Asbestos: science in the face of hostility in sao paulo

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos: science in the face of hostility in sao paulo, by A. Thebaud-Mony (New Solutions, 1995).

The study

• Author: A. Thebaud-Mony
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 1995;5(2):64-6
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was not a research study. It was a news report by the author on an international seminar, "Asbestos: Controlled Use or Total Ban?", held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 28 to 30 March 1994. The seminar drew 250 participants from Europe, the U.S. and South America. The article reported that union members faced death threats, a kidnapping and a beating before the meeting, and that there was diplomatic pressure to cancel it. It gave background figures without citing sources. Average asbestos use was 100 grams per inhabitant in the U.S. and 1.4 kilograms per person in Brazil. Brazil was described as the third largest producer of asbestos. In Brazil, 85 percent of asbestos went into asbestos-cement and 10 percent into friction materials. Health officials were reported to expect a wave of asbestos illness in Brazil during that decade. Participants adopted a declaration calling on governments that had not yet done so to ban asbestos in any form and to provide care and compensation for victims. The article presented no new medical data.

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: News report and commentary on a conference (not a research study); it reproduces the conference declaration and a set of campaign proposals
• Who was studied: 250 participants at an international seminar in Sao Paulo, Brazil, held 28 to 30 March 1994. They came from Italy, Belgium, France, the U.S., the U.K., the European Parliament and several South American countries, and included scientists, unionists, and industry and government representatives.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general; no fiber types are named. The article describes asbestos mining and use in Brazil, mainly in asbestos-cement production (85 percent) and friction materials (10 percent).
• Main results:
  • The article reported that the seminar was preceded by death threats, a kidnapping, a beating and pressure aimed at stopping the meeting.
  • Average asbestos use was given as 100 grams per inhabitant in the U.S. and 1.4 kilograms per person in Brazil.
  • Brazil was described as the third largest producer of asbestos, behind the former Soviet Union and Canada.
  • Health officials were reported to expect a wave of asbestos illnesses during that decade among Brazilian workers, their families, and people living near the mines and asbestos companies.
  • Two months before the seminar, the Work Ministry, an industry federation and two unions signed an agreement to replace asbestos in brakes within four years.
  • Seminar participants adopted a declaration calling asbestos a grave danger to the health of workers and citizens.
• The authors' conclusion: This is the conclusion of the seminar declaration, not a research conclusion by the author. The declaration called on governments that had not yet done so to place an immediate ban on asbestos in any form, to promote substitute products, and to arrange care, supervision and compensation for asbestos victims.

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