Asbestos products still being imported to Ontario

Despite recent announcements in Ottawa and Quebec that suggest asbestos will soon be a thing of the past, products made of the cancer-causing mineral are still being imported and used in Ontario today. While the carcinogenic insulation is now being removed from buildings across the province, two new products that contain asbestos — brake pads and cement pipes — are being brought in. Read More:

WORLD SIKH ORGANIZATION AND OTHER SOUTH ASIAN BODIES MUST PRESSURE BALJIT CHADHA TO STOP TRYING TO EXPORT CANCER-CAUSING ASBESTOS TO INDIA!

 AS reported in this newspaper last week, the federal government was forced to reverse its position on supporting export of the cancer-causing asbestos. Federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the government will no longer oppose the listing of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance under the Rotterdam Convention and that Ottawa would fork out $50 million to enable asbestos mine workers to retrain in other fields of work. Asian Journal:

The insanity of coal mining

National Public Radio (NPR) and the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) teamed up to produce a special investigative report on the increased incidence of black lung disease in coal miners. The results of their combined investigations were released on the NPR’s radio stations on July 9–10, 2012 and broadcast on Public Broadcasting Systems (PBS) television on July 9, 2012. Read More

Hazardous "bidi" cigarette factories in Bangladesh pose serious health risks to workers and families

“With the rising food prices, I struggle to feed my family with this income. My health pays the price,” said Begum who lives in Tangail District in the country’s northeast. Read More

Ottawa does U-turn on asbestos mining

Canada is ending its much-maligned practice of defending asbestos mining on the world stage, a reversal of a stand that made it a pariah in some international circles.Read More

Canada won't oppose asbestos limits

 Canada's dying asbestos industry was dealt another blow Friday from one of its former friends, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis announcing that the federal government will no longer oppose global rules that restrict use and shipment of the substance. Read More

Fears that asbestos used in chimneys drifting into environment

 High concentrations of asbestos fibers were detected at the top of chimneys in recent surveys, indicating the possibility that asbestos used as insulators in depleted chimneys is prone to break apart, according to researchers. Read More

Rising chemicals output a hazard, clean-up needed by 2020: U.N.

 Production and use of chemicals - from plastics to pesticides - is shifting to developing nations where safeguards are often weaker, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Unsafe disposal and recycling adds to risks, it said. Read More

The Union for the International Control of Cancer calls for a global ban on asbestos

The Union for the International Control of Cancer (UICC) has called for a global ban on the mining, use and export of asbestos. Read More