In France, theasbestos use has been prohibited since January 1, 1997. But it is not the same everywhere with our neighbours: the World Health Organization (WHO) has in fact just revealed that 15 countries in the European zone have no still not made a cross on this material, yet harmful to our health…
Go back. In 2010, the 53 countries of the Europe zone (according to the WHO classification) committed themselves to implementing concrete measures to permanently eliminate the use of asbestos (particularly in the construction and car manufacturing) by 2015. A waste of time: a few months before the deadline, 300 million Europeans are still exposed to it on a daily basis.
Among the countries singled out by the international organization are notably Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. No wonder, when you know that Russia is the world’s largest exporter of asbestos with a production of one million tons per year. Kazakhstan is the third largest exporter in the world. The economy, stronger than health?
Because, as we know, asbestos (which has been classified in the “carcinogenic” category since 1977 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer) is wreaking havoc. Asbestos fibres, 450 times finer than hair (!), settle at the bottom of our lungs and can cause cancer lungs, from ovaries, larynx), but also fibrosis, pleura… A real time bomb, since the disease generally appears between 20 and 40 years after exposure.
Finally, the WHO recalled that, each year, 15,000 people in Europe die of pathologies caused by asbestos. Deaths that could have been avoided.
Did you go to school in Aulnay-sous-Bois?
Worrying: in France, 3 million homes are contaminated.
