Quebec continues to export more than 170,000 tons of asbestos annually to developing nations despite the fact that the World Health Organization considers the substance a serious health risk and acknowledges its connection with certain forms of cancer. Quebec’s Premier, Jean Charest, has received much criticism for continuing to mine the mineral and export it to countries such as India, Mexico, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

An editorial published last week in the Montreal based newspaper The Gazette accuses Charest’s policy of being “deeply immoral.” The editorial continues to say that the asbestos industry is a far cry from vital to Canada’s economic welfare and that a complete ban on the substance’s mining and export would only impact the province of Quebec temporarily. Quebec’s asbestos industry employs just around one thousand people, but the export of the dangerous substance could harm or even kill untold numbers of workers in developing nations.

Jean Charest argues that handling asbestos safely greatly reduces the risk of contamination that could lead to mesothelioma or an array of other rare cancers, and that the responsibility to prevent health hazards lies in the hands of the importing nations and their companies which implement the products. Sufficient safe handling practices in developing nations are rarely used, however, and mesothelioma diagnoses are consistently rising worldwide.

Approximately 90,000 people around the world die every year from asbestos related diseases. Many diseases caused by the substance, such as mesothelioma, can take several decades to fully develop from the time of exposure until tumors are formed that begin causing troublesome symptoms. This latency period has a numbing effect on the worldwide awareness of the disease and the willingness of some governments to consider it a present threat. The health hazards that asbestos present were documented as early as the 1930’s, but commercial interest in the substance and the tendency for its victims to be dissociated with the industry by the time their symptoms began slowed the creation and enforcement of restrictions regarding asbestos’s use and handling.

Today, the substance is entirely banned throughout the European Union and under heavy regulation in the United States, Canada and several other developed nations. Developing nations which are filling the market vacuum created by widespread asbestos bans throughout the end of the twentieth century are at an incredibly high risk of increasing injury and death due to the mineral. Unfortunately, the consequence of the prolific use of asbestos products is unlikely to show its face in increased cancer diagnoses for several decades, possibly delaying further government action that could reduce exposure and contamination.

According to a study performed by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, cases of mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by asbestos, are rising drastically in Mexico alongside the increased use of asbestos products in a wide variety of Mexican industries. The vast majority of developing nations have not banned the use of asbestos, and have not taken steps in creating regulations to safeguard employees and reduce general exposure. The researchers who performed the study suggested that Mexico should take steps to outlaw the use of asbestos in order to control the rise of asbestos related diseases.

The study included the findings of occupational health researchers seeking to illuminate just how many cases of mesothelioma in Mexico were due to asbestos exposure in the workplace. Much like the United States throughout the latter half of the 20th century, public awareness of the hazards of asbestos exposure in Mexico is very low, and many employees who are exposed to the dangerous substance on a regular basis are unaware of the potential consequences.

While most developed nations have strictly banned asbestos in all forms (except the United States which highly regulates its use but has not banned it), nations such as Canada and Russia still manufacture asbestos products for export. Canadian public health organizations recognize the health hazards associated with asbestos fibers, and while the use of asbestos products are not permitted within the country more than $100 million of the dangerous substance is exported to developing nations every year.

Much of the life threatening white asbestos, or chrysotile asbestos, used in Mexican industry is imported from Canada. Mexico’s underdeveloped public health and safety regulations, their inability to consistently diagnose the disease correctly, and a frightening lack of public awareness help to make these types of imports possible.

In an effort to better understand the mesothelioma problem in Mexico, researchers interviewed about 500 workers who lived in the metropolitan area around Mexico city, hoping to better understand where average exposure levels lie. The interviewees, as well as others living in and around Mexico City, ran the risk of high exposure due to the high amount of asbestos using industries in the area. About one fifth of those interviewed had already been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Unfortunately, an asbestos ban is probably not in Mexico’s near future. Asbestos products are cheap and incredibly effective as insulation, fire retardants, and strengthening additives for concrete and other building materials. As long as developed nations continue to irresponsibly manufacture and export the substance the problem will continue.

The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center will be re-evaluated by the National Cancer Institute next week to ascertain whether it will maintain its designation as an NCI Cancer Center. The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center received about $1.5 million from the NCI last year, helping Dr. Michelle Carbone, the Cancer Research Center’s director, to continue her work in the study of mesothelioma, an aggressive and incurable cancer that results from asbestos exposure. Dr. Carbone specifically studies the impact of environmental carcinogens, viral infections, and genetics on the development of mesothelioma.

The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center’s designation as an NCI Cancer Center is important to mesothelioma research as it allocates financial and research support that helps scientists reach their goals of improving the disease’s diagnosis and treatment processes. Carbone had indicated that the NCI designation was in danger when he became the new director of the Cancer Center in September of 2009. Since then, the staff has worked to address the NCI’s specific concerns in an effort to maintain the assistance that improves the efficacy and output of their efforts.

The Hawaii Cancer Center has worked to fill many vacant positions, established partnerships and cooperative programs with other research facilities, and has begun the design of a new research center. These types of responsible developments could help them to maintain the NCI funding that’s vital to the mesothelioma research that they are conducting.

Mesothelioma affects more than 3,000 individuals annually in the United States alone, and brandishes a frightening prognosis that often gives patients no more than 18 months to live. The incurable cancer is caused almost exclusively by exposure to dangerous asbestos fibers, which through inhalation or ingestion can become lodged in a soft tissue called the mesothelium that protects our bodies’ vital organs. The disease can take decades to fully develop, and mesothelioma symptoms are so generic that they can be difficult to recognize properly.

