Press Release  February 14, 2013

Shared by Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance

Bihar Chief Minister promises to ‘puncture’ construction of asbestos factories

Chief Minister’s environment friendly intervention welcomed

Memorandum demands stoppage of asbestos factory and withdrawal of fake cases

Patna/New Delhi February 14, 2013: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the leaders of ban asbestos movement led by Vaishali’s Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee (KBJBJC) and the leaders of left parties and promised to ‘puncture’ construction of asbestos factories in the State. The Chief Minister met the leaders at his residence at 1, Anne Marg in Patna in the evening hours of on February 13, 2013. The Hindi Press Release of Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee (KBJBJC) and their Memorandum to the Chief Minister is attached.

This announcement of the Chief Minister follows declaration of Shri Awadhesh Narain Singh, Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council saying ‘buying asbestos is akin to buying cancer’ at a conference on environmental and occupational health on December 24, 2012, in his address to the health experts, scientists, trade union leaders, academicians, civil society leaders and villagers. The conference also adopted a Patna Declaration urging State of Bihar to ban Asbestos Product Use and to ban Asbestos Product Use. Speech of Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council is available athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9TbemRUkYM The Declaration which has been submitted to the Chief Minister is attached.

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“European Shipowners dumped 365 Toxic Ships on South Asian Beaches Last Year”  press release shared by Mohit Gupta, Charter Member of GBAN for India.

On February 5, 2013 the NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued the press release entitled “European Shipowners dumped 365 Toxic Ships on South Asian Beaches Last Year.”  Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform said, “Despite the possibility of proper disposal in Europe or other developed countries, the vast majority of European shipping companies continue to profit by having their ships broken cheaply and dangerously on the beaches of South Asia. The EU must adopt mechanisms that will prevent European shipowners from exporting toxic ships for breaking in developing countries and instead recycle them according to the health, safety and environmental laws and standards of their own countries.”

The Platform’s 2012 list shows that most of the end-of-life ships sent by European shipowners did not fly an EU flag[3]. In fact, 240 of them used what is commonly referred to as the “flags of convenience” phenomenon, using flags such as Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas or St Kitts-and-Nevis, which makes it more difficult for the EU to prevent their dismantling in substandard facilities. Read the full press release online at http://bit.ly/11JzsFT

Published on Dec 21, 2012

“Dr. Barry Castleman, a well-known International Expert on Asbestos discusses with NewsClick on the dangers associated with asbestos. He says asbestos, a mineral fibre, is hazardous to the health of the people and to the environment. The exposure to air-borne asbestos dust causes asbestosis and lung cancer. In 2006, ILO and WHO have banned the usage of asbestos and over 50 countries have already banned it. In India, unfortunately there is no regulation on the asbestos industry.” ~ NewsClick

Dr. Barry Castleman, is a world renowned scientific expert, ban asbestos activist,  Charter Member, and hero to thousands around the world.  Please view and share this newly published video interview from India.

Linda

Linda Reinstein, GBAN Co-Founder and Charter Member

Posted on October 2, 2012

In five minutes, you can share your experiences, knowledge, and recommendations as a mesothelioma patient or caregiver by completing ADAO’s “Supportive Resources in the Mesothelioma Community” Survey.

Technology has greatly changed since Alan was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2003. With your help, we can use the survey results to better understand what has been most helpful to mesothelioma patients and families and what is needed for the future.

In addition to the survey, I will interview some patients and caregivers to deepen our understanding about the needs and benefits of supportive resources.

Please fill out the confidential ADAO survey today, as our deadline is December 31st.

In unity,

Linda

Linda Reinstein, GBAN Co-Founder and Charter Member

Click here to complete the “Supportive Resources in the Mesothelioma Community” Survey!

On October 12^th, 2012, speakers and representatives from at least 15 countries and an audience of over 250 persons came for the momentous ANDEVA conference, held in the French Senate. I have tried to do an entire’s day conference justice by this article; however, many presentations will be published on www.andeva.fr, where you may see them for yourself.  ~ Yvonne Waterman, Sc.D. LL.M., GBAN Charter Member, The Netherlands

On the morning of the 12^th, the general mood was already joyous as the news spread that the Jeffrey mine would be closed and flooded permanently. Marc Hindry (ANDEVA), the Canadian MP Pat Martin and Lisa Singh, an Australian Senator, opened the conference by describing the great progress asbestos activists and advocates have made over the years and especially in recent times. They stressed the importance of global participation in the asbestos fight, the need for criminal prosecution and the desire for complete eradication of asbestos. To this, French parliamentarian Annie David added her voice, stressing that parliamentarians globally too have an important role to play here. Later that day, Pat Martin would move many close to tears and to great applause by apologising most sincerely and movingly for the suffering caused by Canadian asbestos.

