09:50 - 12:30, International Conference Hall
Plenary Session 1
Global Health Impact of Asbestos: Urgent Action is needed
Chairs: Kogi Kazutaka and Laurie Kazan-Allen
 |
Joshi TK1, Ansari MA2, Bhuva Uttpal3
1Project Director and head; 2Research Assistant; 3Industrial Hygienist Centre for Occupational & Environmental Health, Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi, India
ABSTRACT:
Introduction
Asbestos use in advanced economies declined around 1980 but the use has been aggressively promoted in South Asian region. India is world's ninth largest producer and the sixth largest user with 14 large, and more than 600 small-scale asbestos product manufacturers. Nearly 89% of asbestos mined in India comes from the state of Rajasthan, close to New Delhi. The Indian asbestos comprises of chrysotile mined in southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Tremolite in Rajasthan, and anthophyllite in the state of Karnataka.
Recent Developments
The Central Pollution Control Board of India (CPCB) has placed asbestos based units in 'Red Category' based on their polluting potential. A recent study commissioned by the Board found levels of asbestos in Indian unorganized sector as high as 18.2 f/cc. The lowest mean fibre count was 2 f/cc, far above the strictest limit of 0.1 f/cc that would still cause 5/1000 cases of lung cancer, and 2/1000 cases of asbestosis. Appalling lack of health and safety measures further compounded this grim situation. India gets 70% of the its chrysotile share from Canada which has been assisting the Asbestos Information Centre in New Delhi in promoting chrysotile asbestos use. The asbestos cement product manufacturers launched an advertisement blitz in the year 2002 claiming that chrysotile is safe to use and asserted that WHO and ILO, both advocate its controlled use. The centre denies any cases of mesothelioma occurring in India as a result of chrysotile use. According to ILO 20,000 asbestos-related lung cancers and 10,000 mesothelioma occur annually across the population of Western Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Japan and Australia alone, but developing countries have much higher risks of exposure. In such countries, asbestos is thus a time bomb, which looks set to lead to an explosive increase in asbestos-related diseases and deaths in the next 20-30 years.
Conclusion and Recommendation
With no central mesothelioma registry, shortage of trained pathologists to correctly identify the disorder, lack of occupational safety and health arrangements specially for industrial hygiene assessment of exposure, India has a long way to go. Application of precautionary principle, and placing a ban on all forms of asbestos use as practiced in Australia and Europe, may offer protection to millions at work and in community. It could be decades before comparable standards of health and safety could be attained in India despite much stricter norms being proposed by Bureau of Indian Standards.