The country s last asbestos mining town needs to move its economy to a stronger footing, as the carcinogen is banned in a growing number of places - can the rare .
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The asbestos extraction firm Sama S.A., operating in the city of Minacu, is the world's third-largest chrysotile asbestos producer, shipping it to more than 150 countries.
In the Brazilian town of Minaçu, it used to snow, locals like to tell visitors. But the white powder that covered the streets and roofs from 1967 through the late 1980s was far from harmless snowflakes. It was a dangerous carcinogen: asbestos.
"We were able to prove it, but the lawsuit is ongoing." A Goiás labor court in November ordered Eternit to pay for regular medical exams for all former mine employees for the next 30 years and the medical fees of any worker who develops health issues "likely to be associated with exposure to asbestos". ABREA, a Brazilian association of people exposed to asbestos, is also suing Sama.