News Archive

The third reading of the Mesothelioma Bill took place yesterday in the House of Commons; dozens of MPs took part in the debate. Unfortunately, attempts to obtain a modest increase in the value of payments to victims was defeated by 39 votes. An amendment to provide funding for mesothelioma research was lost by 40 votes. Despite these setbacks, the efforts of UK asbestos victims groups to force the insurance industry to award compensation for mesothelioma victims unable to trace their employer's insurance policies is a marked victory which will provide much-needed funds to some of those who have contracted this fatal disease. See: Hansards Text of Mesothelioma Bill Debate.

Asbestos Epidemic

Jan 8, 2014

On January 7, 2014, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that 28 Japanese workers had been officially recognised as having contracted asbestos-related diseases after toxic exposures at US military bases in Okinawa Prefecture; 21 of them have died. The workers from the base carried out demolition of asbestos-containing buildings, spraying of asbestos, waste disposal and collection, and repair and manufacturing of machines. Asbestos has been found at former US military sites returned to Japan; Japanese workers renovated bases without prior notification of the asbestos hazard. See: Japan Workers Sick from Asbestos.

The Curse of Asbestos

Jan 6, 2014

Today, award-winning Brazilian journalist Eliane Brum reported in El Pais, the highest-circulation Spanish language newspaper, efforts by Brazilian asbestos victims from ABREA to have an honor bestowed upon asbestos magnate Stephan Schmidheiny by the Brazilian Government rescinded. ABREA's action was inspired by a petition submitted to Yale University by Italian victims for the revocation of an honorary degree awarded in 1996 to a man convicted 16 years later for his role in the asbestos deaths of thousands of citizens. In Venezuela and Costa Rica civil society groups are considering similar actions. See: A maldição do Amianto [The Curse of Asbestos].

Another Death from Pirelli Factory

Jan 6, 2014

Pensioner Aldo Settembre died last week from long-term occupational exposure to asbestos at the Pirelli factory in Milan. Although Settembre had never worked with asbestos, he had been exposed to asbestos contamination at the industrial site. The public prosecutor has ordered that an autopsy be performed. Settembre was part of a class action against eleven Pirelli executives who are facing manslaughter charges related to dozens of cases of asbestos-related diseases and deaths arising from the factory. See: Un vogherese tra i morti per l'amianto alla Pirelli [A Vogherese among Pirelli's asbestos dead].

Court Ruling: Exposures Unacceptable

Jan 6, 2014

Two years of litigation have ended with a verdict by the Court of Cassation endorsing actions in 2011 by a labor inspector who ordered that a Draka Paricable Company workshop be evacuated due to the asbestos hazard. The company, which manufactures electrical cables, filed a lawsuit and reopened the facility three days later. A judge then ordered that the workshop be vacated. The claims, counterclaims and appeals were resolved with a judgment supporting the inspector's actions. See: Amiante: après 2 ans de procédures, la Justice donne raison à un inspecteur du travail [Asbestos: after 2 years of litigation, Justice supports labor inspector's actions].

Yalegate Scandal Unfolds

Jan 4, 2014

On January 3, 2014, the National Public Radio station in New Haven, home of Yale University, ran a 16-minute segment (25 sec into Where We Live broadcast) on the unfolding controversy over Yale's refusal to rescind the 1996 award of an honorary doctorate to Stephan Schmidheiny, in response to requests from Italian citizens who contracted asbestos-related diseases due to the operations of Schmidheiny's family business. The final question by the interviewer asked whether a man's philanthropic acts could compensate for past misdeeds. The answer by Dr. Barry Castleman, who testified in the landmark Italian trial which sentenced Schmidheiny to 16 years in prison, was an emphatic No!

Asbestos Inaction is a Killer

Jan 3, 2014

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) marked the 10th anniversary of the national asbestos ban by calling for greater action to prevent the import of asbestos-containing products. In a New Year's press release the ACTU noted that "The goal of an asbestos free Australia by 2030 cannot be reached if an ineffectual Ban allows more asbestos containing material into the country." The 2013 scandals over imports from China of asbestos-contaminated freight trains and motor vehicles led to calls for increased funding for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to prevent future breaches of the country's asbestos prohibitions. See: ACTU Press Release.

Executives to Face Criminal Charges?

Jan 3, 2014

An article was published on January 2, 2014 in the Journal of the Environment which explored the likelihood of French courts seeking criminal prosecutions of high-level corporate officers for negligence over workplace asbestos exposures. A top secret memo leaked by Le Figaro stated that an investigation into the actions of executives from the French asbestos giant Eternit will be completed soon; a criminal trial could begin in early 2015. In another case, 5 asbestos executives will face criminal charges as per a decision last month by the Court of Cassation. See: 2014, l'année de l'amiante en France [2014, the asbestos year in France].