Dr. Richard Lemen

Richard Lemen, the American Vice Surgeon-General, gave the keynote speech, concentrating on the American and English history, knowledge and epidemiology of asbestos. Lemen pointed out that it is epidemiologically correct to speak of an asbestos disease pandemic; and yet worldwide production and consumption are hardly decreasing. Enzo Merler (Italy) and Guadelupe Aguilar (Mexico) followed, who both spoke on the epidemiological suffering of their respective countries. Aguilar made the audience gasp when she told of an Eternit manager in Mexico who reportedly was known for saying that one can eat asbestos with bread and butter; and yet the area of that particular Eternit plant had the highest incidence of mesothelioma anywhere in Mexico; and no recognition of asbestos diseases as occupational diseases, no registry, no compensation, no fund for medical care, no victim organization, etc.  Laurie Kazan-Allen’s (GB) maps showed how production and use of asbestos have changed globally over the years, with national asbestos bans increasingly in number – and yet too slowly. Continue reading →

GUEST BLOG: “A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos” by Leah Nielsen and Stacy Cattran On September 29, 2012, Leah Nielsen and Stacy Cattran will lead a commemorative walk for asbestos victims through Centennial Park in Sarnia, Canada, starting from Dow People Place at 11 AM. Approximately a thousand asbestos victims and their families are expected to participate in the Walk. Show your support, join them! For more information, see http://asbestos.cattran.ca. The sisters, who lost their father to mesothelioma, will also call to ban asbestos, to end the killer industry and for a public inquiry into the tens of thousands of deaths in Canada caused by asbestos. For asbestos dangers were long known by the asbestos industry and government officials, who denied the dangers of asbestos through an organized campaign of misinformation, junk science and cover-ups. Never was public accountability more warranted. The Walk will be spearheaded by many well-known persons in the global family of asbestos victims, such as Canadian MP Pat Martin, Dr. Barry Castleman, who is a world-renowned American scientist and scholar on asbestos, Dr. TK Joshi, a highly respected Indian specialist in occupational medicine and Eric Jonckheere, representing a Belgian asbestos victims’ group. Remember asbestos victims. Demand a public inquiry. Stop this killer industry. Join Leah and Stacy on September 29th in the Centennial Park in Sarnia, Canada!

'Europe's Asbestos Catastrophe: Supporting Victims, Preventing Future Tragedy' in Brussels, Belgium

I’ve had the pleasure to attend the conference ‘Europe’s Asbestos Catastrophe: Supporting Victims, Preventing Future Tragedy’ in Brussels, Belgium (17-18 September 2012). The focus of the conference was on the asbestos situation in Middle- and Eastern Europe and aimed to bring together asbestos victims, trade unionists, campaigners and representatives of NGOs and other bodies to share knowledge and network together.

Laurie Kazan-Allen, one of the first speakers, immediately struck right at the heart of the matter: workers have a right to health. Health is a human right, nothing less. Knowingly exposing workers to the health dangers of asbestos dust is a violation of their human rights to health and to work in a safe environment. I would add to that: also their right to family life, which is greatly imposed on during the suffering of an asbestos disease and subsequently prematurely ended.

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anda or Public Health: Brazil’s Landmark Supreme Court Hearing about Asbestos ” on Storify]

Propaganda or Public Health: Brazil’s Landmark Supreme Court Hearing about Asbestos

On August 24 and 31, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court is holding public hearings to review the constitutionality of the state of São Paulo’s law that prohibits asbestos use. We’ll continue to update this story through September 4.

Storified by Linda Reinstein · Mon, Sep 03 2012 14:38:19

Asbestos exposure in The Netherlands: Read it and Weep by Yvonne Waterman

The inhabitants of ‘Kanaleneiland’, a district of the Dutch city Utrecht, have recently been evacuated in great haste from their apartment buildings by the combined forces of the municipal council and their housing cooperative. Their streets were barricaded by the police. The reason: after renovations to the buildings, traces of blue and brown asbestos had been found. It hit the news coverage like a national disaster. Which was interesting: it showed the nation how proceedings work in such cases. So-called experts delighted the public by explaining about asbestos. Much of it was exasperatingly wrong. Read and weep with me!

Now amongst asbestos victims, The Netherlands is perhaps known for two things. One, for being a very modern, pleasant and civilized country where one might expect a decent knowledge on asbestos. Two, a sizable post-World War II asbestos industry based on huge asbestos imports, which so far has resulted in The Netherlands having one of the highest rates of asbestos victims per capita in the world, possibly the highest for any country without asbestos mining activities. (A fact of which the Dutch themselves are utterly unaware.) Asbestos was banned here in 1993; and that largely put an end to the asbestos industry.

So, imagine.. The municipal council and housing cooperative started by evacuating everybody for their safety and offering them damages for temporary costs, free stays in hotels and temporary housing, children’s entertainment, continual news updates etc. So far, so good. No mention was made of the disturbing fact of asbestos being found after the renovations were done, rather than during an asbestos search before renovations started.

Of course, the inhabitants of Kanaleneiland wondered how high their exposure had been. The asbestos expert of the Utrecht Health Department, Ben Rozemond, estimated this to be ‘slightly above negligible risk levels’ and put their risk of contracting an asbestos disease at one to 7,3 billion. In one words, even though they had been exposed to asbestos for certain in as yet unknown quantities during an unknown period of time, they were far less at risk than the rest of the Dutch population. The Dutch Health Council (‘Gezondheidsraad’) estimates that approx. 1,600 Continue reading →