New Study Underscores Importance of Worldwide Asbestos Ban

The push for a worldwide ban on asbestos gained momentum recently with the latest study linking national consumption levels of the toxic mineral with corresponding levels of asbestos-related diseases. An ecological association between asbestos and asbestos-related diseases was made in 70 countries, doubling the number found in a similar study released in 2007. Environmental Health Perspectives, a well-respected monthly research journal supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, published the report in May 2022. The Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, based in Australia, authored the study. “We provided more evidence, from a different angle, from a different perspective, for policymakers to see that their country needs to ban asbestos,” Dr. Ken Takahashi, director of ADRI, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “This is on country-level data, not individual level.” Asbestos Bans Have Stalled The World Health Organization has been encouraging individual countries for years to ban asbestos to eliminate asbestos-related diseases, but progress has been slow. Only 60 of the close to 200 countries in the world today have banned asbestos, leaving considerable work to do. “Most developed countries, with the rare exception of the United States, already have banned asbestos. Those countries have felt the burden and taken action,” Takahashi said. “This work is aimed more at the still-developing countries and their policy...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Source Type: news