Warnings of Post-cyclone Hazard

Jan 2, 2014

Earlier this week ex-cyclone Christine battered the Pilbara and Kimberley mining regions of Western Australia with rain and winds of up to 170km/h. In the aftermath of the storm, warnings were given of the risk of asbestos exposure during clean-up operations. Asbestos-containing building products were commonly used in Australia throughout the 20th century. Commenting on the hazard, one legal specialist said: "Asbestos products damaged by severe storms like cyclone Christine can release a very dangerous dust which, once breathed in, can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and other serious illnesses." See: Pilbara asbestos fears follow in the wake of cyclone Christine.

Initiation of Remediation Program

Jan 2, 2014

Officials from Udine, a city in the northeast of Italy, today confirmed the commencement of a two-year effort to identify asbestos-contaminated sites. "The first thing we will do in 2014 – announced Commissioner Sara Vito – will be to take up the subject of asbestos." Work will, Vito said, begin this month to update the 2006-2007 regional asbestos audit and a precise mapping of the situation will be carried out to prioritize areas where urgent action is needed. See: Amianto, la Regione avvia il censimento dei siti da bonificare [Asbestos, the region starts the census of sites requiring remediation].

Landmark Court Ruling

Dec 30, 2013

A 49-year-old man, exposed to asbestos as a teenage worker at an Eternit factory in Switzerland, died in 2007. The compensation case filed for his death from mesothelioma, which had been rejected by the authorities in Glarus and the District Administrative Court, has received the green light from the Federal Court in Lausanne which ruled today that his widow and three children are entitled to compensation and that Eternit officials were guilty of negligent homicide for breaching their duty of care to the teenager when the carcinogenic risk posed by asbestos exposure was known. See: Décès dû à l'amiante: aide aux victimes pour les proches [Asbestos deaths: help for victims soon.].

Government Liable for Exposures

Dec 25, 2013

On December 25, 2013, in a landmark ruling by the Osaka High Court, the Japanese Government was held liable for asbestos-related diseases due to its failure to protect workers from harmful exposures. This is the first time such a judgment has been handed down. The 58 claimants in this case, who include former asbestos mill workers from the Osaka South Prefecture, were seeking 700 million yen (U.S. $6.7 million) in damages; today's ruling awarded them 340m, nearly double that awarded by a lower court. See: High court holds gov't liable for asbestos exposure for 1st time; also see: Asbestos Health Hazard in Seenan.

Demonstration at Ministry of Health

Dec 24, 2013

Scores of members of the Thailand Ban Asbestos Network (T-BAN), today mounted a protest outside the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Bangkok to condemn the continued use of asbestos more than two years after a cabinet resolution was adopted supporting a ban. The demonstrators read out a statement which criticised the status quo and the position of an interim MoH's official who supported it (see: T-BAN Statement). It is understood that the controversial report supporting the use of chrysotile will not be submitted to the cabinet. T-BAN is calling for full disclosure relating to the actions of this official.

Paris Subways Stopped by Asbestos

Dec 23, 2103

On December 20, 2013, four lines of the Paris Metro were shut-down for three hours in the late afternoon due to an asbestos alert issued by transport union supervisors. Thirty thousand people were evacuated from the trains. A technical fault in a containment system used by asbestos removal workers in the command center of these lines had resulted in unacceptable readings of airborne fibers. As a consequence, an order was given by the union for the workers who manage these subway lines to evacuate. See: Interruption du métro parisien: "Le seuil d'amiante avait été atteint", dit le vice-président du STIF [Interruption of the Paris Metro: "The asbestos threshold had been reached," said STIF vice president].

Risk of Low Level Asbestos Exposure

Dec 22, 2013

A paper in the Journal of Occupation and Environmental Medicine last week highlighted the association between low level occupational asbestos exposures and asbestos cancers. Data from a Dutch cohort of nearly 60,000 men aged 55 to 69 years, documented the following number of asbestos-related cancers: 132 pleural mesotheliomas, 2,324 lung cancers and 166 laryngeal cancers. The authors conclude that low level asbestos exposures "may be associated with an increased risk of pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, and laryngeal cancer." See: Occupational Asbestos Exposure and Risk of Pleural Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, and Laryngeal Cancer in the Prospective Netherlands Cohort Study.

Landmark Compensation for Asbestosis

Dec 21, 2013

On December 20, 14 tribal workers with asbestosis who had been employed at Udaipur asbestos mines received compensation of around U.S. $1,600 from the Rajasthan State Government (see: Picture of recipients). This comes as the conclusion to a 6 year-fight by the Mine Labor Protection Campaign with medical institutions and government departments. Future victims will also receive this amount; widows of deceased claimants will receive $4,800. These payouts mark a landmark victory for injured workers as it is the first time Indian asbestosis victims have received monetary relief from the State. See: In a first, 14 asbestosis victims get 1L cheques.

Environmental Asbestos Risk

Dec 21, 2013

A journal article just published details the ongoing threat posed by exposure to asbestos-containing materials and environmental contamination in South Africa, a country which banned asbestos in 2008. The paper highlights the hazards of unrehabilitated mine dumps and unregulated dumping of asbestos waste as well as elevated levels of asbestos contamination found throughout the country's educational infrastructure. The authors urge that measures to identify and monitor contamination be adopted in order to "assist in the safe removal of asbestos and in reducing its adverse health effects." See: A South African database of samples analysed for the presence of asbestos.

