EUROPE’S ASBESTOS CATASTROPHE
Laurie Kazan-Allen 1
Presented at Conference: Europe’s Asbestos Catastrophe: Supporting Victims, Preventing
Future Tragedy, Brussels, September 17, 2012

We have been here before. Since the first asbestos conference took place in Brussels in
2001, more than 50,000 people have died of asbestos-related diseases in the United Kingdom,
the country with the world’s highest per capita incidence of mesothelioma. 2 Unfortunately,
many other European countries are also suffering from asbestos epidemics; those which arenot, have yet to do so.
European Asbestos Data 1950-1990 3 (tonnes)
Year

Production

Imports

Exports

Apparent
Consumption% GlobalUse

1950

273,862

341,701

109,167

506,39640

1960

713,644

657,896

199,240

1,172,300

54

1970

1,242,904

1,036,695

480,530

1,799,069

51

1975

2,093,713

1,412,792

809,414

2,697,091

62

1980

2,275,064

1,259,254

732,286

2,802,032

59

1985

2,706,495

654,961

429,241

2,932,215

67

1990

2,476,933

423,313

317,952

2,582,2954

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While some data is available on the asbestos disasters in older EU member states,
publicly accessible information on the situation in some of the newest members is not. Thereis no doubt however that significant amounts of asbestos were used in Bulgaria, Cyprus, theCzech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Yugoslavia. Given that exposure toasbestos produces cancer and respiratory diseases in Italians, Belgians and Germans, there
can be no doubt what the future holds for some asbestos-exposed individuals in Central andEastern Europe.
The purpose of the sessions taking place today and tomorrow is to engage in a dialogue
about Europe’s Asbestos Catastrophe. In pursuit of this objective, there will be a particularfocus on the situation in Central and Eastern Europe countries with an emphasis on thosewhich are already in the European Union as well as candidate and potential candidate
countries. For my part, I am looking forward to hearing about innovative programs adopted in
Poland and Slovenia as well as learning about the asbestos reality elsewhere. In this context,
it should be pointed out that the only EU Member State to have adopted an action plan toeliminate asbestos is Poland. We have much to learn from each other.

1

Laurie Kazan-Allen is the Coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat: website:
http://www.ibasecretariat.org She can be reached by email at: lka@btinternet.com
2
According to the most recent British statistics, there are 2,321 mesothelioma deaths in a population of62,641,000; this produces a rate of 37 per million. Email from Michael Lees. September 2, 2012.
3
Data sourced from the United States Geological Survey.

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The agenda has been constructed to take full advantage of the availability of the services
provided by interpreters for eight languages. Our hope is that a frank and stimulating
discussion will ensue which will be informative as well as productive. Each of the delegatestaking part in this meeting has been carefully chosen for his/her expertise and knowledge.
Some of us are veteran asbestos campaigners; some of us are just starting out. Despite
different languages and different areas of competence, we share common goals: to support
the injured and decontaminate Europe.
The concept and implementation of this event has been nearly two years in the planning.
This initiative has been led by the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers(EFBWW) and in particular by Bernd Eisenbach a dedicated advocate for occupational healthand safety and the EFBWW’s specialist in asbestos issues. I first met Bernd in Osasco at theworld’s first ever Global Asbestos Congress. Eleven years later I met him again in Brussels;
it felt like not a day had gone by.
Bernd’s EFBWW colleagues speak of his willingness to listen to others, his genuineinterest in people, his charisma and optimism. I remember his sparkling blue eyes and hiskindness; when my PowerPoint presentation crashed at the European Parliament last year, it
was Bernd who fixed it. Our friend Bernd died suddenly on May 20, 2012; we are grateful forthe time we spent with him and dedicate this event to his memory.
Throughout the planning process, the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat worked closelywith Bernd and his trade union colleagues. Other partners were the: European Trade Union
Institute and the Belgian Asbestos Victims Association, ABEVA. It is significant thatamongst the four partners two represent asbestos victims and two represent trade unions. Thiscomposition reflects the collaborative spirit and shared ethos which is responsible for muchof the progress made by the global asbestos campaign.
In recent weeks we have seen ban asbestos victories in Russia, Canada and Brazil, major
asbestos-producing countries. During the week beginning August 27th, ban asbestos
campaigners were active in each of these countries; an invasion scarcely dreamt of a decadeago. Closer to home, however, things look less positive. In the UK, economic constraints arebeing used to justify the elimination of thousands of workplace inspections. 4 On September
10, it was announced that as of April 2013, health and safety checks at “low-riskworkplaces,” will end. Scrapping 3,000 regulations and cutting bureaucracy will, say theGovernment, save companies “millions of pounds.” In such a climate, there is absolutely nodoubt that short-cuts will be taken and lives put at risk from exposures to asbestos.
The European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights asserts the right to life, the right to theintegrity of the person as well as workers’ rights to information. The European Convention
on Human Rights clearly states that “everyone’s right to life shall be protected by the law.”And even so, throughout the EU people are dying in their thousands from avoidable diseases
caused by asbestos. In many cases, we cannot say who or where they are as data from many
4

Health and safety inspections cut in regulation curb. September 10, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19540318

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EU member states is lacking. This in itself is an unacceptable situation and something whichneeds to be addressed by the EU.
In the information vacuum which exists, we rely on predictions made by European
epidemiologists. Using their figures for mesothelioma mortality as a starting point and adding
deaths from a range of other asbestos diseases in both men and women, it is not unreasonable
to suggest that in Western Europe alone, more than 500,000 people will die from asbestoscaused diseases in the current 35 year period (1995-2029). 5 This equates to the elimination ofthe entire populations of Sheffield, Grenoble, Nuremburg or Bologna.
Tomorrow I will be one of four witnesses to address the Committee on Employment andSocial Affairs, European Parliament. Amongst the recommendations I will be making are thefollowing:
1. EU legislation should be enacted which mandates the human rights of asbestos
victims regardless of the source of their exposure, their employment status or the typeof asbestos-related illness.
2. EU policymakers should recognize the role of asbestos victims’ groups, allocate
funding for their work and include them as stakeholders in discussions regarding theEU’s future asbestos policy.
3. The European Parliament’s Committee of Employment and Social Affairs should
establish an Asbestos Sub-Committee to act as a conduit between asbestos victims
and their elected representatives in Brussels. The Asbestos Sub-Committee wouldoversee the setting up of a body to coordinate an EU Asbestos Action Plan; as part ofthis process, a European Centre for Asbestos-related Disease Research (ECARD)
would be established. 6
4. The Asbestos Sub-Committee should be tasked with producing an EU strategy foreliminating asbestos-related diseases; a 2023 deadline for Europe’s asbestos
decontamination is proposed.
We were here in 2001 and 2005. In 2012, we again convene in Brussels to call to account thepoliticians, bureaucrats and officials whose inaction continues to endanger the lives ofmillions of Europeans. We know what needs to be done; it is about time they did too.

5Peto J, Declari A, et al. The European mesothelioma epidemic. Br J Cancer 1999 February; 79(3/4): 666–672.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2362439/
6
On September 4, 2012, the Australian Government announced the formation of an Office of Asbestos Safety
to “pave the way for a national approach to asbestos awareness and management in Australia.”
http://www.lisasingh.com.au/newsroom/media-releases/a-national-approach-to-asbestos-management/
Australia, a country of 22 million people which is expecting 18,000 mesothelioma deaths between 1945 and2020, has been proactive in confronting the asbestos challenge while the European Union, with a population of
500+ million of whom more than 250,000 will die from mesothelioma by 2029, has implemented no dedicatedmedical research, diagnosis or treatment program for asbestos-related diseases.

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