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Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban

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Abstract

All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Nonetheless, a large number of countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products. And still today in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called “controlled use” of chrysotile asbestos continues to be permitted, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. To protect the health of all people in the world — industrial workers, construction workers, dental professionals, women, and children, now and in future generations — the Collegium Ramazzini calls again today on all countries of the world, as we have repeatedly in the past, to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

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  1. Castello di Bentivoglio, Bentivoglio, 40010, Bologna, Italy

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The Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society that examines critical issues in occupational and environmental medicine, is dedicated to the prevention of disease and the promotion of health. The Collegium derives its name from Bernardino Ramazzini, the father of occupational medicine, a professor of medicine at the universities of Modena and Padua in the early 1700s. Currently, 180 renowned clinicians and scientists from around the world, each of whom has been elected to membership, comprise the Collegium. It is independent of commercial interests.

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Ramazzini, C. Asbestos is still with us: repeat call for a universal ban. Odontology 98, 97–101 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10266-010-0132-5

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