Asbestos, a tough fibrous mineral, was used in many building products before 1990 because it is resistant to fire and heat, good at absorbing sound, and cheap to use. But, as the time and multiple medical kinds of research and clinical case studies show, asbestos is not safe for human health and is, in reality, a life-threatening substance.
Asbestos kills as many as 2,000 people every year in Canada. Many think asbestos is already banned in Canada, but a historic announcement by the federal government, Dec. 15, is now making the move to officially ban the substance by 2018, nationwide. After the latest push from unions and federal labor advocates, the Canadian government is moving to ban asbestos. Today, October 18th Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is set to announce Canada’s new ban on asbestos.
As Canada made products consumers, we, regular citizens can also affect that issue, buy paying attention to what we purchase and vote with our wallets. Look at the labels, read what is included in the products you buy, not just food, but also building and construction materials, clothing, household items and many more. If people will massively shift their perspective and refuse to buy such products, that really hurt us by posing a negative and harmful effect on our health and lives, that will really make a big change and manufacturers will have to comply and follow the market by avoiding health harmful products.