Asbestos-Containing Brake Pads and Pipes Continue to Be Imported to Canada

Recent reports have suggested that the asbestos industry in Canada will soon be nearing an end; however, products containing the carcinogenic mineral continue to be imported and used in Ontario, according to The Star.

Throughout Canada, insulation containing asbestos is being removed from buildings, but asbestos-containing brake pads and cement pipes are being brought into the country. Reports show that $2.6 million worth brake pads were imported into Canada in the last year and half.

Manufacturers have argued that the asbestos in these products are safe, because asbestos only poses a threat when the fibers are released. They claim that the asbestos fibers in the brakes and pipes are tightly bound. However, anti-asbestos activists claim that millions of deadly asbestos fibers will be released when the brake pads wear down or the pipes are cut.

Airborne asbestos fibers travel into the body, attack soft tissue, and can result in serious health conditions, such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Approximately 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“It can be impossible to determine if a product contains asbestos just by looking at it with the naked eye, so it is very likely that workers, including mechanics and plumbers, could be unknowingly exposed to carcinogenic fibers,” says Ed Cahill, Vice President of EMSL Analytical, Inc.’s Asbestos Division. “EMSL Analytical has been performing asbestos analyses since 1981, and all of our locations in Canada and the United States are fully equipped and accredited to test for the presence of asbestos in consumer products.”

For more information regarding EMSL’s asbestos services, please call 800-220-367, visit www.EMSL.com, or email info@EMSL.com .

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider of consumer product, environmental, industrial hygiene, food, and materials testing services to professionals and the general public. In addition, the company offers a large variety of air sampling equipment, sampling cassettes, and monitoring equipment. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations, as well as state and federal regulating bodies. They include, but are not limited to AIHA IHLAP, AIHA EMLAP, AIHA ELLAP, A2LA, NVLAP, CDC Elite, CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), CA ELAP, NY ELAP, TX Department of State Health Services, and multiple other state accrediting agencies.

Contact Information

Joseph Frasca

Senior Vice President of Marketing

EMSL Analytical

(1) 1-800-220-3675

jfrasca@emsl.com