Asbestos and the law

Background

1. Asbestosis - A lung disease first found in textile workers, asbestosis is a scarring of the lung tissue resulting from the production of growth factors that stimulate fibroblasts to proliferate and synthesize the scar tissue in response to injury by the inhaled fibers. The scarring may eventually become so severe that the lungs can no longer function. The latency period is often 10–20 years.
2. Mesothelioma - A cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, the peritoneum or the pericardium. Unlike lung cancer, mesothelioma has no association with smoking. The only established causal factor is exposure to asbestos or similar fibers. The latency period for mesothelioma may be 20–50 years. The prognosis for mesothelioma is grim, with most patients dying within 12 months of diagnosis.
3. Cancer - Cancer of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, kidney and larynx have been linked to asbestos. The latency period for cancer is often 15–30 years.
4. Diffuse pleural thickening

"A review of the scholarly literature indicates a substantial degree of indifference to the causes of this civil justice system failure. Many of the published articles on asbestos litigation focus on transactional costs and ways in which the flow of money from defendants to plaintiffs and their lawyers can be expeditiously and efficiently prioritized and routed. The failure to acknowledge, let alone analyze, the overriding reality of specious claiming and meritless claims demonstrates a disconnect between the scholarship and the reality of the litigation that is nearly as wide as the disconnect between rates of disease claiming and actual disease manifestation".

"Many of those who I see in my surgeries have worked in a number of workplaces and they could have been exposed to asbestos in each of them, but medical science is such that no one can identify which of them it is. As a result, there has been a long and complex history of legal discussion on how to apportion liability. The lawyers and the judiciary have wrestled, rightly and valiantly, with complex and difficult law, but it has created despair for the families whom we represent. Many of my constituents' families have been riven by the consequences of litigation in trying to get some compensation for a disease that has been contracted through no fault of theirs. That is cruel and unacceptable."

Regulation

Complete bans on asbestos

Country

Ban Date

Algeria International law Asbestos is listed as a category of controlled waste under Annex I of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal . Specifically, any waste streams having asbestos as constituents are controlled. In general terms, Parties to the convention are required to prohibit and not permit the export of hazardous wastes to the Parties which have prohibited the import of such wastes via the notification procedure in Article 13 of the convention. Australia A nationwide ban on importing and using all forms asbestos took effect on 31 December 2003. Reflecting the ban, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission revised asbestos-related material to promote a consistent approach to controlling exposure to workplace asbestos and to introduce best-practice health and safety measures for asbestos management, control and removal. The ban does not cover asbestos materials or products already in use at the time the ban was implemented. Although Australia has only a third of the UK's population, its asbestos disease fatalities approximate Britain's of more than 3,000 people per year. Western Australia' center of blue asbestos mining was Wittenoom. The mine was run by CSR Limited. The main manufacturer of asbestos products was James Hardie, which set up a minor fund for its workers, then transferred operations to the Netherlands where it would be out of reach of the workers when the fund expired. Brazil The São Paulo State law 12.684/07 prohibits the use of any product which utilizes asbestos. This legislation has been formally upheld by the Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal. Canada Since the 1980s, Canada has not permitted crocidolite asbestos to be used and has had limitations on certain uses of other types of asbestos, notably in some construction materials and textiles. In late 2011, Canada's remaining two asbestos mines, both located in the Province of Quebec, halted operations. The following year, Quebec's government announced a halt to asbestos mining and the federal government announced that it would end its opposition to adding chrysotile asbestos to the list of hazardous substances under the international Rotterdam Convention. In 2018, the Canadian federal government posted proposed regulations planned for implementation later that year, which would prohibit use, sale, import, and export of all forms of asbestos. Since 30 December 2018, the import, sale, and use of raw asbestos have been formally prohibited, and products containing asbestos are also banned except for certain specialized uses, such as in nuclear facilities. France France banned the use of asbestos in 1997, and the World Trade Organization upheld France's right to the ban in 2000. In addition, France has called for a worldwide ban. Hong Kong The import, shipment, supply of, and use of all forms of asbestos is banned in Hong Kong under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. Before the 1980s, use of the material was common in construction, manufacturing, and shipping. The government banned the use of most asbestos products in public areas in 1978. The Factories and Industrial Undertakings Special Regulation, which came into force in 1986, and the subsequent Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulation implemented controls on the use of asbestos in the workplace and banned the use of amphibole asbestos completely. The import of amosite or crocidolite to Hong Kong was banned in 1996 by the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. On 4 April 2014, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance 2014 came into force, completely banning the import, transshipment, supply and installation of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials in Hong Kong by amending the existing Air Pollution Control Ordinance. Buildings built before the mid-1980s may continue the use of asbestos-containing materials.