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  • Home > Blog > Asbestos > US and Canadian Mesothelioma Victims Join Forces to Ban Asbestos
Posted on Thursday, Dec 15, 2011

US and Canadian Mesothelioma Victims Join Forces to Ban Asbestos

American and Canadian mesothelioma advocates have joined forces in calling for their governments to ban the use of asbestos.  According to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), the North American Declaration to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Disease “unites these voices in a common plea, calling for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama to stop the use of asbestos and develop safer alternatives.” 

Asbestos is a known carcinogen and has been linked to mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and other deadly respiratory diseases.   The World Health Organization estimates that 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos in the workplace and nearly 107,000 workers die annually from asbestos exposure.  In the United States alone, close to 3,000 people die from mesothelioma, and another 7,000 die from other asbestos-related diseases. 

“It is truly unbelievable that the United States continues to defy decades of science confirming asbestos is a human carcinogen,” Linda Reinstein, co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization said in a press release. “There are an estimated 35 million American homes and businesses insulated with Zonolite, an asbestos-tainted vermiculite, and countless numbers of families will soon be crawling into their dangerous attics to collect holiday decorations. As a mesothelioma widow, I find this unacceptable because numerous safer alternatives to asbestos exist. The ADAO looks forward to working with President Obama to halt future asbestos imports and prevent future exposures.”

The United States imported an estimated 820 metric tons of asbestos in the first 7 months of 2010, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Approximately 90% of its asbestos came from Canada.

In February 2012, the ADAO and the Canadian Voices of Asbestos Victims will present the declaration and list of supporters to President Obama and Prime Minister Harper urging them to take action to prohibit the use and export of all asbestos.

Specific requests in the declaration include:

  • Stopping the North American production and use of all types of asbestos;
  • Ending the North American export of asbestos to the developing world;
  • Replacing asbestos use with safe substitutes;
  • Taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos still in place and during asbestos removal and disposal;
  • Supporting and improving early diagnosis, treatment, social and medical rehabilitation of asbestos victims.

See ADAO’s website to read the declaration and sign the petition.