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 (Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2010).

The study

• Author: Collegium Ramazzini
• Journal: Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
• Published: 2010;65(3):121-6
• Cited by: 22 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• 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. 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 (J Occup Environ Med. 1999;41:830-832). Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries, 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 in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos is exempted from the ban, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. All countries of the world have an obligation to their citizens to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

In plain English

This 2010 article was a position statement by the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society in occupational and environmental medicine. It was not a study and reported no new data. It drew on published research and agency reports to renew the society's 1999 call for a worldwide ban on asbestos. The statement said that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. It put yearly asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers worldwide at an estimated 100,000 to 140,000. It also reported a NIOSH estimate of 5 lung cancer deaths and 2 asbestosis deaths per 1,000 workers exposed for a working lifetime at OSHA's permissible exposure limit. It argued that chrysotile, the only type still traded, causes cancer and that 'controlled use' of chrysotile does not work. It reported annual world production of over 2 million tons and bans in 52 countries, fewer than a third of WHO member countries. The authors concluded that an international ban 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 (published as a 'Special Communication') by a professional society; draws on cited studies and agency reports, with no original data
• Who was studied: No study population; the statement addresses asbestos production, use and bans worldwide, including a list of 52 countries with national bans (revised January 28, 2010)
• Exposure: All forms of asbestos, with particular attention to chrysotile and to asbestos-cement sheets and pipes; occupational and environmental (community) exposures
• Main results:
  • The statement says all forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma and lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers (citing an IARC review)
  • The yearly number of asbestos-related cancer deaths in workers worldwide is given as an estimated 100,000 to 140,000
  • The statement cites a NIOSH estimate that working-lifetime exposure even at OSHA's permissible exposure limit would cause 5 lung cancer deaths and 2 asbestosis deaths per 1,000 exposed workers
  • Citing other studies, the statement says workers exposed to chrysotile fiber alone have excess risks of lung cancer and mesothelioma
  • Annual world asbestos production was reported as over 2 million tons, with the leading producing countries accounting for 96% of world production in 2007
  • Asbestos was reported banned in 52 countries, which make up less than a third of WHO member countries
  • Repeated efforts to list chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention were reported to have failed
  • Citing other sources, the statement says the asbestos cancer pandemic may take as many as 10 million lives before asbestos is banned worldwide
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that an international ban on asbestos is urgently needed and that 'controlled use' of chrysotile is not an effective alternative to a ban
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors note that the 10-million-deaths estimate assumes exposures will cease, so the figures may be underestimates
  • The authors note that the toll in countries still using large amounts of asbestos may never be fully recorded

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Ovarian Cancer, 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 — Collegium Ramazzini (2010)
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