13:30 - 15:30, No.2 Conference Room
Workshop E
Epidemiology and Public Health
Chairs: Gunnar Hillerdal and Kohki Inai
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Noor Jehan1, Fazia Raza2 and Mohammed Nasir Khan3
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar
2 Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan
3 Integrated research and development Organization
ABSTRACT
Survival of women is closely linked to the sustainable planning and management. They are the first line of defense. Women's are often most vulnerable to the environmental risks caused by the Para occupational exposure. There is a strong evidence of the irrevocable damage caused by environmental assaults to women. The intensity of Para occupational exposure of women is still unrecognized and uncharacterized up to a large extent. Official action and Public awareness remains inadequate regarding this issue in Pakistan in general and particularly in NWFP.
During this study the asbestos sheets cutting unit situated in Dagi Kili, District Mardan was taken as a case study. Two sets of air samples one from the said unit, and the other from the neighborhood village called Sari Kili were collected to measure the airborne asbestos fiber level with in the unit and in the neighborhood. XRD, Polarized Light Microscopic and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were conducted for Qualitative and Quantitative analysis. The results indicated that the air born asbestos fibers concentration was higher in Sari Kili as compared to the cutting unit. The exposure limit was 1000times more than the international permissible exposure limit of air born asbestos fiber, which proved that these fibres originated from the same unit and migrated in the neighborhood.
After the confirmation of the samples results a detail survey was conducted to find out the relationship of the exposure of women and children staying in the vicinity of asbestos particularly the women and the potential risks posed by the asbestos fiber concentration in the target area. It was found that almost one woman in each tow houses were suffering from various lung diseases including lungs cancer.
Key Words: Women, Health Risks and Asbestos