The inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause serious diseases and death…

1890s Canadian workers separate asbestos from rock

It is no longer common to have Canadian workers handle asbestos directly without safeguards.  In the photo shown above these women long ago were working with asbestos from the Johnson Mine in Thetford, Quebec to separate the asbestos fibers from the rock manually. There were no standards or safeguards at all.

Canadian asbestos exported to India and other developing countries is now regularly handled without education or standards. There are few safeguards by workers there.

In modern India workers continue to handle asbestos

Woman in Bangladesh shipyards filtering asbestos

Child in India is present where asbestos pipe is cut by unprotected workers