COMMENTARY
This AlJazeera story is a perfect example of the double standard that exists in the modern world.
Peter Burgess

101 East ... India: Toxic Trade ... Is India investing in a future health crisis by importing asbestos from Canada?

Canada will not use asbestos itself but it has been selling it by the shipload to India More than 50 countries have banned asbestos products but India cannot get enough. It imports the mineral from Canada, risking a future health crisis.

Asbestos products have a deadly reputation.

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Inhaling asbestos fibres can lead to a slow and painful death.

But in India, asbestos illness is under-diagnosed and mostly unrecognised.

And with the proliferation of factories making asbestos products, India is on the cusp of a devastating health crisis.

Workers have little safety equipment and if they contract a respiratory disease or cancer, few are paid compensation.

However, India cannot get enough of the product and it is a first-world nation that is supplying it.

Canada will not use asbestos itself but it is selling it by the shipload to India.