- Alan Reinstein, Mesothelioma Victim
Date: October 5, 2011
To: The Honourable Baljit Chadha,
As a mesothelioma widow, I am shocked and disgusted by your irresponsible, immoral, and reprehensible disregard for public health, after reading your recent “Why I want to be in the asbestos business” editorial in the Montreal Gazette. You continue to ignore the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, and others who agree that all forms of asbestos, including Chrysotile, are carcinogenic and there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
As president of Balcorp, you have offices in New Delhi and Mumbai – and know better – safe use of asbestos in developing countries is nearly impossible.
History is a great teacher to those who listen. Canada has the dubious distinction of being the fifth largest producer of asbestos alongside Russia, China, Brazil, and Kazakhstan. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported in 2010, you and your fellow asbestos industry colleagues, produced nearly 2,000,000 metric tons of asbestos. According to WHO estimates, more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure. About 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace.[2] The latency period for mesothelioma after initial exposure to asbestos is typically longer than 30 years and the median survival time after diagnosis is 9–12 months.[3] You have been bestowed numerous honors and appointments such as Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, serving as a Distinguished Fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Board of Governors of Concordia University, and Directors of Canada-India Business Council; however, exporting asbestos to developing countries brings shame to you, Canada, and North America. Mr. Chadha, on behalf of my late husband, Alan, and hundreds of thousands of others asbestos victims around the world, I urge you to reconsider your efforts to seek funding for the Jeffrey Mine Chrysotile asbestos mining and exporting efforts. For each life lost to an asbestos-caused disease, a shattered family is left behind. Sincerely, Linda Reinstein, Mesothelioma Widow Tweet This Linda Reinstein’s rebuttal to Mr. Baljit Chadha re: “Why I want to be in the #asbestos business” http://bit.ly/o0RXu9 #mesothelioma #NDP [1]<] U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/asbestos/myb1-2010-asbes.pdf [2]<] World Health Organization Fact sheet N°343 July 2010 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/index.html [3] Robinson BW, Musk AW, Lake RA. Malignant mesothelioma. Lancet 2005; 366: 397-408 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67025-0 pmid: 16054941.