WHO Issues Asbestos Alert

Dec 19, 2013

On Monday (December 16, 2013), the World Health Organization issued a warning on the health risk of exposure to asbestos and other environmental toxins. This was in response to conclusions reached by delegates who took part in the third meeting of the Environment and Health Task Force in Brussels (December 10-11, 2013). At the meeting, representatives from thirty countries expressed support for action "to free Europe from asbestos-related diseases and exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and toxic chemicals." See: Countries urged to sink health risks from asbestos, second-hand smoke and toxic chemicals by 2015.

Widespread Asbestos Contamination

Dec 19, 2013

Reacting to research conducted by the Socialist Trade Union, which found non-compliance with asbestos regulations in up to 1,000 public buildings in Brussels, the Belgian asbestos victims' group ABEVA issued a press release calling for effective but non-precipitous action. Previous calls by ABEVA for a joined-up government policy on asbestos had been ignored with dire consequences. Highlighting the potential for contamination of schools, ABEVA recommended the urgent prioritization of remedial work in the educational infrastructure. See: Asbestos in many of Brussels' public buildings.

Agreement to Ban Asbestos in Laos

Dec 17, 2013

News was published yesterday of an agreement signed in Vientiane on December 13, 2013 by Somphong Soukivanh, the Deputy Director General of the Industry and Handicrafts Department, and Philip Hazelton, regional representative of the Australian organization Union Aid Abroad to develop a National Asbestos Profile. Work will begin in January 2014. Upon completion in June, 2014 the profile will constitute a fundamental part of the National Strategy on the Elimination of Asbestos. Laos uses asbestos to produce industrial products including cement roofing tiles. In 2002, the country began importing significant amounts of the deadly material. See: Laos plans to eliminate the importation of asbestos.

Anger at Expansion of Asbestos Sector

Dec 17, 2013

Yesterday (December 16, 2013), a delegation of activists and local people met with state officials to submit a Memorandum criticising the plans by Utkal Asbestos Limited, a company based in West Bengal, to construct an asbestos factory in their village. This was the latest manifestation of anger by civilians over the seemingly unchecked expansion of the hazardous asbestos sector in Bihar State. During demonstrations, protestors have been injured by the police and company security guards and workers have been sacked. See: Some 10, 000 Vaishali Villagers Submit Petition Against proposed Hazardous Asbestos Factory of Bengal's Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL).

Iconic Paris Landmark Contaminated

Dec 16, 2013

A preliminary report leaked last week to Le Monde and Agence France Presse confirms that cable ducts in the Tour Montparnasse, a landmark building in which 5,000+ people work, are lined with asbestos. Ventilation systems also contain asbestos liberated during seven years of decontamination work at a cost of €250 million. As a result of these findings the authorities have suspended remedial work until further notice. The final version of the report is expected to be published in the New Year. The 207 meter tower complex was built in 1973 at a cost of $140m by N.Y. property developer Wylie Tuttle. See: Tour Montparnasse contaminated with asbestos.

Threat from Asbestos Deposits

Dec 16, 2013

Last week, Spain's award-winning Observer Magazine, published an article which focused on the country's asbestos history including attempts to mine chrysotile and tremolite in Andalusia. Three million tonnes of asbestos were used in Spain with consumption peaking in the 1970s; only a small amount was produced locally. The threat posed by the geographical presence of asbestos in areas including the Costa del Sol and Serrania de Ronda is yet to be acknowledged by the authorities. See: "Fiebre del oro blanco" en la Costa del Sol y en la serranía de Ronda [White Gold Fever on the Costa del Sol and in the Serrania de Ronda].

Schmidheiny's Donations to Yale

Dec 14, 2013

Further information has been forthcoming regarding the decision by Yale University not to revoke an honorary doctorate awarded to convicted criminal Stephan Schmidheiny. In an article which appeared yesterday in the local newspaper of Casale Monferrato, an Italian town decimated by the operations of Schmidheiny's asbestos company, it was revealed that the reclusive billionaire and/or an organization he founded, made substantial donations to the University in 1996 and 1997. The article's headline says it all: Schmidheiny pagò la laurea ad honorem [Schmidheiny paid for honorary degree].

End of the Road for Quebec Mine

Dec 14, 2013

At this point in time, the Jeffrey Mine exists in name only. Attempts by asbestos stakeholders to resurrect the mine were finally defeated when the new Marois government cancelled $58 million of government support (2012). An article just released suggests that although secret negotiations have been ongoing, as of December 31 the company will be liquidated and the contaminated mine will become an orphan site with potentially disastrous consequences for the population as well as local, regional and federal governments. It has been estimated that keeping the site safe could cost $2 million/year. See: Négociations secrètes chez Mine Jeffrey [Secret Negotiations at the Jeffrey Mine].