News Archive

Scientists are calling for an immediate ban on the use of asbestos-containing construction products in Sri Lanka; in 2013, national asbestos consumption was ~23,000t. In today’s issue of the Sunday Observer Dr. Waruna Gunathilake, head of the National Toxicology Information Unit, reported that: “It is now medically proven that long-term exposure to asbestos can cause respiratory problems and cancer. Research in recent years has proved this.” He called for consumers to use asbestos-free products in the run-up to national prohibitions and highlighted the lack of a “proper disposal system for asbestos waste in Sri Lanka.” See: Call to ban asbestos use and imports.

Global Asbestos Trade

Jan 31, 2015

Data on the global asbestos trade is very hard to come by. For this reason, statistics collected by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are generally accepted as definitive, within certain limits. The asbestos section (pages 22 and 23) in The Mineral Commodity Summaries 2015 which was published yesterday includes interesting facts: U.S. asbestos consumption in 2014 was 400t (tonnes), the lowest since the 1800s; in 2014, global asbestos production remained around 2 million tonnes with Brazil (291,000t), China (400,000t), Kazakhstan (240,000t) and Russia (1,050,000t), the biggest producers. See: The Mineral Commodity Summaries 2015.

Call for Action on Asbestos Hazard

Jan 30, 2015

An online editorial queried the continued failure by the Government of Vietnam to act on the human health hazard posed by the country’s continuing use of asbestos. In Vietnam, there are 70 factories in 23 areas which manufacture asbestos-cement products, mostly for domestic use. Over the last decade, Vietnam has been one of the world’s top ten consumers of asbestos, using 79,000 tonnes in 2012 to produce 80 million square meters of asbestos-cement sheeting. At a conference in Hanoi last week, delegates were told of the World Health Organization’s position supporting an end to asbestos use. See: Vietnam hesitates to ban white asbestos use.

Decades Until Italy is Asbestos-Free

Jan 29, 2015

Although Italy has pioneered efforts in Europe to identify asbestos-containing products, locate polluted sites and establish protocols for dealing with asbestos, Italian experts have predicted that it will take until the end of the century to free Italy of the asbestos hazard. Every year, around 3,000 Italians die from asbestos-related diseases; half of all these deaths is caused by the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. It has been estimated that there are 32 million tonnes of asbestos-containing materials in Italy and as only 380,000 tonnes are disposed of each year, it could take 85 years to eradicate the problem. See: Amianto, 85 anni per smaltire asbesto in Italia [Asbestos, 85 years to dispose of asbestos in Italy].

Children at Risk from Asbestos

Jan 29, 2015

The health of children in the Wellington metropolitan area of New Zealand was put at risk by demolition of an asbestos-containing property next door to the Marlborough Street Childcare Centre. On January 23, the Centre manager Natalie Comerford contacted the local council about demolition restrictions. Finally on January 28, Worksafe NZ sent an operative to conduct tests which proved positive for the presence of asbestos. The demolition site and the Centre were closed. Comerford reported that after Worksafe had stopped the work, workmen continued to load rubble onto trucks creating “clouds of dust.” See: Upper Hutt childcare centre closed by asbestos.

HSE Guidance to Asbestos on Farms

Jan 28, 2015

Guidance on how to handle asbestos found on farms was issued today by the Health and Safety Executive, the UK agency tasked with protecting occupational health. Topics covered included: how to recognize white asbestos, where it can be found on farms, work that could create exposure, the safe management of asbestos-containing products, removing and disposing of asbestos waste. Farmers are advised that “asbestos waste must be treated as hazardous waste [and that]… if you dump asbestos illegally, you can be taken to court, prosecuted, and fined or jailed.” See: White asbestos: how farmers should handle and dispose of it.

Buy-Back Proceeding in Canberra

Jan 28 2015

Owners of 230 properties contaminated by “Mr Fluffy” asbestos insulation have agreed for the Canberra government to buy their homes under the multimillion dollar Loose Fill Asbestos Eradication Scheme announced in 2014. This constitutes 25% of those eligible. As of today, 371 formal valuation offers have been made with replies awaited from a further 140 owners. According to Chris Reynolds of the Asbestos Response Taskforce “We are almost a quarter of the way there in terms of those that have had the valuations and have indicated to the taskforce, yes please proceed with a sale.” See: Mr Fluffy: Almost a quarter of asbestos affected households in Canberra agree to buyback figure.

No More Secrets!

Jan 28, 2015

An initiative by U.S. academic and media groups was launched last month with the upload of 20,000 pages of secret documents obtained during the course of benzene litigation. The aim of this project is to make public materials revealed during toxic tort litigation that have been “locked away” in filing cabinets and on hard drives. According to the organizers: “In coming months, we’ll be posting hundreds of thousands of pages of discovery material from lawsuits involving lead, asbestos, silica, hexavalent chromium and PCBs, among other dangerous substances.” See: Internal documents reveal industry 'pattern of behavior' on toxic chemicals.

