The federal government's on-going refusal to allow asbestos to be added to a United Nations treaty which lists hazardous materials has sparked criticism abroad and at home. We have a documentary about a family which has been devastated by the effects of asbestos. And we talk to a doctor who treats people with a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. 

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Today's guest host was Mike Finnerty.

Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Monday, June 27th.

A new report finds that Canada's highest rates of obesity occur in communities along a stretch of Saskatchewan.

Currently, the area is known as the Broken-Belt belt.

This is The Current.

Asbestos in the Family - Von Palleske Family

Every day, for 25 years Wolfgang Von Palleske would come home from work, throw open his arms and greet his wife and children with a big hug. He worked at an asbestos manufacturing plant near Toronto.

But what he didn't know was that every day, he came home with little bits of asbestos clinging to his clothes. They sparkled in the air when they floated and they called it "fairy dust". And every time he hugged his family, he was exposing them to the same substance that ultimately led to his premature death.

Last week, as Canada blocked an effort at the UN to add chrysotile asbestos - a known carcinogen - to an international list of hazardous chemicals and as Stephen Harper celebrated St-Jean-Baptiste Day in the heartland of Canada's asbestos industry, the CBC's Carol McDowell spent some time with Wolfgang Von Palleske's daughter. We heard from Heidi Von Palleske and members of the Von Palleske family in Carol McDowell's documentary.

Wolfgang Von Palleske spent 25 years working with chrysotile asbestos at a plant near Toronto. He died four years ago of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos. And as you heard, Heidi's mother now has mesothelioma and has been given six months to live.

And Heidi's sister, Aurora McCathey, is scheduled to get the results of her scan for the cancer later today. As for Heidi... she expects to know the condition of her lungs by the end of this week. Both sisters will have to be tested every year.

Asbestos in the Family - Doctor

Unfortunately, it's not unusual for asbestos to affect an entire family, not just the person who was initially, directly exposed to it. That's something Hedy Lee Kindler knows well. She's a doctor who runs the Mesothelioma Program, a clinic at the University of Chicago. She's also the Past-President of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, the leading scientific organization dedicated to researching the disease. And a leading authority on mesothelioma. She was in Chicago this morning where she treats patients diagnosed with mesothelioma from around the world.

Related Links:

• Harper parties in mining town as Canada keeps asbestos off hazardous list By Steve Rennie - The Canadian Press
• Turkish villages provide genetic connection to malignant mesothelioma - Oncology News International
  

Other segment from today's show:

• Lost Boy: Mijok Lang