Marentette said he worked for 10 years in the now-closed Chrysler engine plant, where oil mist exposures were heavy. The Big Three automakers have made great strides in reducing oil mist exposures with better equipment and improved ventilation since the 1980s. The CAW has also negotiated in their contracts in the 1996 round of bargaining much lower exposure limits to metalworking fluids than those allowed by provincial regulations. But with cancer typically taking such a long time to develop, many workers wonder if past exposures will catch up to them, Marentette said. It would be unusual if you did not.
Cancer is a common disease.
Cancer is killing more people today because we are exposed to more substances that cause cancer. Especially since the Second World War, there are more and more manufactured substances used in our workplaces, homes and our environment that cause cancer. Statistics Canada projects this year over 130,000 Canadians will contract cancer and close to half will die from it. In the 1930's 1 in 10 people contracted cancer. By the 1970's it was 1 in 5.