cancer: Health Canada's Asbestos International Expert Panel report — L.T. Stayner (2008)
• Canada's asbestos legacy at home and abroad — J.T. Brophy, M.M. Keith, et al. (2007)
• Canada and France fall out over the risks of asbestos — D. Butler, D. Spurgeon (1997)

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