Pressure Builds for Asbestos Ban in Mexico!
On October 18, 2024 Evangelina Moreno Guerra, a member of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies – the lower house of Congress – tabled a proposal to ban asbestos in order to “to guarantee the fundamental right to health and a healthy environment for all Mexicans.”1 Explaining that asbestos is an acknowledged carcinogen and that 71 other countries have outlawed its use, the Deputy presented the Asbestos Eradication Law to the chamber. Currently asbestos is still being used in Mexico to make building products, automotive parts, etc.; as a result of historic use, asbestos-containing material remains incorporated within the national infrastructure.
Commenting on the importance of the new law, which contained 42 articles, Guerra said:
“Our nation cannot be left behind in this fight. The proposed Asbestos Eradication Act drafted with the support of research and experts from various disciplines, who have warned about the devastating effects that this substance has on both health and the environment…
We cannot continue to allow our roofs, our homes, our lives to continue to coexist with a mineral that we know kills. It is unacceptable that in the 21st century we continue to be exposed to carcinogenic substances. Today it is our responsibility to legislate to protect the lives of our citizens and the environment. This is not an option, it is a moral and legal obligation to Mexico.”2
According to Deputy Guerra, the bill already had the support of 75 legislators. A few months ago, Deputy Omar Bazán expressed his view that Mexico’s asbestos ban could best be achieved by amending the State Health Law.3 The latest drive to enact asbestos prohibitions follows an attempt in January 2024, during which the Mexican Congress considered a proposal to amend the State Health Law to prohibit the extraction, production, import, export, sale, or distribution of asbestos and its products to protect public health and environmental safety.4 The use of asbestos is, say its critics, in contravention of Article 4 of the Mexican Constitution which stipulates that citizens have an irrefutable right to health. On October 24, 2024 an event is being held in the Legislative Palace to consider the new draft law.
For years medical experts and civil society groups in Mexico have been calling for action on the asbestos hazard with papers appearing in medical journals detailing the adverse impact of asbestos use on occupational and environmental health as well as articles in newspapers and on virtual news portals.5
The strategic value of the Mexican asbestos market is unrelated to the amount of asbestos imported and consumed; national usage plummeted from 36,945 tonnes (t) in 2000 to 40t in 2022. Of far greater import than the amount of asbestos Mexico buys every year is the much-valued long-term support Mexican asbestos stakeholders provided for the international asbestos lobby. Interventions by the Instituto Mexicano de Fibro Industrias [Mexican Institute of Fiber Industries (IMIF)] and others have bolstered pro-asbestos lobbying campaigns in multiple jurisdictions.6 In a 7-page presentation he made in July 1986 during the EPA Asbestos Ban and Phase-out Legislative Hearings in Washington, D.C., long-time head of the IMIF Luis Cejudo Alva7 underscored Mexico’s “alarm” over the EPA’s proposed ban:
“whatever course of action [is] taken by your great country, is of tremendous influence world-wide, and I would say, it affects even more its south of the border neighbour which is Mexico…. A ban on asbestos-cement pipes could cause panic among millions of citizens who use water from asbestos-cement pipes… In sum, our industry is seriously concerned about the consequences of the EPA’s proposal. We urge the agency to examine closely the bases upon which its proposed ban and phase out rule rest and to reassess the conclusions it has reached. We trust this will lead EPA to withdraw the current proposal.”8
Although the IMIF’s website is no longer operational, it is, nevertheless still listed as a “useful” link on the website of the International Chrysotile Association, the global trade association representing asbestos stakeholders in producing and consuming countries.9
Are the stars in alignment for Mexico’s ban to follow just six months after the US took similar action?10 After all, in 1986 Mexican asbestos lobbyist Luis Cejuda Alva had told the EPA asbestos hearings that the US asbestos policy was “of tremendous influence world-wide.” Four thousand two hundred and fifty miles from the Mexican capital, judges in Brazil’s Supreme Court are poised to issue a ruling this month which could finalize the outlawing of all asbestos mining and export in the world’s fourth biggest asbestos producer. In light of these developments, ban asbestos campaigners could be forgiven for being somewhat optimistic. Fingers crossed!
