Criminal trials in Italy charging asbestos billionaire with causing deaths of Eternit employees and people in surrounding communities

Note: The latest report on the criminal trials in Italy charging asbestos billionaire with causing deaths of Eternit employees and people in the surrounding communities by longtime  Casale resident and journalist Silvana Mossano must be seen in the backdrop of the hearing in the three trial courts of these cases in which Schmidheiny, the asbestos billionaire has been convicted  and sentenced him to various jail terms, all of which are being appealed to the Court of Appeal and then the Court of Cassation.

A lawyer well familiar with these matters reacted with shock to the delay by the Court of Cassation in sending the Naples case back for further litigation, possibly dooming the case to dismissal under the statute of limitations for manslaughter.  The statute of limitations 'clock' keeps running, under the law in Italy, even after guilty verdicts have been issued by the trial and appeal courts.  The legal expert said the Court of Cassation's refusal to decide the case now appears corrupt.

Dr. Barry Castleman, the author of "Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects"

ETERNIT BIS – The delicate issue of the causal link, expert witnesses return to court: Silvana Mossano

Mr Schmidheiny, your own defence team and expert witnesses recognise that asbestos fibres cause mesothelioma, but they blame those who came before you for spreading them and say that the tragic fate of the 392 victims listed in the trial (but there are many more!) cannot be attributed to the time when you were the head/owner of Eternit. The question is: if the fibres that were in circulation before you were deadly, can you really believe that the asbestos that was in circulation between 1976 and 1986 had no effect at all? That it didn't cause illnesses? The legal arguments are left to your defence team, the scientific ones to your expert witnesses. Ethics, on the other hand, is your responsibility: can you possibly rule out that the asbestos circulating in the air in ‘your’ decade caused an indefinite number of victims even if you don't know their names? There is, morally, a way to make amends, Mr Schmidheiny: find the cure.

Having reached the final stages of the Eternit Bis trial, before the Court of Assize of Appeal in Turin, closing statements focused on three crucial issues: the position (posizione di garanzia) of the defendant Stephan Schmidheiny (i.e. whether he was the effective head in charge of Eternit), the subjective element (i.e. whether he acted with malice or with guilt, whether or not he was aware) and the causal link (i.e. the correlation between the deaths from mesothelioma of the 392 victims listed in the charge and the spread of asbestos fibres that occurred in the decade 1976-1986, when Schmidheiny was the boss). The defendant is charged with the voluntary manslaughter (with eventual intent) of all these people.

SUMMARY

@ The role of science in court and the causal link

@ The prosecutor's expert witness

@ The defence's expert witness

@ Epidemiology in sentencing

@ From epidemiology to individual cases

@ Upcoming hearings

@ Cavagnolo and Napoli Trials

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN COURT

The third issue – the causal link – is essential. The court will have to adopt one a position and issue the verdict (expected on March the 19th ), but will have to motivate it after having evaluated the causal relationship on a case-by-case basis.

It is a delicate and complex trial that essentially relies on scientific pillars to be combined with legal criteria. Even more than in the Eternit One case for crime of environmental disaster, science has entered the courtroom with a central pivot.

After listening to the first part of the arguments presented by the prosecutor, the civil parties and the defence, and after reviewing the impressive number of expert reports, studies and judgements, the Court of Assizes of Appeal required further investigation.

THE PROSECUTOR'S EXPERT WITNESS

At the hearing on Monday 17 February, the prosecutor called Prof Corrado Magnani, a doctor, epidemiologist, researcher and author of numerous studies; he is qualified as one of the two authors who, worldwide, have had the highest number of studies published (the other was Dr Dario Mirabelli, also a prosecutor's expert witness in the Eternit trials, who died prematurely a couple of weeks ago).

On Monday, Professor Benedetto Terracini, former director of the Reference Centre for Epidemiology and Oncological Prevention in Piedmont (CROEP), was in the audience. He was the ‘Teacher’ of that group of Piedmontese researchers (including Magnani and Mirabelli) who initiated numerous epidemiological studies related to asbestos exposure.

Professor Corrado Magnani, expert witness for the public prosecutor

Dr Cristina Domaneschi, Chief Justice, and the Court listened to Prof Magnani, and then to the defence expert, Prof Canzio Romano. Dr Gino Barbieri, the expert witness for the plaintiffs, was also present and agreed with Prof Magnani's presentation. He had already submitted his report to the court, as had Dr Bai, also for the plaintiffs.

