LaDou et al. have failed, not because its Chemical Review Committee has not recommended the listing of chrysotile, but because of the Convention’s requirement for unanimity and as a result of the determined opposition of asbestos mining and manufacturing countries. At the 2008 conference of parties on the Convention, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Russia, and Zimbabwe opposed listing chrysotile asbestos in Annex III [IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) Reporting Services 2008]. A few asbestos-importing countries thwarted the will of > 100 other countries. The Need for a Universal Ban on Asbestos The profound tragedy of the asbestos pan- demic is that all illnesses and deaths related to asbestos are preventable. Safer substitutes for asbestos exist, and they have been intro- duced successfully in many nations. Currently, asbestos cement products account for > 85% of world consumption (Virta 2005), and in about 100 countries, asbestos-containing pipes and sheets are manufactured to be used as low- cost building materials (Tossavainen 2004). However, these asbestos cement water-pipe products could be replaced with ductile iron pipe, high-density polyethylene pipe, and metal-wire–reinforced concrete pipe. Many substitutes exist for roofing as well as interior building walls and ceilings, including fiber- cement flat and corrugated sheet products that are made with polyvinyl alcohol fibers and cellulose fibers. Virtually all of the polymeric and cellulose fibers used instead of asbestos in fiber-cement sheets are > 10 µm in diam- eter and therefore nonrespirable (WHO 2005). For roofing, lightweight concrete tiles can be made and used in the most remote locations using locally available plant fibers, such as jute, hemp, sisal, palm nut, coconut coir, and wood pulp. Galvanized iron roofing and clay tiles are among the other alternative materials (World Bank Group 2009). If global use of asbestos were to cease today, a decrease in the incidence of asbes- tos-related diseases would become evident in approximately 20 years (WHO 2006). The asbestos cancer pandemic may take as many as 10 million lives before asbestos is banned worldwide and all exposure is brought to an end (LaDou 2004). But the world’s current production of asbestos continues at an alarm- ing rate; therefore; these figures may not reflect the true burden of this pandemic. An international ban on the mining and use of asbestos is urgently needed. The risks of exposure to asbestos cannot be controlled by technology or by regulation of work practices. Scientists, physicians, and responsible authori- ties in countries allowing the use of asbestos should have no illusion that “controlled use” of chrysotile asbestos is an effective alternative to 900 a ban on all use of asbestos (Castleman 2003; Egilman and Roberts 2004). Even the best systems of workplace controls cannot prevent occupational and environmental exposures to products in use, or exposures to asbestos discarded as waste. Safer substitute products are in use in countries all over the world where asbestos is banned. To protect the health of all—now and in future environments—the Collegium Ramazzini again calls on all countries of the world to join in the international endeavor to ban the mining, manufacture, and use of all forms of asbestos. Ref Rencs Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 2001. Toxicological Profile for Asbestos. Atlanta, GA:Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 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