CHRYSOTILE
Following yesterday's blog entry about Canada's 'new type of asbestos,' I thought perhaps we ought to look at what exactly this new type of asbestos, Chrysotile, is.
Chrysotile is not as dusty and is more easily eliminated from the human body than traditional asbestos. Studies of workers exposed to high levels of this dust did not show any excess lung cancer or mesothelioma.
BUT the Health and Safety Executive in Britain have explained this fact by reminding us that asbestos-induced
lung cancer, like fibrosis (asbestosis), is a threshold phenomenon. That is , the more you inhale the more likely you are to contract the disease. Which is why the incidence of Mesothelioma continues to rise - men and women who have been exposed for twenty to thirty years are only now beginning to show signs of disease.
Canada produces 22% of the global Chrysotile output - 510,800 metric tonnes in 1995 - so they are not exactly unbiased in their arguments that Chrysotile is safe.