1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Dangers in the Dust: Inside the Global Asbestos Trade http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/asbestos/ Project Director Jim Morris Reporting Team Steve Bradshaw Ana Avila Murali Krishnan Roman Shleynov Scilla Alecci Te-Ping Chen Dan Ettinger Carlos Eduardo Huertas Shantanu Guha Ray Marcelo Soares Abhishek Upadhyay Editors David E. Kaplan and Marina Walker Guevara (ICIJ) Partners BBC (with special thanks to Anne Koch, Jon Cronin, Steven Duke, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Stephen Mulvey) Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil) McClatchy Newspapers (United States) Novaya Gazeta (Russia) Proceso (Mexico) South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) Tehelka (India)
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
July 21, 2010; Dec. 20, 2010
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
This nine-month, cross-border investigation, conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in partnership with the BBC, revealed that a global network of industry groups has spent nearly $100 million in public and private money since the mid-1980s to keep asbestos — a known killer banned or restricted in 52 countries — on the market. Based in Montreal, Mexico City, New Delhi and other cities and backed by industry-funded scientists, these groups share information and coordinate public-relations initiatives touting "controlled use" of asbestos. Public health authorities say that controlled use of the toxic fiber is nearly impossible in developing nations, where workplace and environmental standards are weak. The industry campaign, they say, is helping create new epidemics of asbestos-related disease in countries such as China and India. Independent scientists believe that between five to ten million people will die from asbestos-related disease by 2030, a toll increasingly centered in the developing world. A follow-up story published Dec. 20 revealed that Japan is using a questionable scientific method to test buildings for asbestos.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Much of our research and reporting took place in developing countries, where paper trails were not plentiful. Nonetheless, the team relied on thousands of pages of documents, including court filings, scientific studies, and financial records, as well as on interviews with health officials, industry representatives, scientists, victims, lawyers, and activists. Among the documents: " Medical journal articles " World Health Organization, International Labor Organization and U.S. Geological Survey data " Lobbying documents filed in Brazil, Colombia, and other countries " U.S. litigation documents, Indian inspection reports, Russian incorporation records
5. Explain types of human sources used.
In the spring of 2009, project director Jim Morris heard from several public health sources that the asbestos trade was thriving in the developing world despite a mountain of scientific literature affirming the mineral's toxicity. In particular, Morris was alerted to the work of Fernanda Giannasi, a federal labor inspector in Brazil who has been fighting that country's powerful asbestos industry for decades. This prompted Morris to visit Brazil in November 2009, a trip that served as a launching pad for the entire project. The team relied on more than 200 interviews in eight countries. Among them: "On-the-ground interviews with asbestos victims, researchers, elected officials, regulators and advocates in Brazil, Mexico, India, Canada, United Kingdom and United States." Telephone and e-mail interviews with scientists, health officials, regulators and representatives of trade associations around the world, including China, Japan and Russia.
6. Results (if any).
Since its release in July, Dangers in the Dust has had a powerful impact around the world. Public health activists have used its key findings on the multinational asbestos lobby to argue for asbestos bans in countries such as Brazil, India, and Mexico. The project has had particular impact in top producer Canada, which exports the fiber to India, where worker and public protections are weak. In response to the series, Canada's opposition leader, Liberal Party MP Michael Ignatieff, has called for an end to his country's exports, and an Internet campaign resulted in more than 7,000 letters being sent to Canadian officials, calling for an export ban. Canadians have also used the series to pressure the government of Quebec not to provide a loan guarantee to the province's only remaining asbestos mine. (A decision on the guarantee is expected soon). The London-based International Ban Asbestos Secretariat has called the project "an astonishing series of newspaper and website articles, podcasts, documentaries, radio programs, commentaries and blogs." The Canadian Press wire service referred to the project as a "public-relations tsunami" for the asbestos industry. The project has also been attacked by asbestos lobby groups, which see it as a threat to a heretofore successful marketing campaign. Dangers in the Dust has had extraordinary reach. This multimedia series included a BBC World TV documentary, a dozen radio stories on BBC World Service, a seven-part online series, and excerpts in such leading outlets as Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Proceso (Mexico), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Tehelka (India), and the McClatchy-Tribune wire service. The project reached tens of millions of people in more than 150 countries, receiving coverage by some 250 news outlets, blogs and websites in at least 20 languages. The series has also been widely cited by health experts, NGO staff, labor advocates, and scientists worldwide. The BBC documentary has been expanded and is being released in multiple languages, including those spoken where asbestos dangers are most serious: Chinese, Russian, and, in India, Gujarati, Hindi, and Urdu. Given the lack of awareness of the environmental threat posed by asbestos in developing countries, health experts say our series is playing a critical role in educating and alerting policymakers and workers where populations are most vulnerable. Because of the strength of our findings, and their wide distribution in so many languages, we believe Dangers in the Dust is doing what few other stories can do — help save thousands of lives.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
Supporters of the asbestos industry in Britain and Brazil argued that the series painted an unfair picture of the mineral, which, they claim, can be used safely under controlled conditions. No factual errors were documented.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Be aware that old hazards such as asbestos can resurface in the developing world. The media tend to assume that once a hazard has been eliminated or significantly reduced in developed countries it's no longer worth investigating. Dangers in the Dust revealed the fallacy of this line of thought and the need for media vigilance. To produce a complex, multinational project like this, one needs an ample budget and reporters on the ground in a number of countries. Also critical is a commitment by one's news organization to navigate the various editorial, logistical, and legal challenges involved in taking on a multifaceted business like the asbestos industry, which ranged from big Canadian and Russian mining companies to mom-and-pop shops in India and Brazil.