For more then a century, asbestos has been produced in the Canadian town of Quebec however the health risks associated with exposure to asbestos including mesothelioma and asbestosis have seen growing support for a ban on its production. Due to these health risks, the use of asbestos is already banned in 50 countries including Australia who implemented to ban in December 2003.

A positive move toward a total ban on the production of asbestos has been recently seen when the Canadian Government decided they will no longer fight international efforts to list asbestos as a hazardous substance under the United Nations Rotterdam Convention. If asbestos was to be added to the list it would require exporting countries to notify importing countries about the dangers of using asbestos and require safe handling and precautionary measures to be undertaken.

For asbestos to be added to the hazardous-substances list, all the relevant countries who have signed the convention must agree with the addition. This includes Australia who signed the convention in July 1999. Other asbestos producing countries such as China and Brazil have also opposed asbestos being added to the list however it was Canada who protested the hardest.

Considering asbestos is linked to the deadly cancer mesothelioma, the move to list asbestos as a hazardous substance seems inevitable as just another step in ensuring the safety of people who are exposed to it. Mesothelioma is known only to well in Australia, with hundreds of cases of this condition occurring each year. One only has to look at the Australia legal system to realize just how asbestos related conditions have affected Australians. Specific legislation has been implemented in numerous states, including New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, to assist those suffering asbestos conditions pursue an asbestos compensation claim in Australia.

Mackay Park near Batemans Bay on the south coast of New South Wales has been temporarily closed after asbestos was found on the park’s grounds. The public has been banned from the park, even forcing a weekend football game to be relocated. The Eurobodalla Shire Council has confirmed that action is being taken to ensure the safety of the community.

The Council has done some testing and inspections of the park grounds and no asbestos has been found on the playing fields themselves, rather nearby. The decision to close the park to the public is the right one to ensure the safety of everybody as even minimal exposure to asbestos can lead to an individual contracting the disease mesothelioma.

There have been asbestos compensation claims in Australia resulting from relatively small amounts of asbestos causing the condition mesothelioma. Asbestosis compensation claims in Australia usually result from more moderate exposures to asbestos.

Australia has one of the highest rates of deaths by asbestos related diseases in the world and the number of mesothelioma cases in Australia is expected to peak within the next decade. Thus in circumstances like this where asbestos is found in public spaces, immediate action is a good step to try and ensure future Australians being diagnosed with asbestos related conditions such as mesothelioma are minimized.

An asbestos check which was recommended in a federal government report may be mandated. This asbestos check, if implemented, will require owners of homes built before 1987 to pay up to $1,155 for an asbestos survey to be conducted if they wish to sell, rent or renovate their home. Homeowners would also be required to pass the survey results onto buyers, renters or any person involved in the home’s renovation which would likely disrupt asbestos.

This asbestos check was recommended as most homes which were built between 1945 and the early 1980s contain asbestos cement sheets. The presence of asbestos in these older homes is not surprising as Australia had the largest rate per capita of asbestos use in the world.

This recommendation for an asbestos assessment is one recommendation among many provided to the Australian government by the Asbestos Management Review, which was commissioned in October 2010. An office of asbestos safety will be established next July 2013 with the role of implementing these recommendations in an effort to make Australia asbestos free by the year 2030.

These steps toward removing asbestos from Australia are extremely important as Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related disease in the world. The cancer mesothelioma is one of these diseases which are caused by exposure to asbestos. In 2010 mesothelioma claimed the lives of 642 Australians. The incidence of mesothelioma in Australia is not due to peak until 2020.

Australian Tasmanian Senator Lisa Singh might have her wish come true, following promises from Quebec’s front-runner in their election to cancel the reinvigoration of Canada’s asbestos industry.

Australians were shocked early in 2012 when Canada’s Liberal government promised to lend over $56 million to the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos in order to export white asbestos, a known carcinogen, to India.

But now, Quebec’s opposition party, the Parti Quebecois, has promised that if elected it will cancel the loan and ensure the Jeffrey asbestos mine remains closed.

Anti-asbestos activists are overjoyed at the news and anti-asbestos lobbies are banding together to rally support for the opposition.

Canada’s politicians have historically supported the mining of asbestos, as their asbestos industry was once the biggest worldwide. However, concern for the health impacts of asbestos exposure, which include developing asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, have led to global pressure to ban the use and export of asbestos, especially to developing countries such as India, where asbestos safety regulations are lax.

This global pressure came to a head in 2009, when the town of Asbestos which was closed following an international campaign that protested the use of asbestos.

Australian politicians have been urging the Australian government to protest the Quebec government’s decision to grant the loan, but the opposition being tipped to win the next Quebec election, this may no longer be necessary.