Canadian town called Asbestos to finally change its name

Town was built after the mineral was discovered there in the 1870s

The former asbestos mine in the Canadian town of Asbestos (AFP via Getty Images)

Residents of a small Canadian town called Asbestos have voted to give their community a new name to disassociate it from the poisonous material that used to be mined there.

The town, situated 93 miles east of Montreal in the province of Quebec, had one of the world’s biggest asbestos mines until it closed in 2011.

The community of 7,000 people will be renamed Val-des-Sources - which means Valley of the Sources - after 51.5 per cent of voters chose it ahead of five other options.

Although the town council approved the decision on Monday night, a few more bureautic steps need to be taken to make the change official.

Hugues Grimard, Asbestos’ mayor, said he hopes the new name, which refers to the town’s position at the convergence of three lakes, will come into effect before December.

Speaking about the new name after the conclusion of a four-day referendum in which anyone over the age of 14 could vote, Hugues Grimard, Asbestos’ mayor, said: "It's a name that represents our area, and especially, it's inspiring for the future.”

Asbestos, which was built after the discovery of asbestos deposits nearby in the 1870s, was once “very proud” of its name before the more recent negative connotations, former mayor Louise Moisan-Coulombe told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp on Sunday.

"Every time you say, especially in the United States, that you are coming from Asbestos, or they read Asbestos on a package, they are always afraid that it will be poison,” she added.

The mineral was commonly used to insulate buildings before it was widely understood - in the 1970s - to cause types of cancer including mesothelioma.

Roughly 125 million people are still exposed to asbestos at work and 107,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases each year, according to the World Health Organization.

In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive estimates that 5,000 people die annually as a result of being exposed to the mineral. 

Additional reporting from Reuters