Mesothelioma Blog

Lax safety standards, non-enforcement and widespread exposure has primed China to become the site of the next great mesothelioma disaster.

Currently the rate of mesothelioma in China is far below European or American mesothelioma rates. But while these countries have largely stopped using asbestos products and curtailed production, China remains vigorously involved in the mining of raw asbestos and the creation of products which contain the carcinogenic material.

China ranks third in the world for the total production of asbestos. Over 160 operating mines wrest asbestos ore from the ground and ready it for processing. Each year Chinese mines pull 300,000 tons of asbestos and factories process over 400,000 tons of materials that contain asbestos, including brake pads, heat insulation products and sealing products.

In recent years the Chinese government, acting in response to public outcry over the safety of Chinese products, has issued health standards and safety regulations for workers who handle asbestos products. However, these safety standards will only protect workers from the threat of mesothelioma and other diseases if they are actually enforced. Given the difficulty China has encountered with forms of business regulation, the likelihood that these asbestos regulations will be enforced is dismally low.

Without adequate safety measures and a commitment to drastically reducing the use of asbestos in manufacturing, the Chinese people could face a mesothelioma epidemic that will dwarf that of the United States or the European countries.

Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases may take decades to reveal themselves. The potential for human tragedy is counting down in China. The coming mesothelioma tragedy is especially wrenching because the Chinese have had the advantage of seeing the painful consequences of unregulated asbestos use in the United States and Europe.

The mesothelioma situation brewing in China calls to mind the famous quote from historian George Santayana:

“Those who cannot (or will not) learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”