Long-time critics of McGill University’s asbestos research spoke at the university Oct. 1 as part of a conference on asbestos and issues surrounding research ethics.
Kathleen Ruff, a human rights activist with the Rideau Institute, and David Egilman, a Brown University professor, spoke at the conference, criticizing the ethics investigation into John Corbett McDonald, a professor whose research found chrysotile (white) asbestos was largely safe at certain exposure levels.
McDonald received nearly $1 million from the asbestos industry while he was doing his research, and Ruff said his findings continue to be used by the industry to promote asbestos abroad.
McGill announced a review of McDonald’s research after a CBC documentary found that he had not properly disclosed his funding sources. The university eventually absolved McDonald of wrongdoing.
“If McGill has put forward inaccurate, false information in its ethics report on McDonald, that means they can do the same on any ethics report,” Ruff said. “And I would conclude it’s not worth anyone making a complaint to McGill, because it will be a whitewash.”
Asbestos is believed to cause lung cancer when the fibres get lodged in the lungs of people who come into contact with it.
The review into McDonald’s research was done by Abraham Fuks, McGill’s research integrity officer. The review found that McDonald had properly disclosed his sources of funding, according to a statement released by McGill, and “there is no evidence to suggest the sponsors influenced the data analyses or the conclusions.”
Fuks recommended that the university hold a conference on asbestos, which is how Ruff and Egilman came to speak at McGill.
“The McGill research is still the main weapon used by the asbestos industry to promote asbestos abroad,” Egilman said.
Egilman has been a long-time critic of McDonald’s research, and has been calling for an investigation for years.
“It’s completely up to the faculty,” he said, when asked if he thought McGill would agree to open a larger investigation into McDonald’s research.
Ruff said the university has not addressed an incident in 1972 when McDonald argued for looser asbestos regulations at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. McDonald said he was an independent researcher with no ties to the asbestos industry.
“By its silence, McGill is sending a screaming message to the world that it condones it,” Ruff said. “What’s the point of having ethical standards if then you say, ‘Well, it’s fine for professors to act this way, we have no problem with that?’”
Chrysotile accounts for 95 per cent of global asbestos production. Canada, once one of the world’s largest exporters of asbestos, saw its last mines in Quebec shut down last year.
Russia, China, and Kazakhstan are some of the largest producers of asbestos today, and the resource is popular in developing countries, especially in India where it is used as a cheap building material.
