New York Attorney Calls for International Ban on Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos

According to prominent New York personal injury attorney Joseph Belluck, the only realistic way to break the cycle of asbestos-related disease, including mesothelioma and asbestosis, is through a universal ban on the manufacture and use of asbestos.  Belluck agrees with an article by the Collegium Ramazzini published in the July issue of Environmental Health Perspectives saying a worldwide ban is urgently needed on all forms of asbestos.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen and is proven to cause mesothelioma, a serious cancer caused by breathing in the asbestos fibers that then become lodged in the thin membrane that lines and encases the lungs.  Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments.

“It’s important to emphasize the Collegium’s point that workers are not being protected from asbestos exposure by technology or safe workplace practices,” Belluck said. “So let’s not kid ourselves that people in the U.S. who work around asbestos are protected.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos in the workplace.  In addition, they estimate 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

The Collegium said as many as 10 million people may die before asbestos is banned, and that all countries have a duty to their citizens to join in a ban.  The United States still imports asbestos and asbestos-containing products such as asbestos-cement pipe and brake linings.

The Collegium Ramazzini, which is composed of 180 scientific and occupational health experts from around the world, takes its name from Bernardino Ramazzini, an Italian scientist from the 1700s who is the father of occupational medicine

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