One hundred and thirty nine British Columbia workers who lost their lives because of workplace injury in 2007 were remembered in a province-wide day of mourning April 28.  In Vancouver, a day of mourning ceremony is to be held at Hastings Park at 10 a.m., where 139 markers, representing each of the workers who died, will line a path to the park’s workers’ memorial.  This particular event is sponsored by WorkSafeBC, the B.C. Federation of Labor and the Business Council of B.C.

This is the 24th annual observance.  Canada’s organized labor coalition is making this effort to bring occupational hazards forward in an attempt to keep job safety at a high priority level in government and at the work place.  What is interesting about this particular event is that of the 139 deaths being memorialized, most are from exposure to asbestos that occurred years ago.

WorkSafeBC breaks the deaths in 2007 down into those who died from traumatic injuries and those who died from occupational diseases.  Of the 139 who died in 2007, 68 were from traumatic injury, the lowest number since 1980. However, the number of people who died from occupational diseases, mainly exposure to asbestos, is the highest ever. Seventy-one people died from occupational diseases.  They expect the annual death rate from mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases to continue rising through 2015.

Concerns about naturally occurring asbestos have caused the federal Bureau of Land Management to close the Clear Creek Management Area in Northern California.  The parkland draws hundreds of off-road enthusiasts, hikers and campers on weekends.  The unimproved area is an opportunity to explore the area’s old mining roads, rare flora and fauna, and rugged scenery.  At fifty square miles, Clear Creek has been a paradise for off-road enthusiasts and dirt bike riders.

About half the Clear Creek Management Area was closed last Friday after the Environmental Protection Agency issued a report saying asbestos in the area posed a serious cancer risk to those who work, hike, camp, hunt, collect gems and ride dirt bikes.

“Frankly, we were surprised at how high the levels of asbestos are at Clear Creek,” said Jere Johnson, a Superfund project manager for the EPA who worked on the study. “What we found is that there is a lot of asbestos in the soil, and when you disturb the soil it poses a health risk.”  In fact, what the EPA seems to have found is one of the hottest of hot spots for natural asbestos in the country.

Clear Creek contains the largest deposits of asbestos in the United States because of its unique combination of faults and volcanic rock, said Arnold Den, a senior science adviser for the EPA.   While the detailed results of the EPA tests are not yet available, the amount of concern reflects the likelihood of an enormous asbestos deposit at or near the surface of the area.

One-in-10 Australian carpenters born before 1950 will die of mesothelioma, according to results of a British study released in Australia in April.  They will be among 30,000 Australians who will die from mesothelioma between 2000 and 2050.

Cancer research specialist Professor Julian Peto made the findings during research into the lifetime occupations of 600 mesothelioma patients and an analysis of international trends in mesothelioma mortality.  Dr. Peto said the cause of mesothelioma was not restricted to the deadly blue asbestos, also known as crocidolite, but to brown asbestos (amosite) which was used in building products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s.

Brown asbestos was a major component in most asbestos cement sheeting and roofing used in the building industry.  Dr. Peto feels that the widespread use in the construction business has been overlooked by many in the field.

“The use of these products was completely uncontrolled.  Carpenters would chop it up with power saws without much concern at all.  And this was after we became aware of the dangers of blue asbestos.”

Dr. Peto’s research also revealed that Australia and the UK have the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world, with 600 cases per year in Australia and almost 2,000 in Britain, and figures are rising.

He said that 10 per cent of Australian carpenters born before 1950 were likely to die of asbestos-related cancers.  The rate for Australia and the UK is more than five times that of the United States, mainly because of different construction methods, according to Dr. Petos.