The European Asbestos Forum aims to improve international professional networks and the exchange of the best knowledge regarding all matters related to asbestos across sectors and borders. The conference will feature a multidisciplinary program with over twenty speakers and specialists of global repute from many different countries and several continents. The main theme of this conference will be 'Asbestos & Innovation' as seen from many different social and technical perspectives.

The format comprises of:

Day one (afternoon of 14 November 2019): round-table workshops where delegates can meet the speakers, exchange views, and really benefit face-to face with the speakers from a wealth of expertise

Day two (15 November 2019) is the full conference, followed by optional dinner
For those of us concerned in any way with asbestos and the threat it poses, this is an unmissable event: the conference features some of the world's most eminent experts on asbestos, its impacts on human health and the state of the art developments regarding e.g. remediation, denaturation, microscopy, etc.

Just to mention a few: in the morning session of the second day, standout speakers include Sean Fitzpatrick, who has been the leading voice in the research surrounding asbestos in talcum powder in the USA. Professor Arthur Frank, who has been researching and writing on occupational health, toxicology and asbestos for decades, will follow and explain when and why any chance asbestos exposure becomes dangerous. The Keynote Speaker who will bring a grand finale to the morning part is the eminent professor Jukka Takala, president of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), which is part of the ILO. His presentation will focus on the research paper he published last year, Global Asbestos Disaster, showing the (truly shocking) statistical and financial impact of asbestos on society: essentially five times more victims than supposed and a financial burden of a magnitude of an eye-watering $1.14 trillion (0.7% of GDP) for Western European countries and the European Union alone.

Exploring innovation
The conference will explore two critical areas of technology in depth - denaturation of asbestos waste, and forensic methods to prevent asbestos fly-tipping. The first area addresses how we make asbestos safe, rather than perpetuating the legacy problem of simply burying it. Graham Gould (Thermal Recycling) and Huig Bergsma (Asbetter) will discuss different viable methods of denaturation and how these will lead to a true eradication of asbestos, ending the need for asbestos land fill and all the dangers for future generations and the environment that come with land fill.

At the other end, Lloyd Ludlow (Soteria, CapSure) will present on a revolutionary asbestos remediation product, CapSure, which will combine the latest of state of the art high-tech remediation foam with an intriguing method of using the 'traceable liquid' SmartWater to mark asbestos at remediation sites. (Just as some property managers do with valuables or to authenticate the origin of valuable products or goods.) This will announce a new dawn for remediation technology and is not to be missed! Phil Cleary (SmartWater) will explain how tagging asbestos-containing materials with a unique chemical identifier might enable much more rigorous tracking of ACMs, and help establish exactly where dumped material came from, thereby preventing illegal asbestos dumping. The wide potential of combining this technology with asbestos is staggering.

Another example of why EAF is different is the exhibition - Tony Rich (or Asbostorama to give you his Flickr name), is an astonishing photography artist whose muse is asbestos. Tony is a friend of the show and you will be able to see and buy some of his wonderful work at the conference.

These are just some of the highlights from the programme, and with over twenty internationally highly regarded speakers, the biggest problem will be in deciding which of the fascinating talks to attend! EAF is always warmly welcoming and fascinating: the lessons we can learn from our international colleagues on how they tackle this global problem are invaluable.

All in all, this will be a conference with global standing, in a new and spacious setting, just a short hop from the UK. I hope to see you there.

The EAF conference takes place at the Van der Valk Oostzaan Hotel, 20 minutes from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, on 14-15 November. To see the exciting and full programme, go to www.europeanasbestosforum.org/program-2019. If you would like tickets, you may also contact us and we will take care of them for you.