Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban, by C. Ramazzini (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2010).

The study

• Author: C. Ramazzini
• Journal: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Published: 2010;52(5):469-72
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 11 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this editorial, the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society in occupational and environmental medicine, repeated its call for a worldwide ban on the mining, manufacture and use of all forms of asbestos. The editorial reviewed published evidence and estimates rather than presenting new data. It stated that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers, and that there is no evidence of a threshold below which there is no risk of mesothelioma. It cited estimates that about 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos at work and that 100,000 to 140,000 workers die of asbestos-related cancer each year. It described environmental exposure from asbestos in building materials, especially asbestos-cement products, which account for more than 90% of current use, mostly in developing countries. It rejected industry claims that chrysotile, which makes up 95% of all asbestos ever used, can be handled safely, and described "controlled use" as a fallacy. It reported that world production remained above 2 million tons a year and that asbestos was banned in 52 countries. It also reported that efforts to list chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention had failed, with opposition at the 2008 conference led by Canada, Russia and India. It noted that safer substitutes exist and that the pandemic may take as many as 10 million lives. The Collegium concluded that an international ban on all forms of asbestos is urgently needed.

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 article was an editorial, a position statement by the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society. It did not report a new study or new data. It summarized evidence and figures from other published sources and agencies. The editorial stated that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis and cancer, including malignant mesothelioma and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers. It focused on chrysotile, which it described as 95% of all asbestos ever used. Citing other sources, it estimated 100,000 to 140,000 asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers each year worldwide. It noted that asbestos was banned in 52 countries, fewer than one third of World Health Organization member countries, and that world production remained above 2 million tons a year. It also noted that efforts to list chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention had failed. The authors concluded that asbestos risks cannot be controlled by technology or by work-practice rules, and that "controlled use" of chrysotile is not an effective alternative to a ban. They renewed their call for all countries to ban all forms of asbestos.

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 (position statement); no original study or data
• Who was studied: No population was studied; the editorial addressed asbestos use and asbestos-related disease worldwide, drawing on other sources
• Exposure: All forms of asbestos, with particular attention to chrysotile (white asbestos) and to asbestos-cement products
• Main results:
  • The editorial stated, citing an International Agency for Research on Cancer review, that all forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers
  • Citing other sources, the editorial gave an estimate of 100,000 to 140,000 asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers each year worldwide
  • Asbestos was banned in 52 countries, which the editorial said make up less than one third of WHO member countries
  • The editorial reported that annual world production of asbestos remained above 2 million tons
  • Efforts to list chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention had failed; at the 2008 conference the opposition was led by Canada, Russia and India
  • Citing other sources, the editorial stated that the asbestos cancer pandemic may take as many as 10 million lives before asbestos is banned worldwide and exposure ends
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos risks cannot be controlled by technology or by regulating work practices. They called again on all countries to ban all forms of asbestos.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Collegium Ramazzini, Mesothelioma, Ovarian Cancer, Environmental Exposure, Asbestos-Cement, Chrysotile, Controlled Use.

Related studies

• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban — Collegium Ramazzini (2010)
• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban — C. Ramazzini (2010)
• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban — Collegium Ramazzini (2010)
• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban — Collegium Ramazzini (2010)
• Asbestos is still with us: Repeat call for a universal ban — C. Ramazzini (2011)
• Asbestos is still with us: repeat call — Collegium Ramazzini (2010)

Browse more research in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, or return to medical research.