Magic Mineral to Killer Dust: Turner & Newall and the Asbestos Hazard by
Geoffrey Tweedale, Oxford University Press, 拢40, ISBN 0198296908
WHEN Steve McQueen died in 1980, it wasn鈥檛 just another story of a rock star
or film star paying the ultimate price for their excesses. McQueen was killed by
mesothelioma, a vicious form of cancer that attacks the lining of the chest or
abdomen. And why did he succumb to what was once an extremely rare form of the
disease? Asbestos exposure, from his time as a marine in the US Navy.
McQueen鈥檚 name is just one of many listed in the index of Geoffrey Tweedale鈥檚
Magic Mineral to Killer Dust, a fascinating and moving account of the
asbestos industry in Britain. Tweedale, a principal lecturer at the Centre for
Business History at Manchester Metropolitan University, has made an exhaustive
study of the company records of Turner & Newall, one of the asbestos
industry鈥檚 biggest players during the past century. Drawing on million of pages
of information, made public only when Chase Manhattan Bank sued the company in
1995, he tells the shocking story of the past hundred years from the viewpoint
of a company and its employees.
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The personal tragedies of these workers鈥攁nd the response of the
asbestos companies to the gathering health storm鈥攕et this book apart.
Tweedale鈥檚 engrossing story is one of appalling suffering and corporate
cover-up, of the tortuous business of extracting the truth about the health
risks posed by handling or using asbestos, and the sheer difficulty of doing
anything about it. As the author says, the book can be read simply as a
鈥渕uckraking tale of corporate misconduct鈥�, but it is much more than that. It is
an engaging history of the social, scientific, medical and business aspects of
asbestos that combined to create a tragedy.
The key point to emerge from Tweedale鈥檚 book is Britain鈥檚 terrible record in
occupational health and safety, and the woefully inadequate response of the
industry, the government and even the trades unions to the asbestos problem. We
now know that exposure to asbestos dust causes asbestosis, lung cancer and, of
course, mesothelioma. But it took far too long for this information to come out,
and for the risks to be officially recognised. And when legislation eventually
did come into force鈥攊n 1931 and then not again until 1969鈥攊t did not
offer workers enough protection. The companies often broke the law with few
consequences.
Asbestos workers were understandably bitter when they finally found out its
true hazards. 鈥淲e were never told about it, there were never any warnings about
it, and when I think of the number of doctors who have told us to stop drinking
and stop smoking, no one has ever told us to stop working with asbestos,鈥� said
one Scottish shipyard worker.
Asbestos is no longer used in Britain, although products containing asbestos
are still imported from the US. About 2 million tonnes are mined annually in
Canada and Russia for markets in India, South America and the Far East. Yet
Tweedale鈥檚 main concern is our response to similar threats. 鈥淐an such a
situation be avoided in the future?鈥� he asks. 鈥淚n theory, the answer must be yes
. . . the asbestos disease epidemic鈥攍ike all occupational health
problems鈥攊s entirely man-made.鈥�
Occupational health and safety provision have to be improved or we risk
another slow-burning disaster. Between 5000 and 10 000 people a year may die in
Britain from asbestos-related diseases, and the total from mesothelioma in
Western Europe alone could reach more than a quarter of a million by 2029. Where
will the next tragedy come from? Could it even be caused by asbestos? In the US,
the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989 banned the use and import of
asbestos. Within a couple of years, this had been overturned on appeal from
industry. Stripping buildings of old asbestos is also a huge problem鈥攖he
US sees it as the country鈥檚 biggest asbestos problem. Tweedale鈥檚 book points out
that industry still has much to learn from its mistakes鈥攊t鈥檚 essential
reading if we are ever to do so.