The causal link is a complex and thorny issue, so the presiding judge made a special recommendation: ‘We are not experts in medicine or statistics. We kindly ask you to adapt your language to our ability to understand’.

Professor Benedetto Terracini (on the right, wearing a blue pullover) in conversation with the PPs, on Monday during a break in the trial. At the back of the photo, consultants Prof Corrado Magnani and Dr Gino Barbieri

And that's what the scientist did: for four hours, standing up, as if he had returned to his university classroom in front of students, he endeavoured to respond to the Court's requests for clarification, balancing the appropriate scientific language - without oversimplifying it -.

‘We are asking for clarification on the so-called accelerator effect,’ Dr Domaneschi began. ’We are interested in the comparison between two groups of subjects who contract the disease: those who at a certain point ceased exposure and those who continued to be exposed.’

One should remember that ‘all the cases of mesothelioma considered in this trial are caused by exposure to asbestos: this is a certainty’ emphasised Magnani. Then we consider the intensity and duration of exposure, and the effects in terms of a shorter life expectancy.

The professor explained that ‘people suffering from mesothelioma die earlier than the general population’.

A group of Afeva activists at the Eternit trial.

How can we interpret the differences between two groups of subjects who have different degrees of exposure?

Prof Magnani presented some graphs that represent a Cartesian plane. On the horizontal x-axis is indicated the latency period (from the beginning of exposure to diagnosis) and on the vertical y-axis is marked the frequency of the disease.

‘In the group with greater exposure, the frequency of mesothelioma is higher, and the cases begin to appear earlier than in the less exposed group. This is the anticipation of the disease": it means, in essence, that “with less exposure to asbestos, those deaths would not have occurred or would have occurred later”. Prof Magnani referred to a large cohort study he coordinated, carried out after the National Conference on Asbestos in 2012. ‘We included 50,000 people who worked in 43 Italian companies, half of them in about twenty companies in the asbestos-cement sector. Three groups were formed, based on the amount of cumulative exposure.’ What was the outcome? ’In the group with intermediate exposure, deaths from mesothelioma occurred less frequently and at a later stage than in the group with the highest exposure.’ Similarly for the comparison between groups with ‘minimal’ and ‘highest’ exposure’. The study was published in an authoritative scientific journal and, years later, has not been the subject of contrary observations, therefore maintaining the approval of the international scientific community.

Prof Magnani quantified the reduction in life expectancy as fifteen to twenty years.

Regarding the shorter life expectancy, the prosecutor's expert witness also illustrated an important study conducted on laboratory mice, published in 2024. ‘The genetic heritage of the mice was altered so that they were destined to die of pleural mesothelioma. Then, the mice were divided into two groups: one was also given asbestos, the other was not. When the survival rate was compared, it was seen that the mice in the group exposed to asbestos became ill and died starting 90 days after the beginning of the experiment, compared to 170 days in the group subjected only to genetic manipulation. Conclusion: the addition of asbestos brings forward the onset of the disease. At autopsy, it was found that the mesotheliomas were more extensive in the mice exposed to asbestos.

Court's question: ‘Can a longer duration of exposure produce a greater accelerating effect?’

Prof Magnani cited a study conducted on workers in the sector. ‘The people who had a lower acceleration had worked in the company for less time or in departments less polluted by asbestos. Those who, on the other hand, had a greater cumulative exposure to the fibres, in terms of intensity and duration, had a greater acceleration’. To say that “if the workers had changed job or department earlier, they would have suffered less from the accelerating effect”. Among other things, continuous and additional exposure inhibits one of the defence mechanisms that our body uses to remove fibres, through macrophages, i.e. the ‘scavenger cells’ responsible for absorbing the ‘garbage’ that we somehow ingest.

Another issue on which the Court requested clarification is the so-called ‘preclinical phase’.

This is the time between when the disease has already irreversibly taken hold in the organism and does not require further external (exogenous) carcinogenic stimuli (i.e. stimuli from external agents such as asbestos) and the moment of diagnosis. In this phase, with the diagnostic tools available today, mesothelioma is not yet recognisable. It is only a question of understanding when it will reach a size at which it can be diagnosed. Professor Magnani reported studies that estimate the duration of the ‘preclinical phase’ to be between 9 and 11 years; in general, it is agreed and agreed upon that the average duration is ten years.

To the Court's precise question: ‘Is the ten-year period recognised by the scientific community?’ Professor Magnani's answer was: ‘Yes’.

