Baur Xaver, Frank Arthur L
Chair Em. of Occupational Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
European Society for Environmental and Occupational Medicine, P.O. Box 370514, D-14135, Berlin, Germany.
J Occup Med Toxicol. 2021 Feb 23;16(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s12995-021-00295-2.
Industries that mine, manufacture and sell asbestos or asbestos-containing products have a long tradition of promoting the use of asbestos, while placing the burden of economic and health costs on workers and society. This has been successfully done in recent years and decades in spite of the overwhelming evidence that all asbestos types are carcinogenic and cause asbestosis. In doing so, the asbestos industry has undermined the WHO campaign to reach a worldwide ban of asbestos and to eliminate asbestos-related diseases. Even worse, in recent years they succeeded in continuing asbestos mining and consuming in the range of about 1.3 million tons annually. Nowadays, production takes place predominantly in Russia, Kazakhstan and China. Chrysotile is the only asbestos type still sold and represents 95% of asbestos traded over the last century.The asbestos industry, especially its PR agency, the International Chrysotile Association, ICA, financed by asbestos mining companies in Russia, Kazakhstan and Zimbabwe and asbestos industrialists in India and Mexico, continues to be extremely active by using slogans such as chrysotile can be used safely.Another approach of the asbestos industry and of some of its insurance agencies is to broadly defeat liability claims of asbestos victims.In doing so they systematically use inappropriate science produced by their own and/or by industry-affiliated researchers. Some of the latter were also engaged in producing defense material for other industries including the tobacco industry. Frequent examples of distributing such disinformation include questioning or denying established scientific knowledge about adverse health effects of asbestos. False evidence continues to be published in scientific journals and books.The persisting strong influence of vested asbestos-related interests in workers and public health issues including regulations and compensation necessitate ongoing alertness, corrections and appropriate reactions in scientific as well as public media and policy advisory bodies.
开采、制造和销售石棉或含石棉产品的行业，长期以来一直热衷于推广石棉的使用，却将经济和健康成本的负担转嫁给工人和社会。尽管有压倒性的证据表明所有类型的石棉都具有致癌性并会导致石棉沉着病，但近年来乃至过去几十年，这种情况仍在持续。在此过程中，石棉行业破坏了世界卫生组织旨在全球范围内禁止石棉并消除石棉相关疾病的运动。更糟糕的是，近年来他们成功地继续进行石棉开采，年消费量约为130万吨。如今，石棉生产主要集中在俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦和中国。温石棉是唯一仍在销售的石棉类型，占上个世纪石棉贸易量的95%。石棉行业，尤其是其公关机构——由俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦和津巴布韦的石棉开采公司以及印度和墨西哥的石棉实业家资助的国际温石棉协会（ICA），继续通过使用“温石棉可安全使用”等口号来保持极度活跃。石棉行业及其一些保险机构的另一种做法是广泛驳回石棉受害者的责任索赔。在此过程中，他们系统性地利用自己或与行业有关联的研究人员炮制的不恰当科学观点。其中一些研究人员还曾为包括烟草行业在内的其他行业制作辩护材料。传播此类虚假信息的常见例子包括质疑或否认关于石棉对健康有害影响的既定科学知识。虚假证据仍在科学期刊和书籍中发表。与石棉相关的既得利益集团在工人和公共卫生问题（包括监管和赔偿）上持续产生的强大影响，使得科学界、公共媒体以及政策咨询机构必须持续保持警惕、进行纠正并做出适当反应。
