The international ban asbestos secretariat

Our plain-English summary of The international ban asbestos secretariat, by L. Kazan-Allen (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2000).

The study

• Author: L. Kazan-Allen
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2000;6(2):164
• Type of article: Letter
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this letter, Laurie Kazan-Allen of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) responded to a call for an international ban on asbestos, proposed by the Collegium Ramazzini and recently published in the journal. She described the call as a milestone in public health advocacy and introduced IBAS, which was set up in 1999 to work alongside the Ban Asbestos Network. The author stated that millions of people had died from asbestos-related diseases during the twentieth century and argued that a global ban on all types of asbestos was logical and just. She wrote that asbestos producers had exploited an information vacuum and used a policy of "controlled use" to reassure customers that chrysotile was safe, despite evidence to the contrary. She also wrote that working conditions in China, India, Brazil, Korea, Russia and other countries were far from controlled. The Ban Asbestos Network was described as pivotal in the French, United Kingdom and European decisions to ban asbestos. IBAS was intended to collect and share information through e-mail, a web site and a discussion group. The letter announced an international asbestos conference in Osasco, Brazil, on September 15-20, 2000, to prepare strategies to end asbestos mining and manufacture and to address asbestos-related diseases in developing countries.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This item was a letter to the journal, not a research study, and it reported no new data. The author, writing on behalf of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), said the organization was set up in 1999 to work alongside the Ban Asbestos Network by collecting and sharing information about asbestos. The author stated that chrysotile (white asbestos) is a carcinogen. The letter also said that once asbestos has been mined, it is impossible to control exposure to asbestos dust in all its manufacturing and product uses. It credited the Ban Asbestos Network with a pivotal role in achieving bans in Europe. It noted that asbestos had been banned in the United Kingdom and Europe (by 2005) but was still much used elsewhere, and that the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases would continue for many decades. The letter announced an asbestos conference for September 15-20, 2000, in Osasco, Brazil. The author concluded that a global ban on the commercial use of all types of asbestos is both logical and just.

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: letter (advocacy and announcement); not a research study
• Who was studied: No people or data were studied. The letter describes the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), founded in 1999.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general (all types), with chrysotile (white asbestos) singled out. The letter discusses mining, manufacturing and product uses, especially in developing countries.
• Main results:
  • The author stated that IBAS was established to supplement the Ban Asbestos Network by collecting and disseminating information. This is a description, not a research finding.
  • The author stated that once asbestos is mined, exposure to asbestos dust cannot be controlled and regulated in all its manufacturing and product uses. This is an opinion, and no data were given.
  • The author stated that the Ban Asbestos Network was pivotal in achieving bans in Europe.
  • The letter noted that asbestos had been banned in the United Kingdom and Europe (by 2005) but was still much used in many parts of the world.
  • The author stated that the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases will continue for many decades.
  • The letter announced an asbestos conference for September 15-20, 2000, in Osasco, Brazil.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that a global ban on the commercial use of all types of asbestos is both logical and just.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Collegium Ramazzini, Controlled Use, Chrysotile.

Related studies

• Collegium Ramazzini call for an international ban on asbestos — P.J. Landrigan, M. Soffritti (2005)
• Asbestos and international organizations — L. Tomatis (2004)
• Call for an international ban on asbestos — C. Ramazzini (1999)
• International jurisprudence on trade and environmental health: one step forward, two steps back? — K. Timmermans (2008)
• Asbestos dispatches — L. Kazan-Allen (2004)
• Canadian asbestos: a global concern — L. Kazan-Allen (2004)

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