Canada's asbestos legacy at home and abroad

Our plain-English summary of Canada's asbestos legacy at home and abroad, by J.T. Brophy, M.M. Keith, J. Schieman (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2007).

The study

• Authors: J.T. Brophy, M.M. Keith, J. Schieman
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2007;13(2):236-43
• Cited by: 10 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Despite international efforts to block Canada's export of asbestos, the Canadian federal government continues to defend the economic interests of the asbestos industry. Ironically, Canadian asbestos miners, mill workers, and those engaged in a wide range of other occupations continue to suffer asbestos-related disease and premature death. Although there is an employer-funded compensation system in each province, many workers with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases remain uncompensated. The export of Canadian asbestos to developing countries sets the stage for another preventable occupational disease epidemic that will manifest over the coming decades. There is growing support from the Canadian labor movement for an end to asbestos exportation and for a just transition strategy for the asbestos workers and their communities.

In plain English

This article is a commentary, not an original research study. The authors reviewed Canada's mining and export of chrysotile asbestos, the history of asbestos disease in Quebec, and compensation for asbestos disease in Ontario. They drew on government reports, other published work and records from their own clinic network, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW). Citing a joint Cancer Care Ontario and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) report, they stated that approximately 1,487 male cases of mesothelioma occurred in Ontario from 1980 to 2002, and that approximately 38% were registered with the WSIB. Of 444 cases diagnosed from 1998 to 2002, 197 (44%) were registered. They reported that between 1999 and 2006 OHCOW recorded and diagnosed approximately 588 cases of asbestos-related cancer or asbestosis in workers or family members in Sarnia-Lambton. A further 830 workers had pleural plaques. Building trades were the largest occupational group. The authors said these counts likely underestimate the true numbers. They concluded that implementing ILO and WHO resolutions, with resources for asbestos mining communities, would be the ethical course for Canada's federal government.

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: Commentary and policy review drawing on government reports, published literature and the authors' clinic records; not an original epidemiological study
• Who was studied: Canadian asbestos-exposed workers, including recorded mesothelioma cases in Ontario (1980 to 2002) and OHCOW registrants in Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario (combined population about 127,000), a petrochemical, foundry and insulation-manufacturing area
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos mined in Quebec and exported mainly to developing countries; occupational asbestos exposure in Ontario industries, including petrochemical plants, a foundry and asbestos insulation manufacturing, and the building trades
• Main results:
  • Citing a Cancer Care Ontario/WSIB report, the authors stated that approximately 1,487 male cases of mesothelioma occurred in Ontario between 1980 and 2002
  • Of these Ontario mesothelioma cases from 1980 to 2002, only 568 (approximately 38%) were registered with the WSIB
  • In Ontario, 1,043 mesothelioma cases were recorded from 1980 to 1997 (about 58 per year) and 444 from 1998 to 2002 (about 90 per year); of the 444, only 197 (44%) were registered with the WSIB
  • The authors reported learning that over 100 mesothelioma cases were denied compensation in Ontario between 1993 and 2006
  • Between 1999 and 2006, OHCOW recorded and diagnosed approximately 588 cases of asbestos-related cancer or asbestosis in workers or family members in Sarnia-Lambton; the building trades were the largest occupational group
  • A further 830 workers at OHCOW were identified as having pleural plaques; 44% of Sarnia-Lambton registrants with pleural plaques were from the building trades and 42% were under 65 years of age
  • Citing other sources, the authors stated that between 1986 and 1993 Sarnia-Lambton had a fourfold excess incidence of mesothelioma compared with the rest of Ontario, with 74% of cases among former workers from the petrochemical industry or a foundry and asbestos insulation manufacturing complex
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that implementing the ILO and WHO resolutions on eliminating asbestos use would be the ethical course for the Canadian federal government, and that resources for alternative economic development in asbestos mining communities are a precondition for stopping the epidemic
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The Ontario mesothelioma count is likely an underestimate because of historic under-diagnosis and poor recording
  • The OHCOW count likely underestimates asbestos disease in Sarnia-Lambton, because some people were diagnosed by family physicians and not registered with OHCOW
  • Building trades workers often lived in other Ontario communities, so their diagnoses would be attributed elsewhere
  • The reasons individual mesothelioma compensation claims were rejected are unknown

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Occupational Disease.

Related studies

• Canada accused of hypocrisy over asbestos exports — T. Kirby (2010)
• Asbestos in Canada: time to change our legacy — T. Dummer, C. Gotay (2015)
• Canada's asbestos legacy — W. Charney (2007)
• Re: Call for an International Ban on Asbestos: Why not ban asbestos? — B. Castleman (2000)
• Re: Call for an International Ban on Asbestos — C. Maltoni (2000)
• Health advocates assail Canada's asbestos stance — R. Collier (2008)

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