There is no denying the link between asbestos and the multitude of reported illnesses it has caused, including the fatal cancer mesothelioma. However, presidential candidate Donald Trump was recently called out by the news organization Mother Jones for his odd asbestos conspiracy theory:

“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,” Trump claimed in his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback. “Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented. Millions of truckloads of this incredible fireproofing material were taken to special ‘dump sites’ and asbestos was replaced by materials that were supposedly safe but couldn’t hold a candle to asbestos in limiting the ravages of fire.”

Unfortunately, Trump’s ignorance of the dangers of asbestos highlights the importance of setting the record straight for the public. Asbestos can be found anywhere from homes, schools and workplaces to consumer products and even the environment.

Despite Trump’s beliefs, any level of asbestos exposure has been deemed unsafe by the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as every other major independent scientific body in the world. An asbestos ban is believed to be the only scientifically feasible method to control the rate of asbestos-related diseases.

Trump’s mob conspiracy theory dates back to the anti-asbestos movement in the early 1900s when researchers, labor organizations and insurance companies began connecting the dots between the high mortality rates and workers regularly exposed to asbestos. It wasn’t until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified asbestos as a hazardous pollutant in 1971 that NIOSH created its first standard for regulating asbestos exposure. Shortly afterward, in 1976, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) confirmed the agencys’ suspicions by listing asbestos as a human carcinogen, leading NIOSH to call for a ban of asbestos in U.S. workplaces.

Linda Reinstein, President and CEO of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), whose husband died of mesothelioma, called Trump out in an article in The Huffington Post that outlined the many known dangers of asbestos exposure. She also responded to the billionaire’s mob conspiracy theory by describing his own susceptibility to exposing employees and community to the dangers of asbestos:

“Trump fought a class-action lawsuit brought by demolition workers who had been contracted to clear the way for Trump Tower in New York. When the workers were interviewed by the New York Times, they cited working in ‘choking clouds of asbestos dust without protective equipment’ among other subpar working conditions,” she writes. Although Trump denied knowing about the asbestos, his company eventually settled the lawsuit with the workers. But, without a total ban on asbestos, workers and consumers are still at risk, Reinstein warns.

In conclusion, she notes, “There is a lot to debate this election season, but there is no debate about the deadly dangers of asbestos.”

Sources:

Huffington Post

Science Blogs

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