Dissenting voices? ‘One study - Greengard O. et. al., 1987 - that quantifies this phase as 22 years. However, it is a study that has shown many limitations in materials and methods’ so much so that, in almost forty years, it has not been replicated. What does this mean? That the number of citations in subsequent studies is an indication of the authority of the published work: the higher the number, the more the study is worthy of consideration, and vice versa.

The president of the court also asked why it is important for science to establish the duration of the preclinical phase. The prosecutor's consultant explained that, in addition to the medical-legal interest, it can be of considerable importance, for example, for preventive purposes: ‘If mesothelioma could be diagnosed earlier, therapeutic strategies could be identified and anticipated as is the case for other forms of cancer’. Another topic: the risk of exposure in relation to distance from the source, which the consultants identified in the Eternit production plant in Ronzone (to be clear: one kilometre away from the Duomo, i.e. the heart of the city). How many kilometres away from the source are we at risk? Professor Magnani explains: ‘The distribution of fibres does not seem to reach more than eight or nine kilometres from the source, as the crow flies, but we must take into account that a person does not stay in one place, they move from one place to another, they even change residence’.

Then, to complicate and aggravate the environmental context of Casale there was the dust factor, widely used everywhere: ‘A widespread use that makes your skin crawl!’

The prosecutor's consultant recalled the story of a young woman born in 1976 who died of mesothelioma. From her personal file it emerged that ‘as a child she often went to play where there was a lot of dust. But if her parents had known what a serious danger it was, would they have let her go and play there?’ The professor realises he has overstepped the scientific mark, but he couldn't help himself: ‘Sorry, this isn't my subject, but behind every researcher there's a man too!’ As for the distribution of the dust (containing the terrible blue asbestos or crocidolite) used in and around the city for so-called ‘improper uses’ (insulation of attics and levelling of courtyards, playing fields, roads, etc.), the defence insisted that, when Schmidheiny arrived, a ban had been imposed. Why? ‘Because he knew it was highly carcinogenic. Deadly,’ the prosecutor observed. Yes, Schmidheiny knew. “He knew everything.” But then, faced with this precise awareness, what did the defendant do? The prosecutor was indignant: ’He did not warn the population, nor the public and health authorities, to share his knowledge and warn them. He said nothing, on the contrary he engaged in a massive propaganda campaign of mystification about the use of asbestos.

THE DEFENCE 

The defence expert witness, Prof Canzio Romano queried Professor Magnani's arguments and reiterated his arguments already set out in a robust and detailed report.

Professor Canzio Romano, defence expert witness (Photo Archivio Silmos)

The main points: ‘Malignant mesothelioma is still a disease characterised by large grey areas that depend on the specific characteristics of this disease’. One of these grey areas, Prof Romano pointed out, is ‘the very long time between the exposure and the onset of the clinical manifestation of the tumour. The median latency, according to the mesothelioma (Renam) Registry, is 48 years’. Latency is the time between the beginning of exposure and diagnosis. Furthermore, ‘mesothelioma is described as a very aggressive tumour and, from this statement, one would deduce that it grows particularly quickly. But, if it is true that once the tumour has manifested itself clinically the survival rate is very low (even if it has increased a little), this could depend not on the natural aggressiveness of cell development, but on the fact that, by the time it is diagnosed, the mesothelioma is already very extensive and invasive’. Professor Romano, however, considers this a mere hypothesis, because, ‘in reality, we can say that we know nothing about the time it takes for this tumour to develop from the first altered cell until diagnosis’. The defence consultant insisted that ‘it is a neoplasm with large areas of uncertainty’. For example, ‘two apparently contrasting phenomena coexist: on the one hand, low levels or even short periods of exposure are sufficient for the disease to develop; on the other hand, as exposure increases, so does the risk. In my opinion, this means that how asbestos acts is largely unknown today’. He therefore maintains that ‘it is not possible to construct a plausible biological model’.

However, there are epidemiological studies. ‘It's not that epidemiological investigations are useless for individuals’, he concedes, ‘but they are useful in terms of policies and preventive regulations, not for the specific case’ he insists. ‘Epidemiology provides statistical results’ which, in the opinion of the defence counsel, “cannot be used in terms of causality for the individual”. In other words, he is convinced that epidemiological results cannot explain, “beyond any reasonable doubt”, when and how that subject became ill in the face of a certain exposure, with certain characteristics of intensity and duration. He reiterates: ‘We should understand if the subjects affected by mesothelioma developed the pathology earlier than it would have happened if Eternit had not been active between 1976 and 1986’, that is, the time when the defendant was the responsible manager. ‘The question has no answers because, in his opinion, “there are no answers. Magnani answered on logical, not factual grounds”. ‘To argue that all cases are anticipated and that the duration of the anticipation is the same for everyone is a hypothesis that has no biological or even epidemiological support’ was Professor Romano's inflexible conclusion.