Pupils Suffer after Asbestos Shut-down

Jan 27, 2015

The new school year started in South Africa on January 21, 2015, the date by which 5 mobile classrooms were due to be in place for 200 students from the Khiba Middle School in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District in Kuruman, Northern Cape Province. On October 8, 2014, the Department of Labour had closed the school due to asbestos contamination after the threat of a lawsuit. A temporary fix was to be sited in a less polluted nearby area pending decontamination and reconstruction of the school. The partial and broken-down units delivered to the site are unfit for purpose according to local people. See: Section 27: N Cape Department of Education fails to deliver on its plan for learners of asbestos-polluted school.

Thousands Die in Asbestos Epidemic

Jan 20, 2015

France’s Institute of Health Surveillance has today released details highlighting the national epidemic of asbestos cancer. With 1,700 asbestos fatalities and 2,200 cases of asbestos cancer diagnosed per annum, the banned substance remains a potent hazard to life. The Institute reported a significant rise in the incidence of mesothelioma in the late 1990s and the late 2000s among women, 28% of whom had no known exposure to asbestos. The figures suggest that the French asbestos epidemic has not peaked. See: Amiante: Plus de 2.200 nouveaux cancers et 1.700 décès chaque année [Asbestos: More than 2,200 new cancers and 1,700 deaths each year].

Toronto’s Asbestos Policy

Jan 20, 2104

Asbestos remediation has cost the City of Toronto more than $5 million since 2010, as it has removed or encased asbestos in 185 of its buildings, according to information released under a freedom-of-information request. In 2014, the city spent $1million on asbestos decontamination of 23 buildings. The proactive municipal asbestos policy includes regular asbestos inspections, management protocols and measures to minimize hazardous occupational exposures during renovation, construction, demolition or maintenance work. See: City has dealt with nearly 200 asbestos concerns in public buildings since 2010.

Union Asbestos Campaign

Jan 19 2015

The UK’s Unite union has uploaded a range of resources on the asbestos hazard to raise awareness and prevent dangerous exposures to materials within the UK’s built environment. Union members who have been exposed to asbestos are asked to register with the union to protect their rights should they at some point develop an asbestos-related disease. In a union press release, Unite said: “Raising awareness about how to safely handle this killer substance is equally important. That is why our campaign is also about prevention… to help ensure that employers protect their employees from exposure to asbestos at work.” See: Unite Campaign on Asbestos Awareness.

Asbestos Victims Demand Justice

Jan 19, 2015

Shortly after news was released of the first personal injury asbestos lawsuit, reports are circulating of multiple cases of asbestos-related diseases in people who worked in or lived near asbestos processing factories in Colombia. Asbestos waste was given away for free by the owners of asbestos factories to community members for use in domestic properties. Asbestos has been used in Colombia for over 70 years and is still being used to produce roofing material, brake pads and textiles by various companies including Eternit Colombiana. Asbestos stakeholders deny there is any human risk from exposure to their products. See: Me declaro víctima de Eternit [I declare I am an Eternit victim].

First Case of Mesothelioma in Mongolia

Jan. 19, 2015

A case report has just been published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health that documents the first case of malignant mesothelioma in Mongolia. The forty-seven-year old female patient had worked at a thermal power plant in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for twenty-eight years. Due to the industrial history of asbestos use in Mongolia, the authors “expect additional cases of mesothelioma, as well as other asbestos related diseases, will be identified in the future.” To identify affected patients, the authors are calling for the establishment of an asbestos-related disease registry. See: Mesothelioma in Mongolia: case report.

Malta’s Epidemic of Asbestos Cancer

Jan 19, 2015

The elevated incidence of asbestos cancer which has been documented in a recent publication by the Centre for the Study of Environmental Cancer - Italian League Against Cancer has made headline news in Malta. The media has reported that the age-specific incidence rate of malignant mesothelioma in Maltese men was amongst the highest in the world. According to interviews with asbestos specialists in Malta, a low rate of public awareness about the asbestos hazard continues, as a result of which hazardous exposures continue even though Malta has banned new use of asbestos. See: Malta with one of the world’s highest rates of asbestos-related cancer.

Remediation of Asbestos Town?

Jan 16, 2015

Geotechnical works undertaken by the Government of Western Australia (WA) will begin in a few months in Wittenoom, formerly the center of asbestos mining in WA, to provide vital information “for effective management and securing of the [asbestos] tailings.” The Pilbara ghost town has been designated as “not suitable for any form of human occupation” due to deadly levels of asbestos contamination generated by the operations of the blue asbestos mine from 1943 to 1966. Mine tailings were used in the construction of the town’s sports fields, playgrounds, roads and car parks. See: Wittenoom test pits bring town's fate closer.

Meeting the UK Asbestos Challenge

Jan 16, 2015

As a result of consultations with civil society stakeholders, Stephen Timms, the Shadow Minister of State for Employment, has announced a raft of proposals to address the UK asbestos legacy. In an interview published this week, Timms says a Labour Government will impose a standing levy on insurers to fund life-saving mesothelioma research and will devise a long-term strategy to remove asbestos from the national infrastructure. Highlighting the role played by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), he pledged that Labour would provide more funding to enable the HSE to effectively carry out its duties. See: Banging the health and safety drum.

