Starting today, is the International Asbestos Awareness Week (from April 1 to April 7). I was contacted by Emily, who works for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance in the US, who informed me about this awareness week, and asked if I wanted to spread the word about this. While more and more people are aware of the dangers (human carcinogen) linked to Asbestos, it’s still a threat as long as it’s not banned on a global scale. Of course there’s never a zero risk of contamination, but I do believe that it’s still important to talk about the toxicity of asbestos, because the more we are informed, the better we are able to make our own decisions. Avoiding asbestos as much as possible, until it’s banned for good.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is hazardous to human health, and is still used in a variety of consumer products ranging from clothing to floor tiles. Despite the fear of asbestos-related illnesses, the number of imports of asbestos-filled products increases. Some countries such as Australia, Japan, Britain and Sweden have imposed a ban, but it’s not the case everywhere.
and led to a series of cancers (here’s a link to one study about it (here)
I found this very informative website which shows what part of your home might be contaminated with asbestos (here).
7 Comments
Hi Liz! That's really interesting (slash disturbing) that the USA/Canada haven't banned its use and that France still allowed its use in construction. I know here (UK) it's not allowed, although I'm pretty sure that if its in place, you don't have to remove it… but you can't replace it as it is. I also wasn't aware of the potential for talc to contain asbestos. I try to avoid talc as far as possible just because I knew that there were concerns about it, but I had been thawing slightly recently because I just knew it was used as a filler – but knowing that some talc might contain asbestos definitely puts me back off again! Thanks for the informative post 🙂 xx
Hi lovely! Thank you for reading, and letting me know about the situation in the UK. It's quite strange that the regulation about asbestos varies so much from one country to another, knowing that the dangers of asbestos are now known. The situation about talc is tricky, normally there shouldn't be asbestos, but it would be better if there was a proof about that once and for all 🙂 xx
Bark what a cochonnerie! Je ne sais pas si c'est comme le radon, je vais voir le terme en français. Merci pour ce partage généreux, ça fait différent comme article! xx
Ah c'est sûr, de la pure saleté. En français c'est l'amiante. Il y a eu un gros scandale en France parce qu'une députée a laissé des constructions se fair avec de l'amiante alors que des experts l'ont prévenu que c'était dangereux. C'est horrible, ce qui me chagrine c'est la façon dont on veut cache, il n'y a pas à justifier son utilisation. Cela doit être banni. Merci à toi de lire, Julie <3 je me rends compte que je ne peux pas toujours parler de beauté lol, mais pour moi ce genre de discussion est tout aussi important. xx
Oui vraiment, tu fais bien et j'aime la diversité, c'est de toute façon toujours en lien avec la santé globale 🙂 Aaaaw l'amiante, ok je connais très bien l'ampleur des conséquences et des discussions autour de cette saleté. Ici, avant d'acheter une maison, les gens font tester à l'amiante et si il y en a bonne chance au vendeur pour la vendre! xx
i worry about my boyfriend, he is an engineer and exposed to stuff like this all the time! great message though! x
Sorry to hear about your concern lovely! I don't know if you read Hephziba's comment about Asbestos being now forbidden in new constructions, so I hope that your boyfriend won't be exposed to it anymore. There are also protective equipements if you're working with asbestos. xx