Styrene, a key component for many plastics and synthetic rubber, is “probably carcinogenic to humans”, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

An assessment this year by an IARC expert working group said there was now sufficient evidence to change its cancer rating from group 2B – possibly carcinogenic to humans – to 2A, a probable cause of cancer in humans.

Globally, manufacturers produce about 20m tonnes of styrene a year, according to the International Styrene Industry Forum (ISIF). This is used primarily as a monomer in the production of plastics, particularly polystyrene, which accounts for about half of global production.

The evidence from human studies – which focused on workers making reinforced plastics – was ‘limited’, said IARC’s monograph working group, in a summary paper published in The Lancet Oncology.

The studies did provide “credible evidence that exposure to styrene causes lymphohaematopoietic malignancies”, but there was no way to rule out “confounding, bias or chance.” Animal studies provided “sufficient” evidence of a cancer association.

Professor Henrik Kolstad of Aarhus University in Denmark, a member of the IARC working group, said: “The most recent styrene study shows the risk of acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of leukaemia, is doubled. Out of the more than 70,000 people included in the research project, we found 25 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia, where you would statistically expect to find 10.

“Research also found a five-fold increase in the risk of sinonasal adenocarcinoma – nasal cancer – among those who are exposed to styrene in the plastic industry.”

• Manolis Kogevinas and others. Carcinogenicity of quinoline, styrene, and styrene-7,8-oxide, The Lancet Oncology, volume 19, issue 6, pages 728-729, 2018.

Occupational cancer is a big killer, but studies to assess the risks to workers from tens of thousands of chemicals at work are either inadequate or just have not been done, top experts have warned.

Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) note the “recognition of occupational carcinogens is important for primary prevention, compensation and surveillance of exposed workers, as well as identifying causes of cancer in the general population.”  Occupational exposure to carcinogens is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, with an estimated occurrence of 666,000 fatal work-related cancers annually, they indicate.

Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, they say their review found the number of known, top ranked ‘group 1’ “occupational carcinogens has increased over time: 47 agents were identified as known occupational carcinogens in 2017 compared with 28 in 2004. These estimates are conservative and likely underestimate the number of carcinogenic agents present in workplaces.”

They add: “The number of carcinogens in the workplace may be substantially larger for additional reasons. New substances are introduced into workplace and environmental settings faster than information on potential health effects can be generated. For example, over 80,000 chemicals are currently registered for use in the USA alone, but only a small fraction have ever been evaluated for carcinogenicity.”

Even where IARC has investigated a substance, the risks to workers has rarely been properly considered.

The IARC experts conclude: “Despite notable progress, there continues to be a need for research on the causes of work-related cancer. Epidemiologic evidence is inadequate or entirely lacking for the majority of the over 1,000 agents evaluated by IARC; many more agents present in workplaces have never been evaluated for carcinogenicity. There is also a need to identify the numbers of exposed workers by geographic location and to produce quantitative exposure data as a basis for hazard identification, exposure-response estimation and risk assessment.”

• Dana Loomis, Neela Guha, Amy L Hall and Kurt Straif. Review: Identifying occupational carcinogens: an update from the IARC Monographs, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Online First, 16 May 2018.

There has been a dramatic drop in asbestos production worldwide, with just three countries continuing to mine the deadly fibre. Brazil’s 2017 ban on asbestos production and use means only Russia, China and Kazakhstan are now mining asbestos.

The new figures from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) revealed the sharp drop in asbestos production – from around 2.1 million tonnes in 2012 to approximately 1.4 million tonnes in 2015.

While Russia has been accused of promoting asbestos sales, particularly in Asia, its home consumption has been falling. The same trend has been seen in China.

Figures for both countries for 2016 and provisional figures for 2017 suggest production has ‘flatlined’, according to a detailed analysis of the USGS figures by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.

The Canadian province of Ontario is extending a system that presumes certain cancers in firefighters qualify for compensation payouts. The new system adds cervical, ovarian and penile cancers to those covered by the scheme.

With the expanded ‘presumption’ that these cancers are caused by the job, firefighters diagnosed with these three types of cancer will encounter an expedited process for benefits and will not be required to prove a causal link between these cancers and a workplace exposure, according to an Ontario Ministry of Labour statement. Claims related to these three cancers “will be retroactive” to 1 January 1960, the statement said.

In 2007, the province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act was amended to create a statutory presumption for firefighters and fire investigators to get compensation for heart injuries and certain cancers without having to prove they are work-related. The list was expanded in 2014 to cover the following cancers; brain, bladder, ureter, kidney, colorectal, oesophageal, breast, testicular, prostate, lung, skin, leukaemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

A 2017 study, Burden of Occupational Cancer in Ontario, concluded there are ‘many opportunities’ to reduce the number of occupational cancers and found solar radiation, asbestos, diesel engine exhaust and crystalline silica had the largest estimated impact on cancer burden and also the highest number of exposed workers in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.

