Ban-Asbestos-India: Environmentalist writes to CM, wants to make city asbestos-free

Monday, September 17, 2012

Environmentalist writes to CM, wants to make city asbestos-free

A Delhi-based environmentalist has written to chief minister Sheila Dikshit highlighting the harmful effects of asbestos.

Though the city government has banned abestos roofs in new schools, the ban has
not been extended to other buildings or products, the letter said.

“Nearly all vehicles in Delhi are laden with asbestos-based components. There is no building in Delhi which is asbestos free. I submit that given the fact that health is a state subject, you can immediately initiate steps to stop procurement of all asbestos-based products to safeguard public health of residents,” said the letter written last week by Gopal Krishna, convenor of ToxicsWatchAlliance.

Krishna said the government can set an example in preventing harm to environment and health due to asbestos use.

“Delhi has the potential to become the first asbestos free state in South Asia. More than 50 countries have banned production, use, manufacture and trade of the asbestos because of threats to life and public health,” said Krishna.

He said India should stop getting raw asbestos fibres from Russia’s Ural Asbestos Mining and Ore Dressing Company, considered the world’s largest manufacturer, and cancel its asbestos trade agreements with Canada, Kazakhstan and Brazil.
According to health experts, asbestos-related diseases include lung cancer, mesothelioma and cancers of the ovary and larynx.

Krishna asked the government to start prevention efforts with the help of a country-specific “national programmes for elimination of asbestos-related diseases” in line with International Labour Organisation and World Health Organisation guidelines.

The National Human Rights Commission had issued notices to the state government on July 6, 2011 and a statement on June 5, 2012 alleging that the city government has not filed its status report on victims of diseases caused by asbestos
in the Capital, despite reminders.

While protests in Muzaffarpur and Vaishali in Bihar have led to closure of asbestos factories there, plants in Madhubani, West Champaran and production of the material in Bhojpur districts are facing resistance.

Villagers are protesting against proposed asbestos cement roofing factories in Sambalpur and Bargarh district of Odisha, due to which the Sambalpur plant has been halted. Protests against asbestos factories in Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are also on.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/277890/environmentalist-writes-cm-wants-make.html

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Ban on Asbestos is a Must

A study in a peer-reviewed journal had earlier estimated that there could be more than 6,000 workers affected by asbestosis (an untreatable lung ailment) and another 600 suffering at the minimum from asbestosis-related lung cancer in India at present. Occupational cancer from asbestos, the disease caused by emissions at the work place, poses an increasingly serious health problem. But the subject has attracted relatively little attention from industry, labour, public health bodies or the medical profession. Asbestos is one of the single largest sources of occupational cancer. Indian polticians are acting as if they are bonded workers of asbestos industry.

World Trade Center, New York collapsed Thousands of tons of asbestos became airborne.

Back in 1981, there was research coming out that Asbestos was cancer causing and this ad was in rebuttal to that research touting the benefits of using Asbestos. The text over the Twin Towers states, "When the Fire Alarm Went Off, It Took Two Hours to Evacuate New York's World Trade Center." I do not need to remind anyone of the images of September 11th and this ad. The copy below the ad goes on to mention all of the places that Asbestos was used in the World Trade Center. I can not not think of all of the innocent victims in the area that were exposed to all of the dust, smoke and inherent asbestos that was in the air after the buildings collapsed. The cloud of smoke went across the entire city and potentially exposed hundreds of thousands of individuals to asbestos. Hopefully there can be a cure or treatment for Mesothelioma before all of these potential victims are diagnosed.

Apex Court allocates meagre compensation for asbetsos victims

In 1995, the Supreme Court of India fixed Rs 1 lakh compensation amount and identified National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) as the final authority to certify asbestosis cases. Compensations are given through the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). Two workers in Ahmedabad Electricity Company diagnosed as having asbestosis by NIOH have been compensated by Gujarat High Court. Twenty-five workers in asbestos jointing and packing industry at Mumbai were compensated by the Special medical board of ESIC. The court ruled that the industrial units must maintain a health record of every worker up to a minimum period of 40 years; insure workers under the Employees State Insurance Act or Workmen’s Compensation Act and give health coverage to every worker.

Asbestos Victims

Every day estimated 30 deaths in India is under way due to the ongoing trade and use of white asbestos. 'Asbestos' in Greek means 'indestructible'. Greeks called asbestos the 'magic mineral'. Asbestos is a generic term, referring usually to six kinds of naturally occuring mineral fibres. Of these six, three are used more commonly. Chrysotile is the most common, accounts for almost 90 per cent of the asbestos used in the industry, but it is not unusual to encounter Amosite or Crocidolite as well. Though Crocidolite asbestos is banned in India, it can still be found in old insulation material, old ships that come from other countries for wrecking in India. All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibre, almost microscopic. In fact, some of them may be up to 700 times smaller than human hair. Because of their small size, once released into the air, they may stay suspended in the air for hours or even days. Asbestos fibres are virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they do not break down over time. Because of its high durability and with tensile strength asbestos has been widely used inconstruction and insulation materials - it has been used in over 3,000 different products. Where do we use it? In India, asbestos is used in manufacture of pressure and non pressure pipes used for water supply, sewage, irrigation and drainage system in urban and rural areas, asbestos textiles, laminated products, tape, gland packing, packing ropes, brake lining and jointing used in core sector industries such as automobile, heavy equipment, petro-chemicals, nuclear power plants, fertilizers, thermal power plants, transportation, defence.

Make India Asbestos Free

Ban-Asbestos-India

Monday, September 17, 2012

Environmentalist writes to CM, wants to make city asbestos-free

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