New Workplace Asbestos Guidelines

The Canadian government, gearing up for its planned asbestos ban by 2018, enforced some changes to the Canadian Labour Code. Specifically, it involved the occupational health and safety regulations governing the handling of asbestos. Changes On July 12, 2017, new amendments were added to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and national building codes were also…

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Trendy DIY Renos or Asbestos Risk?

WorkSafeBC has launched a campaign we’d like to see make waves across the country, warning homeowners about the risk of asbestos when it comes to home renovations. Home renovations are undergoing a new renaissance. It makes sense; with the price of housing climbing through the roof, it’s often a better choice to renovate than move.…

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Asbestos – a Modern Day Reality

The Globe and Mail reported today that the costs of dealing with asbestos related cancers like mesothelioma has soared to $1.7 billion per year – and that’s only for new work-related cases. The estimates come from the Institute for Work & Health, a research facility. The report estimates that each case costs about $818,000 –…

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Tragic Death of Asbestos Advocate Reminds of Vermiculite Dangers

As 2015 came to a close, headlines across the country brought the news of the tragic passing of Raven ThunderSky, an asbestos advocate. Buildings in the First Nations reservation she grew up on in Manitoba were insulated with vermiculite that was contaminated with asbestos. ThunderSky had already lost several relatives to asbestos-related disease. Zonolite – the brand…

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Deaths from Asbestos Related Mesothelioma Continue to Rise

Decades after it was largely removed from use in everyday objects, asbestos continues to haunt both the industrialized and developing worlds. Statistics Canada recently released figures that show the health effects, including the number of cases and deaths from mesothelioma, the deadly cancer caused only by asbestos exposure, continue to be on the rise. Some…

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The Legacy of Asbestos

As asbestos exposure is revealed as Canada’s leading cause of workplace deaths and the World Health Organization estimates that one third of workplace cancers are caused by the mineral which was once hailed as the “miracle” construction material. A recent article in the revered medical journal The Lancet estimated total deaths worldwide from asbestos exposure…

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Study Finds Firefighters at Risk of Mesothelioma

Toronto firefighters are joining others across the country in joining the Movember movement to grow a moustache this month and raise money for prostate cancer and men’s health. The annual fundraising event was built specifically to address prostate cancer – and firefighters have a 28% higher risk of developing it than the general population. But, firefighters are also at an increased risk of developing other cancers, including mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure.

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Canadian Federal Government Finally Backs Down from Asbestos Stance

Just as we speculated a couple of weeks ago, the federal government has now jumped off the sinking ship of asbestos production and exportation from Quebec. Specifically, the Harper government has reversed the pro-asbestos stand it’s held in the face of international outcry and announced that it will no longer block international efforts to add chrysotile asbestos – the variety found and mined in Quebec – from the Rotterdam Convention.

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Does the Parti Québécois (PQ) Victory Mean the End of Canadian Asbestos Exportation?

The recent Québec election that saw the Parti Québécois recapturing the province may spell the end of the Canadian exportation industry. During the campaign, Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois herself has previously stated that if elected her government would cancel the $58-million loan which was extended by the Jean Charest government to the company looking to re-open the giant Jeffrey asbestos mine.

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