EPIDEMIOLOGY IN JUDGMENT

The Court of Assizes of Novara has already had to face this question. In the grounds for the sentence, which fill over a thousand pages, it ruled as follows: ‘In the absence of a universal law of coverage, which would allow all events of a certain type to be traced back to a specific cause (a very rare eventuality), it is necessary to resort to a law of statistical coverage, according to which certain events can be related to specific causal antecedents with a high degree of probability’. Having made this premise, the judges of Novara, in considering ‘correctly usable the models deriving from statistical laws such as epidemiological ones’, affirmed that ‘one cannot simply apply the data to individual cases’, but ‘due attention must be paid to the presence of biological information which, synergistically with the statistical data, can explain that causal relationship that epidemiology itself has deduced from the probabilistic relationship’.

FROM EPIDEMIOLOGY TO INDIVIDUAL CASES

And Professor Magnani highlighted and confirmed that in the reports prepared by the consultants and delivered to the judges, the indications provided by the epidemiological studies were scrupulously applied to individual cases, taking into account, for each one, the circumstances of exposure to asbestos that characterised the lives and habits of those lives; moreover, and were confirmed, in the end, in the manifestation and evolution of the pathology described in the medical records. The result of this work is contained in the respective 392 files. These 392 files tell the story of 392 lives cut short, the names and surnames of men and women who lost fifteen or twenty years of loved ones, relationships, hopes, roles, falls and rises. A vital ribbon ruthlessly severed by invisible fibres that should not have circulated in such a reckless and illicit manner.

Court and Popular Judges (Jury) 

UPCOMING HEARINGS

On Wednesday 26 February, from 11 a.m., the closing statements will be made by the for the prosecution (Dr Sara Panelli, prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office, Dr Gianfranco Colace and Dr Mariagiovanna Compare, prosecutors for the Turin and Vercelli Public Prosecutor's Offices). On Wednesday 5 and Wednesday 19 March, from 9 a.m., the Court will hear the closing statements of the defence lawyers Astolfo Di Amato and Guido Carlo Alleva. The verdict of the Court of Assizes of Appeal, i.e. the reading of the sentence, is expected on that the day, while the reasons for the verdict will be filed later.

THE CAVAGNOLO AND NAPOLI CASES

Meanwhile, the hearing in the Court of Cassation for the Eternit Bis case in Cavagnolo has been set for 21 March. The defendant Schmidheiny has already been convicted in the first and second degree for manslaughter: 1 year and 8 months, for the death, due to asbestosis, of a worker. The appeal sentence had already reached the Court of Cassation that had ordered a postponement, requesting more precise reasons on the issue of the causal link. The second Court of Appeal of Turin integrated it with further legal-scientific arguments.

The same happened for the Eternit Bis case in Naples. Stephan Schmidheiny had been sentenced to 3 and a half years for manslaughter, found guilty of a death by mesothelioma. The statute of limitations had instead been triggered for six cases, and he had been acquitted for one. On Wednesday 19th February, the Court of Cassation quashed the verdict and ordered a referral to the Court of Appeal on the same issue of the causal link.

Written by longtime  Casale resident and journalist Silvana Mossano, translated by Vicky Franzinetti

https://www.silmos.it/eternit-bis-la-delicata-questione-del-nodo-causale-gli-scienziati-tornano-in-aula/

P.S.: Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) has documented that in India, Eternit was originally known as Asbestos Cement Ltd. when it was founded in 1934 in Maharashtra. In 1983, the company changed its name to Everest Building Product Ltd. and went public on the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

The order dated December 23, 1994 by K. Sankararaman, Member, Customs, Excise and Gold Tribunal-Delhi recorded that "the name of the appellant company has been changed from M/s. Everest Building Products Ltd. to M/s. Eternit Everest Limited. The fresh certificate of incorporation consequent on change of name issued by the Addl. Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra, Bombay confirming the change of name of Everest Building Products Ltd. to Eternit Everest Limited was submitted along with the application. We accordingly allow the application. The cause title of the appeal should accordingly be changed to read M/s. Eternit Everest Limited instead of Everest Building Products Ltd.. The company registered and incorporated in India and engaged in the manufacture and sale of asbestos cement products." Madras High Court's order dated 25 June 25, 1996 by Justice D. Raju has recorded that Eternit Everest Ltd is "in the business of manufacture and sale of asbestos cement products for the last more than 50 years and carrying on their manufacturing activities at four factories situated at Kymore in Madhya Pradesh, Mulund in Bombay, Podanur in Tamil Nadu and Calcutta in West Bengal." 