Europe’s Asbestos Derogation

Jan 16, 2015

Responding to a Parliamentary Question by MEP Glenis Willmott, representing the East Midlands, European Commissioner of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elzbieta Bienkowska has confirmed that a report by the European Chemicals Agency regarding the asbestos derogation for the use of chrysotile in diaphragms is being considered by two committees which are expected to deliver their opinions in 2015. Their opinions will inform the Commission’s decision about the continuation of the exemption. Votes on future action will be taken by the REACH Committee, the European Parliament and the European Council. See: Answer by Commissioner Bienkowska.

Wishful Thinking by James Hardie?

Jan 15 2015

Eagle-eyed journalists have reported an “oversight” on the New Zealand website of James Hardie (JH), formerly Australia’s biggest producer of asbestos building materials. The website has been sanitized, with mention of JH’s asbestos history and liabilities prominent by their absence from the online company history. When questioned over this omission, a JH spokesperson said: “The updated version of the site is inadvertently missing a link to the above content on our Investor Relations websites, which will be shortly restored.” JM started importing asbestos-cement to New Zealand in 1906 and in 1936 set up a factory in Auckland. See: James Hardie asbestos omission ‘inadvertent.’

Colombian Victims Demand Justice!

Jan 15 2015

Next month, Flor Cecilia Riaño will file a civil lawsuit in Bogotá against the former employer of her husband Luis Alfonso Mayorga, alleging that Eternit Colombiana S.A. was responsible for his death and that of his father from asbestos cancer. Rafael Mayorga worked at the Eternit asbestos factory in Soacha, a city south-west of the capital, between 1971 and 1980. He received no protection from the asbestos hazard and took dust home on his work clothes; he died in 2000. His son Luis Alfonso died in 2013. This is the first such lawsuit against Eternit in Colombia; many more are expected. See: Víctimas de asbesto exigen reparación [Asbestos Victims Demand Compensation].

No Justice for Dying Asbestos Miner

Jan 14, 2015

A technical loophole has prevented a former asbestos miner who is dying of malignant mesothelioma from obtaining compensation of $425,000 from mining giant Rio Tinto, even though a judge was “satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the plaintiff’s mesothelioma was caused by the negligence of the defendant.” (see: Verdict of Justice Peter Barr in the Supreme Court of NT). Claimant Zorko Zabic removed asbestos pipes when he worked for Rio Tinto at the Nhulunbuy aluminia refinery from 1974 until 1977. Mr. Zabic’s life expectancy is six months. See: Miner dying from asbestos poisoning denied compo.

Asbestos Scare after Fire

Jan 14, 2015

After a fire which destroyed a warehouse in the Dutch town of Wateringen on January 12, local people were told to stay indoors. Civic authorities advised residents of the two hundred houses in the area near the affected site not to go to school or work on January 13 because of the threat posed by asbestos released during the fire. An asbestos removal company was tasked with remediating the area bordering the warehouse, including gardens and streets. The official advice was for people to only use the cleaned areas and to avoid playgrounds until further notice. See: Asbestos fears shut Dutch town after fire.

The Asbestos in Schools Scandal

Jan 12, 2015

Frustrations over a 7-month delay in the release of a government report on asbestos in schools are detailed in a new commentary. In 2013, the Government announced it would review the management of asbestos in schools. A public consultation was held from January to March 2014; a report scheduled to be released in June 2014 has still not seen the light of day. Unanswered calls by trade unions and civil society campaigners for the immediate publication of this report are fuelling speculation about the government’s lack of commitment to remedy the scandal of asbestos in UK schools. See: How the coalition is failing to act on ‘time-bomb’ of asbestos in schools.

Asbestos Removal Bill for Navy

Jan 12, 2015

It has been estimated that the cost for decontaminating submarines belonging to the Royal Dutch fleet will cost many millions of euros. Today, news has been released that the Defence Department has costed the clean-up of the Zeeleeuw submarine at a million euros. According to the media, crew members have been exposed to hazardous asbestos fibers as a result of poorly handled maintenance and removal work. A TV program reported an incident of “incompetent removal” of a heating element which spread asbestos fibers via an air ventilation system. Remediation of three other submarines will be required in the coming years according to the Defence Department. See: Submarine asbestos cleanup could get pricey.

The Ties that Kill

Jan 10 2015

The Bangkok Post today reported the support of Thailand's industry minister Chakramon Phasukavanich for increased financial links with Russia, the country which supplies 80% of all asbestos imports to Thailand. From January to November 2014, Thailand purchased 525 million baht (US$16m) of Russian asbestos. Commenting on this trade, the Minister said: “If the use of asbestos is banned… the burden to replace all products that contain asbestos would fall on the government. This would require a lot of money.” In none of the countries that banned asbestos has this happened. See: Russia keen on closer ties.