A six-member expert panel commissioned by Health Canada met in November 2007 to discuss the relationship between exposure to chrysotile asbestos and asbestos-related diseases such as pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and lung cancer. The chair of the panel submitted two reports to Health Canada in March 2008; however, the reports were not released until more than a year later, and four months after an Access to Information request was filed with the agency.
Canada is the fifth-largest exporter of chrysotile asbestos internationally and in 2006 was the only Western nation opposed to listing chrysotile as a hazardous chemical under the United Nation’s Rotterdam Convention.
The chair of the expert panel that authored the reports criticized the Canadian government’s delay of the reports’ release, voicing concerns that the government was disguising political and economic interests as scientific decisions.
source: www.mesotheliomanews.com