Notably, Indian government lowered import duties for asbestos by 68% during 1995-2000, giving asbestos imports a decided advantage over polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers, whose duties are at about the levels that asbestos was in 1995. This was one reason because of which attempts by (Belgium’s) Etex affiliate Eternit Everest to replace asbestos in corrugated roofing with PVA failed in 2001. 

ETEX sold its subsidiary to an Indian company in 2001, shortly before asbestos production was completely banned in Belgium. 

Significantly, the company had converted a plant in Maharashtra and announced plans to do likewise with 3 other plants, making PVA-cement roofing and flat cement sheets using coir fiber. But in recent months, Etex’s 52% share in Eternit Everest was bought out by ACC, a large cement firm that had previously owned a 26% share. The Maharashtra plant was reconverted to use asbestos.

In 2003, the company took its current name, Everest Industries Limited. The subsidiaries of the former British company Turner and Newall PLC and the Belgium company ETEX (Eternit) dumped asbestos waste on 600,000 square metres of land on or near which more than 3000 people currently live in Kymore, Madhya Pradesh. The Kymore based factory  is currently owned by Everest Industries Limited.  It is situated in Vijayraghavgarh tehsil in Katni district in central Madhya Pradesh, Kymore has population of around 20,000 people. An environmental report by a Canadian company, ECOH found that there was one million tonnes of asbestos-contaminated surface soil in two different sites around the factory; at some places there was 70% asbestos concentration in the soil. Its estimate suggested that it is likely to cost at least $52 million to remediate the site.

At present, Everest Industries Limited has 5 manufacturing units at Kymore (Madhya Pradesh), Kolkata (West Bengal), Podanur (Tamil Nadu), Lakhmapur (Maharashtra) & Bhagawanpur (Uttarakhand). The unit at Podanur (Near Coimbatore) which is popularly known as Podanur works was established in the year 1953. Podanur works is roughly 10 km Coimbatore Coimbatore Town and it is in-between the road connecting Coimbatore and Pollachi. The site is located in the eastern direction of this road. The nearest railway station is Podanur. It's manufacturing process of fibre cement product is based on classical wet Hatschek process where in the Chrysotile Asbestos Fibre, Pulp is mixed with Portland Cement and Fly Ash in aqueous condition. The raw materials that are used in the manufacture of asbestos cement products are Chrysotile Asbestos Fibre, Ordinary Portland Cement, Fly ash, Pulp & Hard Ground Waste of broken and solid wastes. The entire Chrysotile Asbestos Fibre requirement is imported and received in ships at Cochin Port. 

‫‬‬‬‬

Epidemiologist Dr Dario Mirabelli, former head of Piedmont’s Mesothelioma Register is no more

Statement from Silvana Mossano

Dr Dario Mirabelli, epidemiologist and former coordinator (head) of Piedmont’s Mesothelioma Register (Renan), died in Turin, Italy on February 9, 2025. He was 71 years old.

He was an expert witness in many trials and his testimony focused on asbestos and the onset of mesothelioma. In particular, the Turin Prosecution relied on his expertise both in the Eternit Uno maxi-trial and in the Eternit Bis trial, the appeal of the Court of Assizes being currently underway.

A serious illness led to his death extremely quickly, in a matter of just a few weeks. In mid-January he suffered the first symptoms, was diagnosed, and his condition quickly got worse.

The news of his death, which circulated on Sunday afternoon, was made public on February 10, 2025 in Turin’s courtroom 6 where one of the hearings of the Eternit Bis trial was taking place, now in its final stages before the Court of Assizes of Appeal.

The Court decided to interrupt the hearings because, it felt it necessary to further investigate medical-scientific aspects before reaching a verdict. Professor Corrado Magnani was summoned for this purpose, and Dr Dario Mirabelli had not died, he too would have returned to the trial on Monday 17 February, 2025 alongside his colleague. Together they had worked and presented the results of their studies in the first trial and before the Court of Assizes of Novara, in November 2021.

Dr Mirabelli and Prof Magnani were born in the same year –1953- had studied together at university and had become epidemiologists carrying out studies under the guidance of their ’ teacher and master’, Prof Benedetto Terracini, at the time director of what was then called the Servizio di Epidemiologia dei Tumori Convenzionato (Service of Cancer Epidemiology for the Health service) of the University of Turin and San Giovanni Battista Hospital, now CPO (Centre for Epidemiology and Oncological Prevention in Piedmont), which Prof. Terracini directed until his retirement in 1999.

