Quebec workplaces to adopt federal norms in exposure to asbestos, says BAPE

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Quebec, Aug 10 (Canadian-Media): Quebec’s exposure to workplace asbestos fibres currently is much much higher than the federal norm (of 0.1 asbestos fires per cubic centimetre of air)  should be lowered as soon as possible,  says a report by the province’s independent environmental review agency.

Asbestos. Image credit: www.asbestos.com

Quebec’s workplace safety agency has also been called by Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) to revise its process of compensation for workers to facilitate those affected by conditions linked to asbestos exposure to prepare a defence.

BAPE. Image credit: Twitter handle

Asbestos has been scientific documentation for its toxicity in all its forms, and is the single largest on-the-job killer in Canada.

Today it is banned in 55 countries.

Breathing in asbestos fibres was associated with cancer as early as the 1930s and exposure is also linked to non-cancerous pathologies including asbestosis.  

A ban on the use and sale of asbestos by the federal government  came into effect in 2018, after the last asbestos mine in Quebec closed in 2012.

But since asbestos residues represent a significant economic opportunity, the provincial government last fall asked the BAPE to investigate

The BAPE came up with recommendations to promote safe recovery of waste from asbestos and added that mines should follow the maintenance of safety management records, as provided for in Quebec’s law on health and workplace safety.

The report also is concerned that despite its known toxicity, asbestos is not included in the list of contaminants in provincial regulations for land protection and rehabilitation.

Pathologies and deaths among species of fish have occured, said the report due the levels of concentrations of asbestos fibres in the region’s Bécancour River.