Since January 2005, the use and production of asbestos is prohibited within the European Union. Yet in the poorer southern economies it is still widely used and permitted. Wherever asbestos has been in use, it is leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. In Europe, 500,000 will die from asbestos-related illnesses within the coming 30 years ... 100,000 of them in France alone. For many years, asbestos had been the preferred material of the engineering and construction industry: cheap, convenient and fireproof. Nevertheless, the medical community has known for decades that asbestos is a health hazard. In the 1970s asbestos was linked to causing cancer. How is it possible that workers' health...or even that of entire populations--was treated with such contempt? How can we accept that the use of asbestos
continues in many countries of
the southern hemisphere?
continues in many countries of
the southern hemisphere?
