ASBESTOS EXPORTS FROM RUSSIA: TIME FOR A WORLD WIDE BAN

I am all for the sanctions against Russia, especially those which involve most the world. Next time, let’s both limit their exports and do the world a favor.

Ban their asbestos exports to every country; at least, put on an all out press to do so. That would stop 700,000 tons of the yearly 1.2 million tons produced globally and save countless lives and suffering. The numbers can be found at https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022.pdf starting on page 28 for Asbestos.

This is one area in which Biden can shine compared to the prior administration. After all, Trump was in favor of expanding the use of asbestos in the United States and elsewhere. He further ignored and disbelieved the experts at the World Health Organization and most developed countries as to the danger. As stated in the New York Times on April 7, 2019:

“Sniped at for decades by health advocates, Russia’s doggedly defiant producer of asbestos — a substance banned as a killer by more than 60 countries — thinks it has perhaps finally found the perfect figure for a campaign to rehabilitate the product’s deeply stained image: President Trump.

“Trump is on our side,” said Vladimir V. Kochelayev, chairman of the board of Uralasbest, one of the world’s few remaining producers of asbestos, citing what he said were reports that the Trump administration was easing restrictions on asbestos use.

The United States stopped mining asbestos in 2002, but the material still pours onto the world market from a huge hole in the ground in Russia’s Ural Mountains.“

As stated by Newsweek on June 7, 2018:

“In his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback, Trump argued that the association of the chemical with health risks was part of a mob-created conspiracy. “I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented,” he wrote.”

Really? Mob-related conspiracy?

I don’t meant to bash Trump; at least, in this forum. But this blog must be true to my tag line of “Where History Meets Knowledge. Be Informed.”

As we look for more ways to encourage Russia to end this war, every little bit helps. Let me know what you think in a comment or by emailing me at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thank you. Marty