Dr Mirabelli arrived at the CPO at the beginning of the 2000s, after a long period of experience at Spresal in Settimo Torinese.

He participated and carried out many scientific studies: the list of his papers is very long, many together with Professors Terracini, Magnani and other internationally recognised scientists in the field.

During his professional experience at the CPO, he was in charge of the Regional Operations Centre (COR) for Piedmont of the National Register of Mesotheliomas, which he followed meticulously, aware of how much the carefully gathered data, can contribute to scientific research aimed at finding a cure for malignant cancer caused by asbestos.

What can we say about Dr Dario Mirabelli the scientist? A well-prepared, curious, scrupulous researcher with the sort of self-effacement that makes the most authentic men of science aware of how small they are faced with the major issues. It was this intelligent and rigorous modesty that guided him in his constant activity of analysing in depth and comparing, with serious intellectual honesty and authoritative objectivity.

What can we say about Dr Dario Mirabelli as a person? The scientist, the countless studies, the valued consultations, the several scientific reports at conferences or in courtrooms give the measure of his professional skills, but as a man all we can say is that it has been a privilege to have known him.

He made himself understood with simple words, even when he had to explain difficult concepts. When challenged by his opponents, he reacted with the calm strength, courtesy and respect, with which he ended up determining the tone of the dialogue to his interlocutor.

Respectful of the thoughts and lives of others, deeply generous, a tireless worker who never jostled for limelight, Dario Mirabelli guarded his own feelings with modesty,  expressed with a kind smile, without complaining about a fate that had been cruel to him and his wife Claudia when, just over ten years ago, they lost their only son, Luca, to a very rare disease when he was very young.

Having retired a few years ago, Dr Mirabelli had never stopped studying and researching. This absence will be felt.

He loved the people of Casale Monferrato and shared their human suffering. For the people of Casale, it is a sad moment: they knew how much they had received from him and had great affection for him.

The funeral will take place on Wednesday 12th February at 10.30am at the city cemetery in Turin, at 135 Corso Novara.

Prof. Benedetto Terracini remembers Dr. Dario Mirabelli (Source:CPO website)

Dario Mirabelli passed away on Sunday 9th February, at the age of 71. He had retired a few years ago, but was very much present in the daily life of the CPO - Reference Centre for Epidemiology and Oncological Prevention in Piedmont.

Dario had approached cancer epidemiology as a student in the 1970s. From the Ipca tragedy in Ciriè he had perceived the role of the working environment on health. After graduating, he worked for over a decade as manager of SPreSAL (the Workplace Prevention and Safety Service) of the Local Health Authority of Settimo Torinese, maintaining excellent relations with the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and participating in several research projects, one of which measured the risk of work-related lung cancer in the Turin outskirts.

In 2000, he moved to the Piedmont CPO (Cancer Prevention Organisation), where he was in charge of the mesothelioma register. For the twenty years that followed, Dario and Corrado Magnani the responsibility of studying the effects of asbestos in Piedmont, both as scientific contributions and as expert witnesses in court, right up to the trial at the Court of Novara in 2021-2023 for the 392 deaths from mesothelioma in Casale Monferrato (the appeal trial is underway in Turin).

Under the headings ‘Mirabelli’ and ‘Asbestos’, Medline has 109 citations of publications with Dario as author. First and foremost, his work confirmed the notion that carcinogenesis - including that caused by asbestos – as a multistage process. A fair number of citations are letters to magazines, commenting on and criticising other people's publications, sponsored by industry, intended to pass off questionable scientific concepts, which could be used in court to exonerate those responsible for the exposures.

In Casale Monferrato, Dario played a key role in four different population case-control studies on mesotheliomas, which contributed to fine tuning the definition of the dose-response relationship between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma risk. For these studies, his ability to create a relationship of mutual sympathy and trust with the population of Casale was important, also in obtaining the cases and (above all) controls to be interviewed.

Furthermore, in the Balangero studies, Dario confirmed that chrysotile (white asbestos) can cause mesothelioma, disproving a concept favoured by producers (and often reported in magazines financed by them).

Some of Dario's literature reviews are a ‘must’ to understand the tortuous mechanisms of production of ‘fake scientific news’ which - unfortunately - can no longer be ignored by those who do research in epidemiology and public health.