October 24, 2024
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1 Presenta Evangelina Moreno reformas para prohibir el asbesto; es un mineral altamente cancerígeno [Evangelina Moreno presents reforms to ban asbestos; it is a highly carcinogenic mineral]. October 18, 2024.
https://comunicacionsocial.diputados.gob.mx/index.php/notilegis/presenta-evangelina-moreno-reformas-para-prohibir-el-asbesto-es-un-mineral-altamente-cancerigeno
2 ibid.
3 Ibaro Romo, M. F. Propone Omar Bazán erradicar y sancionar el uso del asbestos [Omar Bazán proposes to eradicate and sanction the use of asbestos]. June 10, 2024.
https://www.tiempo.com.mx/noticia/propone_omar_bazan_erradicar_y_sancionar_el_uso_del_asbesto/
4 Mexico Proposed to Ban Asbestos Products. January 19, 2024
https://www.cirs-group.com/en/chemicals/mexico-proposed-to-ban-asbestos-products
Iniciativa Que Adiciona un Articulo 283 Bis a la Ley General de Salud, a Cargo de la Diputada Elva Augustina Vigil Hernandez, del Grupo Parlamentario de Morena [Initiative to add Article 283 Bis to the General Health Law by Deputy Elva Augustina Vigil Hernandez, from the Morena Parliamentary Group] October 17, 2023.
https://legislation.ehsmonitor.com/MX/JUR/asun_4647124_20231106_1697606801.pdf
5 Enciso A.L. Urge prohibir en definitiva el asbesto por cancerígeno [Asbestos must be banned definitively because it is carcinogenic]. May 23, 2023.
https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/05/23/politica/015n1pol
Algranti, E., Ramos-Bonilla, J.P. et al. Prevention of Asbestos Exposure in Latin America within a Global Public Health Perspective. March 29, 2019.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6634328/
Aguilar-Madrid, G., Juarez-Perez, C.A. et al. Globalization and the Transfer of Hazardous Industry: Asbestos in Mexico, 1979–2000. July, 2003.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Guadalupe-Aguilar-Madrid/publication/10574012_Globalization_and_the_Transfer_of_Hazardous_Industry_Asbestos_in_Mexico_1979-2000/links/5419ebd20cf2218008bfa3ba/Globalization-and-the-Transfer-of-Hazardous-Industry-Asbestos-in-Mexico-1979-2000.pdf
Mercado Calderón, F.A. Manifest: Urgent call to ban the use of asbestos in Mexico [Manifiesto: Llamado urgente para prohibir el uso del asbesto en México]. May 12, 2021.
https://portales.sre.gob.mx/dgvosc/images/phocadownload/Documentos/Manifiesto_Llamado_Urgente_para_Prohibir_el_Uso_del_Asbesto_en_Mexico.pdf
6 There are various English language translations of the Instituto Mexicano de Fibro Industrias including the Mexican Institute of Fiber Industries, the Mexican (Asbestos) Fiber Industry Institute, etc. They are the same organization.
Kazan-Allen L. Who is Driving Mexico's Asbestos Policy? International Journal of Health Services 2012; 42 (1):109-118. 2012.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22403913/#article-details
7 Luis Cejudo Alva gave his testimony to the EPA hearing on behalf of the Asociación Mexicana de Fabricantes de productos de AsbestosCemento, A. C. [Mexican Association of Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers A.C.].
8 EPA. Testimony of Luis Cejudo Alva to the EPA Asbestos Ban and Phase-out Legislative Hearing. July 17, 1986.
http://www.ibasecretariat.org/epa-file-f1-020e-p140-148.pdf
9 International Chrysotile Association. Accessed October 22, 2024.
https://chrysotileassociation.com/links.php
Kazan-Allen, L. Death Toll Mounts as War Continues. July 16, 2016.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-blog11.php#a118
Kazan-Allen, L. Report from the Asbestos Frontline 2013. February 26, 2013.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-report-from-asbestos-frontline-2013.php
Kazan-Allen, L. October 18, 2011: A Bloody Anniversary. October, 2011.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-a-bloody-anniversary-2011.php
Kazan-Allen, L. The WTO: Who Needs Friends? December 3, 2000.
http://ibasecretariat.org/wto_amicus.php
10 Kazan-Allen, L. United States Bans Asbestos – Again! April 16, 2024.
http://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-united-states-bans-asbestos-again.php
