Quebec stands firm on asbestos exports despite growing controversy

Our plain-English summary of Quebec stands firm on asbestos exports despite growing controversy, by L. Eggertson (CMAJ, 2010).

The study

• Author: L. Eggertson
• Journal: CMAJ
• Published: 2010;182(5):E239-40
• Type of article: News
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This is a news article published in CMAJ in 2010, not a research study. It reported that Quebec Premier Jean Charest refused to stop exporting chrysotile asbestos, which is produced in Thetford Mines, Quebec. On a February trade mission to India, the largest buyer of Quebec asbestos, protesters confronted Charest. Before the trip, Charest received a letter signed by 100 physicians and scientists from 28 countries urging him to support a ban on asbestos. Charest told reporters that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely and that setting safe-handling standards was up to the Indian government. A signatory, Dr. Francois Turcotte of Laval University, called this position "a crazy position in terms of science" and said it was based on protecting about 700 jobs in Thetford Mines. The Canadian Cancer Society called for a timetable to phase out the use and export of asbestos. The article also cited a separate study by researchers with the Mexican Institute of Social Security. That study documented 119 cases of pleural mesothelioma in 472 workers in Mexico, with occupational asbestos exposure in 80.6% of cases and 31.5% of controls.

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 article (journalism, not original research)
• Who was studied: No study population; the article concerns Quebec's exports of chrysotile asbestos, especially to India, and a February 2010 trade mission by Quebec's premier
• Exposure: chrysotile asbestos produced in Thetford Mines, Quebec, and exported
• Main results:
  • Charest received a letter signed by 100 physicians and scientists from 28 countries urging him to support a ban on asbestos
  • Charest told reporters that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely and that it is up to the Indian government to set safe-handling standards
  • Dr. Francois Turcotte said the premier's stance was based on politics and the need to protect about 700 jobs in Thetford Mines
  • The Canadian Cancer Society called on governments to adopt a timetable for phasing out the use and export of asbestos
  • The article cited a separate study by the Mexican Institute of Social Security (Am J Ind Med 2010), not by this author. That study documented 119 cases of pleural mesothelioma in 472 workers in Mexico, with 80.6% of cases and 31.5% of controls having occupational exposure to asbestos

Topics

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

Related studies

• Ban all production and export of chrysotile asbestos — G. Paradis (2010)
• Exporting death made in Quebec — G. Paradis (2010)
• South Africa's export trade in asbestos: demise of an industry — J.S. Harington, N.D. McGlashan, et al. (2010)
• Re: Paradis G. Ban all production and export of chrysotile asbestos [Editor's Page]. Can J Public Health 2010;101(5):352 — M. Greenberg (2011)
• Canada accused of hypocrisy over asbestos exports — T. Kirby (2010)
• South African asbestos: production, exports, and destinations, 1959-1993 — J.S. Harington, N.D. McGlashan (1998)

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