Dario was also an important international researcher with numerous connections to the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, where he contributed to important projects and consortia. On a national level, he made a significant contribution to the development of the Mesothelioma Registry and the Nasosinusal Tumour Registry.

I had the privilege of working with Dario for over 40 years. We shared a model of scientific rigour and moral standards. Over time, our original teacher (me)/student (him) relationship was reversed: he taught me many things in recent years.

Dario (together with his wife Claudia) has faced painful experiences with courage and generosity. An example for all of us.

Statement from AFEVA (Association of Asbestos Victims and their Families) (Casale Monferrato)

‘To the family of our dear Dario, our deepest condolences and sympathy, from all the asbestos victims, the unions and all the active citizens of communities of Casale Monferrato and surroundings. Dr Dario Mirabelli has left us far too soon. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for his great and very valuable work in carrying out the most important epidemiological investigations into deaths caused by asbestos and other causes, including those in Casale, with the first ones in 1985-87 led by Prof. B. Terracini.

Great gratitude also certainly for the work he carried out together with a group of equally talented colleagues, for the Prosecutors in the Trials for the enormous massacres, such as for Eternit and others. A wonderful example of the choice of rigorous consistency in the work aimed at researching the causes and dimensions of workplace and environmental disasters, with the consequent scientific results. All this, always with a sensitive and friendly approach to human relationships and feelings. The way he was, as a scientist and as a man, gives us relief and hope in the face of the suffering and injustices that we often encounter in life.

Goodbye Dario, and thank you. 

Dr. Barry Castleman's Statement

Dario Mirabelli, one of the leading scientists documenting and analyzing mesothelioma deaths in Italy, has died. Dr. Mirabelli contributed a great deal to the criminal prosecutions of asbestos billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny, as an expert witness.  His studies of deaths at the mine in Balangero documented the potential of chrysotile asbestos to cause mesothelioma. I always enjoyed seeing Dario, he was so knowledgeable, kind, and modest.  He will be missed greatly, by many of us.

-- 

 

India continues to import more of toxic white chrysotile mineral, despite banning its mining, lessons from excesses and malpractices of National Emergency forgotten

Nikkei Asia has published an investigative report entitled "India's appetite for asbestos undaunted by global bans:Expert says 'commercial interests' drive the trade of deadly fibers in South Asian nation". India's insatiable appetite for asbestos has been undaunted by a global push to ban the deadly fiber and warnings from experts over the health risks to millions in the world's top consumer. It states: "Though India banned asbestos mining in 1993 by ceasing to issue new licenses, it continues to import more of the toxic mineral than any other country. In 2023, the country accounted for 56.7% of the world's asbestos imports, with Brazil and Russia as its primary suppliers, according to World Bank trade data." 

Nikkei Asia story is linked to what Navin Chawla, said as the Secretary, Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs in 2004, when he was asked about his failure to ban asbestos laden consumer products. He said,"if his ministry had the power to ban asbestos ridden products, he would have banned it. Ministries of commerce, chemicals and health can ban it." Chawla passed away on February 1, 2025. 

Notably, the Superintendent of Tihar Jail had deposed before the Justice J. C. Shah Judicial Inquiry Commission stating that Chawla had asked him to throw political prisoners in asbestos cells and “bake” them. He wanted him to construct asbestos roof tops in some cells, so that hardcore political leaders could be kept there during the hot summer. 

The Shah Commission of Inquiry, led by retired chief justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Shah, was convened by the union government on May 28, 1977, under Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, to inquire into the transgressions, violations, and violence committed during the national emergency. The commission submitted its evaluative findings on the grave conditions during the emergency in three parts in August 1978. The Commission held 100 sittings in open session. It submitted two interim reports.

Photo:Shah Commission of Inquiry, Interim Report I, March 11, 1978, Chapter 1, "Ministry of Home Affairs Notification” (1978, Page 1) 

At page no. 246 of the Commission's report, it is recorded:"Though Shri Navin Chawla had no position in the jail. hierarchy, he was exercising extra statutory control in jail matters and sending instructions on all matters including the treatment of particular detenus. Shri Chawla had suggested the construction of some Cells with asbestos roofs to 'bake' certain persons. (Para 11.47).