• IAFF list of presumptive legislation on cancer in firefighters across North American jurisdictions.
• Burden of occupational cancer in Ontario: Major workplace carcinogens and prevention of exposure, Occupational Cancer Research Centre and Cancer Care Ontario, October 2017.

Claims that asbestos bans will be damaging to the economies of countries making the move are not true, a study has found.

Scientists from the World Health Organisation’s Europe office, the University of Sydney and a US economic consulting group found economies quickly recovered from any downturn and that countries persisting with asbestos use could expect ‘substantial costs’ as a result.

Findings published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health note: “As countries have shifted away from asbestos, we did not find an observable negative economic impact following the institution of bans using country-level data. To the extent that asbestos represents a similarly small share in the economies of the current consumers, a similar ban would not be expected to have a large economic impact at the national level.”

The paper adds: “Where relevant regional-level data were available, we did not observe a persistent effect at a local level following declines in asbestos consumption or production.”

Warning about the consequences of continued asbestos use, they conclude: “Whereas the shift away from asbestos has not had an observable persistent negative economic impact, continued use of asbestos is expected to result in substantial costs, including health costs as well as remediation/removal costs and potential litigation costs.”

• Lucy P Allen, Jorge Baez, Mary Elizabeth C Stern, Ken Takahashi and Frank George. Trends and the Economic Effect of Asbestos Bans and Decline in Asbestos Consumption and Production Worldwide, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, volume 15, number 3, page 531, 2018.

Workplace disability discrimination protection for cancer victims in the UK has been widened as a result of a landmark legal case taken by the union Unite.  Many places have even included multi-functional slings for easily transferring patients. The legal victory will ensure that people suffering with ‘pre-cancer’ will be protected under the Equality Act 2010.

The case involved Unite member Christine Lofty, who worked at First Café in Norwich for 14 years. In March 2015 a lesion on her face was diagnosed as pre-cancerous ‘lentigo malignia’, a form of melanoma. She required biopsies, surgery and skin grafts and took sick leave from her work to undergo this potentially lifesaving treatment.

However, while Mrs Lofty was on sick leave her employer Sadek Hamis saw her in the street and decided that she had taken too much sick leave and dismissed her in December 2015. Unite took a legal case on behalf of Mrs Lofty for unfair dismissal and discrimination, arguing the pre-cancer cells amounted to having cancer, which is considered a disability.

The employment tribunal dismissed the claim, accepting an argument that she had never had cancer. But it had failed to take into account a letter from Mrs Lofty’s GP that “Mrs Lofty had cancer” and that “pre-cancer” was a medical term for cancer that is for the moment contained, often described as “cancer in situ”.

Unite appealed the case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), which found in favour of Mrs Lofty. The EAT agreed with Unite’s argument that pre-cancer is a form of cancer and therefore Mrs Lofty was deemed to be disabled at the point of diagnosis, which is when the Equality Act becomes relevant, rather than at the point of dismissal. All forms of cancer are given legal protection from discrimination under the Equality Act.

Unite assistant general secretary for legal services Howard Beckett said: “This is a landmark case which will help ensure that employers cannot dismiss and discriminate against their workers who are suffering from any form of cancer.”

He added: “The fact that this case went to an Employment Appeal Tribunal means it is legally binding and can now be used in similar cases. Unite could not let this case drop as we had to ensure we won justice for victims of cancer.”

Unite news release.

Unions, government officials, health agencies and campaigners have met in Laos to coordinate a plan to ban asbestos.

The workshop, organised by the country’s Ministry of Health and supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA, discussed the development of a National Action Plan to ban the use of chrysotile asbestos – the only remaining form of asbestos in commercial use – and to eliminate asbestos-related diseases in the country.  Participants included representatives from nine Ministries, the Lao Federation of Trade Unions, the Cancer Centre of Mittaphap and Mahasot Hospitals and Health Science University.

Dr Juliet Fleischl, the WHO representative to Lao PDR, told the meeting: “About 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. According to global estimates, at least 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, asbestosis and pleural plaques, resulting from occupational, take-home and neighbourhood exposures.”

The meeting heard the amount of asbestos imported by Laos has been increasing year-on-year, reaching over 8,000 tons in 2013.  This is the highest per capital consumption among Asia-Pacific countries.

A National Asbestos Profile recently developed by the Lao government with support from APHEDA, showed that there were 16 factories producing asbestos-containing roof tiles. The national consumption of asbestos fibre increased almost 240 per cent in just three years between 2010 and 2013.

WHO recommended that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of chrysotile asbestos. The meeting heard there are safer substitutes for asbestos, and there was a need to adopt the safer alternatives while creating new job opportunities.

The UK Court of Appeal has reset the threshold for asbestos-related cases, which could pave the way for thousands of potential claims.

