While health advocates and mesothelioma experts continue their work to raise awareness and ban the use of asbestos, occupational medicine experts are warning that those efforts are being undermined by powerful asbestos industry experts. An article in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology highlights concerns that those who mine, manufacture, and sell asbestos are continuing to promote its use, to the detriment of workers and society.
Article Cites Mesothelioma and Other Diseases Linked to Asbestos
Noting the “overwhelming evidence” that all asbestos types are carcinogenic and cause diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis, experts Xaver Baur, Chair Emeritus of Occupational Medicine at the University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, and Arthur Frank, Chair Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, warned that the asbestos industry is undermining efforts to achieve a worldwide ban of asbestos.
According to their report, the asbestos industry has been systematically working to defeat liability claims of mesothelioma victims, as well as financing a robust marketing project through its public relations agency, the International Chrysotile Association. They are supporting their efforts by self-publishing inappropriate science and false evidence that they use as defense material.
Asbestos Industry Denies Role of Chrysotile in Mesothelioma
Among the most concerning information contained in the report was news that researchers paid by the asbestos industry have published papers denying chrysotile’s role in mesothelioma. These unsound studies, which Baur and Frank say have manipulated data, have called the carcinogenic material “essentially innocuous” and claimed that oil, tremolite or crocidolite that contaminated chrysotile was behind asbestos-related diseases.
Warning that these efforts have impeded asbestos being banned, the researchers stressed that “there is absolutely no doubt among independent scientists that all asbestos types are carcinogenic and cause many diseases including mesothelioma.” They warn against “science and policy malfeasance” that has infiltrated governmental decision-making bodies and regulatory processes to promote “their version of ‘good science.’
Asbestos has caused immeasurable harm across the globe. If you or someone you love suffers from an asbestos-related disease, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
