ANOTHER ROUND ON THE HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO ASBESTOS

There is a continuing wish to ban the use of 'asbestos' in North America and elsewhere. Articles in journals and in the news media have brought the 'minerals' identified as 'Asbestos' by the EPA to an audience way beyond mineralogists and they are not shy about broadcasting their concerns on the health issues arising from asbestos exposures. The mining in Canada and export of chrysotile "white asbestos"' has led to recent brosdsides in the Lancet and in Nature that illustrate the global nature of potential healh problems in today's world. As someone who has been investigating asbestos and other mineral issues in humans for over 35 years it is my intention to present the latest scientific data from mineralogy and epidemiology enabling risk factors to be calculated and deliberations and discussions to take place.

The vast fields encompassed by the term " geology", and the upswing in studies of natural materials, the environment as well as anthromorphic induced hazards has brought opportunities for scientific collaborations unheard of even 20 years ago, The asbestos issues are but one illustration of the need to seek data, and knowledge of the planet, e.g. the lthosphere, hyrdrosphere and atmosphere, perhaps today more obvious when global climate and ecological changes over time are popular topics of investigation and in the news, It is important to integrate this geologic information into all aspects of the biosphere, including human health. If we continue sharing our research we can surely contribute to practical decisons for a sustainable future.