Cancer Centers that are designated by the NCI are major contributors to the race for a cure for cancer. They are often recognized for their scientific excellence and their substantial discoveries in regards to improving the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. While NCI supported Cancer Centers receive a huge amount of support that helps them to further their research, they must be re-evaluated each year to ensure that their research merits the NCI’s assistance.

Frank Bender, a forensic sculptor who worked with John Walsh, the host of the popular show America’s Most Wanted, has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Although he had no formal training in forensics or the arts, Bender has worked for more than thirty years accurately recreating the faces of those involved in crimes – often working from only old photographs or the remains of the individuals. His clay representations have helped law enforcement agencies across America to track down and capture wanted criminals. Working with John Walsh and the authorities, Bender assisted in the capture of John List, a notorious murderer and one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals.

While it’s not possible to know for sure, it’s likely that Bender contracted mesothelioma from being exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy. Mesothelioma occurs as a result of either inhaling or ingesting microscopic asbestos fibers. These fibers can become lodged in the mesothelium, a protective soft tissue that lines many of our vital organs, where they cause severe scarring and potentially the development of malignant tumors. Mesothelioma is an incredibly aggressive and incurable cancer which often takes the lives of its victims in less than two years following diagnosis. While palliative treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are available for mesothelioma patients, they aren’t always recommended, and generally serve to improve quality rather than quantity of life.

Asbestos is a mineral substance that was used prolifically throughout the 20th century in a variety of different industries. Prized for its thermal insulation and fire retarding qualities, it was used fervently in the production of Navy fleets to insulate pipes, boilers, engine rooms and more. Up until the 1980’s when rigid regulations and restrictions were placed on its use, asbestos was used and handled freely by many workers without even the simplest protective gear such as a dust mask.

Recently, procedures for working with asbestos are more closely monitored and harmful exposure to the substance appears to be declining. The fact that mesothelioma can take several decades to become diagnosable, however, lends to its diagnoses continuing to rise every year. Mesothelioma kills thousands of Americans annually, and that number is likely to continue to rise until today’s safety measures protect tomorrow’s generation of industrial workers.

The United States is one of very few developed countries that hasn’t passed a complete ban on the manufacture and use of asbestos containing products.

Bender has opted not to be treated with traditional mesothelioma therapy regiments, due to their many undesirable side effects.

The Australian pharmaceutical company Bionomics recently announced that they will be moving into Phase II clinical trials on their newest compound designed to fight mesothelioma. The trials, which will begin this year, are being conducted based on the success of the first round of Phase I testing which took place throughout 2009. Dr. Deborah Rathjen, the Chief Executive Officer of Bionomics, stated that the Phase I trials which were conducted throughout various participating cancer centers and hospitals showed a lot of promise. The new drug also demonstrated the ability to both destroy individual cancer cells and reduce blood flow to cancerous tumors during animal testing.

The new drug, known as BCN105, will be tested this year on sixty different patients suffering from mesothelioma. The trials will aim to improve the prognosis for patients suffering from this aggressive form of cancer, as well as increase their quality of life.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive and fatal cancer that attacks the mesothelium, a soft tissue lining found in both the chest and abdominal cavities. Patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are normally given less than two years to live. The cancer has been linked with asbestos exposure and has become a source of controversy in regards to negligent practices on the part of industrial employers over the last century.

The new drug, BCN105, says Dr. Rathjen, is expected to be more effective against mesothelioma and other types of cancer due to the malignant cells’ inability to develop a resistance to its activities. In many chemotherapy treatments, cancerous cells eventually form an immunity to the drug being used and stop reacting to its presence after some time. In the past, this has necessitated the use of several different drugs being used during therapy to ensure that the cancer is unable to adapt. This practice, unfortunately, can contribute to a rapid deterioration of the patient’s health. Dr. Rathjen hopes that cancer cells will be unable to develop an immunity to BCN105 as effectively as existing treatments.

The Phase II trials will be conducted in Australia until the beginning of 2011. If the trials continue to show promise and can be proved effective against mesothelioma, Bionomics will begin to consider its commercial applications.

Libby, Montana, a small town sprung up in a beautiful valley around the Kootenai River, has been dealing with asbestos contamination for more than half a century now. The town’s toxicity was caused by a vermiculite mining operation, a mineral used in the manufacture of insulation and fire retardant materials throughout the twentieth century, whose product was contaminated with tremolite asbestos. The vermiculite plant, which had been in operation since 1919, produced clouds of toxic dust that settled visibly in the town for more than half a century.

In May of this year, W.R. Grace, the former operator of the mine, as well as other executives were acquitted by a federal jury for charges related to negligent industrial practices. The toxic dust created by the mine contributed to more than 400 deaths and caused countless illnesses and health complications.

Mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases are incredibly serious. After being either ingested or inhaled, asbestos fibers can become embedded in a tissue known as the mesothelium which protects our body’s major organ systems. The fibers inflict scarring on the mesothelium, which can eventually develop into a fatal malignant tumor.

An emergency cleanup was declared earlier this year, and hundreds of millions of dollars were allocated to contain and remove the toxic waste as well as treat the town’s affected residents. Progress has been slow, though, and many residents are still waiting for the results of asbestos testing being administered on their property. The EPA has been involved in decontaminating Libby since 1999, and while the major sources of contamination are under control, the agency is still involved in testing and decontaminating homes and businesses.

The latency of mesothelioma, or the time that it takes for the symptoms of the disease to develop from the time of asbestos exposure, is remarkably long, sometimes as much as half a century. This means that the battle for residents of Libby is far from over. And, after hundreds of millions of dollars and ten years of decontamination efforts, living and working in the town is still considered a substantial health hazard.

For some residents, that’s simply not good enough. Lerah Parker, a resident of Libby, voiced what is likely the general sentiment, saying “I want to know when it’s safe to bring my family back to our property.”