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Canada Revives Asbestos Mining Raising Mesothelioma Concerns

Mesothelioma lawyers and asbestos health activists from all over the world are appalled at the recent efforts of certain lobbying groups in Canada to increase mining operations at the infamous asbestos mines in Quebec named after their deadly crop.

Doctors have treated hundreds of thousands of patients who likely developed mesothelioma cancer and mesothelioma attorneys have helped thousands of families file a mesothelioma lawsuit after losing a loved one to this tragic disease.

The town of Asbestos, Quebec, aptly named for its chief export in decades past, was once a booming mining area with thousands of workers helping mine the cash crop that was shipped around the world and used in thousands of products.

Due to the properties of asbestos that make it very pliable and resistant to heat, decay, fire or rust, the substance was used in numerous mechanical, automotive, industrial and building applications from the 1930s until the 1980s.

However, exposure to the substance has now been linked to the deadly disease mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the lining of the body’s vital organs like the heart, lungs and abdomen.

Physicians and researchers eventually noticed that those who were developing mesothelioma had high traces of asbestos fibers in sample tissue. Now, mesothelioma has been attributed almost exclusively to asbestos exposure.

There is no known cure for mesothelioma and the only hope for effective treatment is detection at a very early stage. Unfortunately, the disease can take 20 to 50 years to surface after exposure and, with symptoms that mimic common illnesses, detection is often done too late.

It is estimated that millions of people have died of mesothelioma and the World Health Organization predicts that almost 108,000 people worldwide die every year from diseases like mesothelioma related to asbestos.

Through the efforts of health and safety activists, the use or importation of asbestos has been banned in more than 55 developed countries. But it is where Canadian asbestos interests want to shipped the newly mined substance that has many people concerned.

Developing nations such as India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines are all planned to get the bulk of asbestos shipments. Human rights and health experts point out these countries all have one thing in common: lack of protection from asbestos risks.

Not surprisingly, the lobbyists, politicians and companies pushing for the increased mining say that the chrysotile asbestos fibers are not harmful to miners, workers, area residents or the people who end up with finished products. Health experts say this is rubbish and point to the millions of deaths worldwide attributed to asbestos.

What has shocked many is that these selfish economic moves are coming from Canada, a nation long known as a polite, free, democratic country that protects the rights of its own citizens.