Lord Justice Jackson said the High Court judge in Bussey v Anglia Heating Ltd had felt ‘constrained’ by relying on data that was never intended to be used as a yardstick for making claims.

Veronica Bussey, whose husband David died in 2016 of an asbestos cancer, appealed the decision. The Court of Appeal has now found in her favour, allowing her to seek damages from her husband’s former employer – even though the asbestos exposure he endured was below the legal limits for a claim.

Guidelines produced 40 years ago about acceptable levels of asbestos fibres in the air have been used as the test for assessing the claims of victims since the ruling in a 2011 legal case, Williams v the University of Birmingham.

This latest ruling is being hailed by claimant lawyers as an acknowledgment the application of historic data is wrong, and that the courts have wrongly applied the measurements as a guide to employers of a so-called ‘safe’ level of asbestos in which people could work.

Caroline Pinfold, an industrial disease solicitor at London firm Fieldfisher, who represented Veronica Bussey, said: “These data that measured levels of asbestos fibres in the air have been wrongly applied by employers and their lawyers to deny or delay claimants the compensation they deserved. I know the ruling will come as a huge relief for mesothelioma sufferers and their families who have had their cases put on hold waiting for this decision.”

Adrian Budgen, head of the asbestos-related disease team at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “We very much welcome the findings of the Court of Appeal, that once a risk of injury was identified, employers ought to have taken steps to minimise risks of injury to employees. The judgment now means that many other victims of asbestos disease who find themselves in a similar position to David Bussey may now be able to access the justice they deserve.”

Hundreds of former steelworkers are believed to have joined a legal case seeking compensation for cancers and lung diseases caused by their jobs. The window to join the multi-million pound legal battle against Tata Steel UK for compensation for respiratory diseases and lung cancers has now closed, after the High Court set a deadline of 23 February 2018 to join an group action.

Lawyers say over 50 workers from the Scunthorpe steelworkers alone have submitted claims. Claimants affected by fumes from the coke ovens in steelworks are being advised by legal experts from the law firms Hugh James, based in Cardiff, and Irwin Mitchell in London. The case is expected to take years to resolve, given the scale of the litigation and amount of evidence to be considered.

At the defendants’ request, and with court approval, claimants with bladder cancer they believe to be caused by coke oven work can also join the group. The separate deadline for those cases is 23 April.

Roger Maddocks, an expert industrial disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The approval of the group litigation order and the admission by the defendants that until an individual was provided with an appropriate respirator they were in breach of duty, were extremely important milestones and moved the victims and their families a further step closer to securing the justice they deserve concerning the exposure to harmful fumes decades ago at a number of coking plants around the UK.”

He added: “The workers we represent, through no fault of their own, developed serious, and in some cases fatal, respiratory illnesses and lung cancers causing them unnecessary pain and suffering when they should be enjoying their later life with their families. Nothing can turn back the clock but this legal action will hopefully provide them with the help, support and treatments needed to make dealing with their illness more comfortable.”

Insurers for Tata Steel have already admitted it was in breach of its duty owed to its employees from 1947 until appropriate respiratory protection was provided to the workforce. The application for a group litigation order alleging employers failed to protect employees from occupational exposure to dust and fumes was approved by the president of the High Court in January 2017.

All potential claims will be assessed and those whose claims are considered to have merit would then join the group register of claimants to form a single, collective court case.

Unions and campaigners have welcomed progress on Canada’s promised asbestos ban. The Canadian federal government had now published a draft law prohibiting the use, sale, import and export of asbestos and products containing the hazardous material.

The federal health and environment departments are both sponsoring the proposed changes aimed at eliminating the market for asbestos products in the country. After decades supporting resistance to asbestos bans, the Canadian government now acknowledges that all forms of asbestos fibres, if inhaled, can cause cancer and other diseases.

According to the proposed regulations, the government estimates asbestos was responsible for approximately 1,900 lung cancer cases and 430 mesothelioma cases in Canada in 2011. A single case of lung cancer or mesothelioma costs Canada’s health system more than $1 million, the government says.

“By launching these new, tougher rules to stop the manufacture, import, use and sale of asbestos, we are following through on our promises to protect all Canadians from exposure to this toxic substance,” said environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna.

The newly proposed regulations include some exemptions, including an allowance for the cleanup of millions of tonnes of asbestos residue around former mines to make way for redevelopment of the sites.

“What we’ve seen so far, we’re quite pleased,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Fe de Leon, a researcher at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), said: “This regulation provides some certainty that asbestos exposure to Canadians and workers will reduce over time starting in 2019. However, the government should take this opportunity to build on its strategy to address potential exposure from legacy asbestos.”

Laura Lozanski, occupational health and safety officer with the university union CAUT, noted: “Canada has the momentum to be amongst the global leaders to address exposure from legacy asbestos.”

She added: “It would require the collective efforts by key government departments to address very difficult issues including tracking and recording non-federal buildings containing asbestos and those people who have been exposed to asbestos.”