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 Collegium Ramazzini (New Solutions, 2010).

The study

• Author: Collegium Ramazzini
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2010;20(2):257-66
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable. When evidence of the carcinogenicity of asbestos became incontrovertible, concerned parties, including the Collegium Ramazzini, called for a universal ban on the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos in all countries around the world [1]. Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries [2], and safer products have replaced many materials that once were made with asbestos. Nonetheless, a large number of countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products. And still today in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos continues to be permitted, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. To protect the health of all people in the world-industrial workers, construction workers, women and children, now and in future generations-the Collegium Ramazzini calls again today on all countries of the world, as we have repeatedly in the past to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed. New Solutions is one of ten international journals that have agreed to publish the Repeat Call in order to bring the message to a wide readership.

In plain English

This article was not a research study. It was a position statement by the Collegium Ramazzini repeating its earlier call for a worldwide ban on all forms of asbestos. Ten international journals agreed to publish the call. The authors collected no new data, drawing on published studies and agency reports. They stated that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. Citing other sources, they reported an estimated 100,000–140,000 asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers each year worldwide, world production of over 2 million tons a year, and asbestos bans in 52 countries. They argued that the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile, the only type of asbestos in commercial use today, is a fallacy. They noted that efforts to list chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention, a treaty on trade in hazardous chemicals, had failed. They cited an estimate of up to 10 million deaths. They called it conservative because it assumes exposures will cease, and possibly an underestimate given continuing production. The authors concluded that an international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

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: Position statement (policy call) by the Collegium Ramazzini, based on previously published literature and agency reports; no original data. Ten international journals agreed to publish the statement.
• Who was studied: No population was studied. The statement was addressed to all countries of the world, with the stated aim of protecting the health of all people, including industrial workers, construction workers, women and children.
• Exposure: All forms of asbestos, with particular attention to chrysotile (white asbestos). The authors described chrysotile as 95% of all asbestos ever used and the only type in commercial use today. They also discussed occupational exposure and environmental exposure from asbestos-cement construction materials.
• Main results:
  • The authors stated, citing a review by an International Agency for Research on Cancer working group, that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers.
  • Citing other sources, the authors reported that the yearly number of asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers worldwide is estimated at 100,000–140,000.
  • Citing U.S. Geological Survey data, the authors reported that annual world asbestos production remains at over 2 million tons.
  • The authors reported that asbestos was banned in 52 countries, including all EU member countries. They noted that these countries make up less than a third of WHO member countries.
  • The authors stated that numerous epidemiologic studies, case reports, animal experiments and toxicological studies show that chrysotile is capable of causing cancer. They stated that these studies demonstrate that 'controlled use' of asbestos is a fallacy.
  • The authors reported that repeated efforts to include chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention had failed. They attributed this to the Convention's requirement for unanimity and to opposition from asbestos mining and manufacturing countries.
  • Citing published estimates, the authors stated that the asbestos cancer pandemic may take as many as 10 million lives before asbestos is banned worldwide. They called this a conservative estimate that assumes exposures will cease. Because current production continues, they said the figures may be underestimates.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that an international ban on the mining and use of asbestos is urgently needed. They stated that the risks cannot be controlled by technology or by regulation of work practices, and that safer substitute products are available.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Ovarian Cancer, No Safe Level of Exposure, Collegium Ramazzini, Controlled Use, Chrysotile.

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

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