Canada is moving to ban all products containing asbestos by 2018.
The comprehensive ban will include construction materials and brake pads that currently use the cancer-causing agent.
Canada closed its last asbestos mines a decade ago, but had obstructed international efforts to list it as a hazardous substance.
Science Minister Kirsty Duncan said Thursday that stance will change in the next Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty involving more than 150 countries that support listing asbestos as a hazard.
Asbestos was declared a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1987.
Health Minister Jane Philpott says asbestos-related cancers continue to hurt Canadian families.
The government says there are no significant health risks if materials containing asbestos in homes are tightly bound and left undisturbed.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
March Sadness: 20,000 New Englanders Lose Out on $50 Million in Refunds 
Public Adjuster Accused of Swiping $600,000 in Hurricane Ian Insurance Payments 
Toilet Paper Warehouse in California Destroyed by Fire; Employee Arrested 
Hands-Free Driving Systems Do Not Improve Safety, NTSB Says 
