Asbestos: Safe Enough to Sell, So Long as it Goes to India

August 15th, 2011. By Hunter West

The Canadian government was talking out of both sides of its mouth recently when it decided to reject a recommendation from Health Canada, the Canadian answer to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to add asbestos to the so-called Rotterdam list of dangerous substances.

That’s partly because Canada still mines and exports the stuff. It’s worth about $90 million dollars a year to the economy of Quebec alone. And the Prime Minster said that as long as there are people willing to buy it, Canada would export it.

Well, Stephen Harper has a point. There are countries around the globe—especially India—that consider asbestos to be a cheap and handy commodity for the building trade. If the rest of the world is taking it out of their buildings, they don’t seem to care.

And Canada is not prepared to take a moral stand, as some countries have done, by either placing asbestos on a blacklist, or banning its use altogether. The US hasn’t banned it, either. 

It does serve to illustrate that in the shadow of big business, health often takes a back seat.

Drug companies have for years been doing an end run around safety in the quest for profits and revenue, to the point where they have the FDA—described by some as largely a political entity—largely in their back pocket. The FDA, for its part, has never required a drug or medical device to be completely safe before it is allowed on the market. So long as the benefits outweigh the risks for those to whom the drugs are directed and intended, then all is well.

So long as a drug, or medical device company makes more revenue from a drug than the money they lose defending it, then…well…that’s just good business, isn’t it?

In Canada’s case given the asbestos issue, the reasons why the feds rejected the recommendation from their health regulator are both economic and political.

First, the sudden ending of a $90 million dollar-per-year industry would have a huge impact on the Quebec economy, as well as the country as a whole. Canada, while geographically larger than the US, is sparely populated in comparison.

From the political side, the largely French-speaking Quebec has been waffling over its wish to disenfranchise with Canada and go it alone as an independent, sovereign state since the beginning of time. At the moment, the separation flame has cooled and the government wishes to avoid doing anything that may turn up the heat.

And—the governing Conservative Party is hoping to take Quebec seats away form the New Democratic Party in the next election, which is five years away. The NDP took a whack of seats away from the Bloc Quebecois—a separatist party—this past May, and the governing Conservatives see that as an opportunity.

So let’s do nothing to upset Quebec. So what if Heath Canada urges a ban on asbestos? It comes from Quebec. So asbestos mining stays, and asbestos continues to be exported.

Besides, Health Canada notes that while it can’t say asbestos is safe (nobody can), it does admit to the fact that in its view chrysotile asbestos—which is the stuff that comes from Quebec—is not quite as destructive as other forms of asbestos. Of course, the feds have seized on that point, too.

Here’s the thing. If asbestos is so bad, why has that same Canadian government been removing asbestos from Canada’s Parliament buildings, and from the official residence of the Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister was asked about that very contrast. His response? As long as people are willing to buy it, the government won’t stand in its way.

“This government will not put Canadian industry in a position where it is discriminated against in a market where sale is permitted,” Harper said.

And yet three years ago, the stated in an editorial “Canada is the only Western democracy to have consistently opposed international efforts to regulate the global trade in asbestos. And the government of Canada has done so with shameful political manipulation of science.”

It should be noted that all countries participating in the Rotterdam Convention met June 20^th. Canada has yet to formulate a position on asbestos, and presumably will continue to waffle for at least the next five years.

If someone came up with a way to replace that $90 million dollar windfall every year with something safe and clean, then watch it happen.

If drug companies could make just as much, if not more from drugs that are completely safe, then watch it happen.

But as long as there are lobbyists making sure that drug and medical device manufacturers in their districts are happy and healthy—and as long as there are emerging countries ready and willing to buy a product that carries both health risks for the customer, but also political and economic risks for a government with an eye towards re-election, nothing will happen.

Asbestos will continue to be mined, and exported. Drugs and medical devices will continue to be marketed with risks both known and unknown.

It’s just business. It’s a democracy. It’s civilization. And we’re all so very, very civilized.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma

This was posted on Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Asbestos Mesothelioma . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.