After nearly a year since it was announced that the town of Asbestos in Quebec, Canada would be renamed the residents have voted for the new name of Val-des-Sources by a large majority it was revealed on Monday.
As we have been detailing throughout the year in our blogs, the town decided it needed an image change after they believed the image that was given to potential investors through the town being called after the toxic material, which came from the formerly operating asbestos mine which closed operations in 2011, was......
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A big moment for the Canadian town of Asbestos occurred recently as they narrowed down their choices for its new name in the last week. Officials in the town have been battling with their reputation for years and believe their economy has taken a hit due to the connotations related to the deadly material of asbestos, with their mayor saying in an interview that “Four businesses have told me they don’t want to establish here because of the name, that their investors were reluctant to invest here”.
The journey began late......
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The town called Asbestos
Asbestos town is located at southern Quebec province. Its first asbestos mine was established in 1879 and helped the local community grow dramatically. Today, its economy entirely depends on asbestos mining, extraction and production, as does the life of its citizens. Despite numerous attempts to outlaw the substance, the government maintained its support for the asbestos industry. In the case of Asbestos town, a $58 million loan was granted by the government to keep the last mine operational. However, following a new presidential election, the loan was cancelled, preventing further......Continue Reading
In March 2019, following years of discussions, Canada has introduced a ban on use, sale, import and export of asbestos.
Calls for the elimination of asbestos products within the domestic market have been supported by Canadian federal health and environment departments, citing mounting health-care costs for the treatments of asbestos related illnesses such as mesothelioma.
Estimating that exposure to asbestos fibres caused approximately 1,900 lung cancer cases and 430 mesothelioma cases in the country in 2011.
For more than 30 years, asbestos fibres have been recognised as hazardous to human health and well-being (World Health......
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In the final part of our series on mesothelioma in Canada we're taking a look on how the disease is treated.
The large number of mesothelioma cases in Canada demands a medical system offering good treatment options for mesothelioma. Canada has a socialised medical insurance system, and it is generally believed that it is easier to get better care for rare diseases like mesothelioma in the United States than it is in Canada. In both countries, however, the treatment for the disease is the same.
Canadians generally explore one or a combination of three options......
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In the 1930s, a study conducted by the Department of Industrial Hygiene at McGill University discovered that, of 200 men who participated, 42 developed asbestosis. The department had been formed by The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, due to its suspicions that asbestos was sickening workers and causing some sort of “dust disease” of the lungs. However, the findings were never published and lawyers for asbestos manufacturers in Canada and the U.S. suggested to company executives that asbestosis receive “minimum publicity.” Continue Reading
After climbing steadily over the past two decades, Canada's mesothelioma cancer rate is now one of the highest in the world. Few in the medical community are surprised: Canada's dedication to the mining of chrysotile asbestos and the Canadian government's track record for permitting its production and use in thousands of products laid the groundwork for exposing citizens to the toxic mineral. The most significant increases occurred in the shipbuilding areas around Vancouver, and in Quebec, home to many of Canada's early asbestos mines.
About 2.1 of every 100,000 Canadians are diagnosed annually......
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