In the third part of its report, it observed: "The Commission has viewed with concern the evidence relating to the enormous power that was wielded by the lower functionaries like Shri R. K. Dhawan, Shri R. C. Mehtani, Shri Navin Chawla and some others; It is necessary for the Government to appreciate the need for defining the various functions and powers of the several lower functionaries who are in close proximity to the seats of power. The Commission views the developments in this regard with great concern, for power came to be exercised by some of these lower functionaries without the requisite authority and the accountability that goes with it. Power and responsibility must generally go together. During the emergency, the political component of Government in quite a few important cases came to be divorced from the channel of communication. The result was that powers came to be wielded by the Special Assistants or the Private Secretaries in the name of and on behalf of the Ministers, and the people at the receiving end of, the orders were left with no option but to carry out their orders without even having any facility or the desire to verify the authenticity and the authority of the orders emanating from the lower functionaries attached to the Ministers. This. style of functioning at higher level of the Administration has indeed taken a toll of the liberty and careers of countless people. The Government should define as precisely as it is possible, the circumstances under which the personal staff including Special Assistants and the Private Secretaries attached to the Ministers could convey orders. The Government should also provide checks and safeguards to ensure that in the event of doubt or difference of Opinion the levels receiving the orders from the Ministers are in a position to check back and satisfy themselves that the orders in, fact had emanated from the source in whose name the orders were issued. Unless every level of the Government starting with the political component and going down the line is animated by one and the only desire to function within a democratic set up with the ultimate aim and object being only to be able to look after the interest of the common man, there is no hope that we in this country will be able to graduate ourselves from mere words, to the real core of democracy". (p.230-231)  

The Shah Commission Report was presented to Parliament on August 3, 1978. It suggested a periodic review of all laws by the legislatures to ensure that the powers conferred on public servants are not abused or misused as had happened during the dark days of the emergency. In its final report presented to Parliament it has observed that unless public servants work for and establish a reputation of "political neutrality", the citizens will have no confidence in the impartiality and fairness of the services. 

 

 

 

Complaint filed in National Human Rights Commission for complete stoppage of ongoing exposure of Indians to carcinogenic asbestos fibers

A complaint was filed on January 27, 2025 in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for prevention of continuous exposure to carcinogenic asbestos fibers from abandoned asbestos mines. The complaint is addressed to Justice V. Ramasubramanian, the new chairperson, NHRC drawing on Commission’s order dated May 6, 2024, and its mandate to save environment and health. 

The complainant drew the attention of the NHRC towards a paper entitled "Understanding exposure risk using soil testing and GIS around an abandoned asbestos mine" published in Annals of Global Health, a journal by Ubiquity Press Ltd, London on January 22, 2025. The paper has been authored by Abhijeet V. Jadhav, Nilesh Gawde, Ramesh Veerapan, Yeyong Choi and Arthur L. Frank. The paper has found that out of 16 soil samples from residential areas, 12 residential areas around the abandoned asbestos mines are a potential source of environmental contamination and exposure for nearby residents at Birsingh Hatu, Roro, Singijari and Tilaisud villages of West Singhbhum district, Roro Hills, Jharkhand. The asbestos exposure risk persists even after the cessation of mining activity. The paper is available at https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/4624/files/67909e12a0727.pdf 

The study showed the presence of white chrysotile asbestos. The asbestos-containing areas had enlarged by around 20% over the years. It has concluded that "The evidence indicated the presence of asbestos in the soil of nearby residential areas around the mine, and this contamination has spread over the years. Similar studies at other mine locations are needed, and timely interventions are warranted to protect nearby residents." There was an asbestos mine that was operational from 1963 to 1983. The total population of these four villages was 2454 according to the 2011 census. The paper implies that the entire population of these four villages are exposed to asbestos in the soil. It has been established that contaminated soil is exposing people while doing routine activities.  

In the light of the findings of the paper, the National Mineral Policy, 2019 and the ‘Final Mine Closure Plan’ manual, 2022, there is an urgent need to ensure scientific and environmentally sound closure of the asbestos mine and disposal of hazardous asbestos waste (dust and fibres) to safeguard the life and health of villagers living in the vicinity of an old abandoned asbestos mine from exposure to carcinogenic fibres of asbestos.

It has been estimated that one person dies from mesothelioma for every 170 tons of asbestos consumed. WHO estimates we have 107,000 deaths worldwide per year from occupational exposure to asbestos. If non occupational exposure is added it reaches a figure of about 120,000deaths. Average world consumption/year 30-60 years ago was -- looks like 3/2 of what it is now (2 million metric tons/year). Give India its share of that based on its share of global consumption. At 300,000 tons in 2013, that's about 18,000 deaths (15% of 120,000). Asbestos diseases have a very long incubation period. So if you are exposed today to asbestos fibre, you are likely to get the disease in the next 10-35 years. Asbestos is like a time bomb to the lungs and Indians will suffer the most. If it is banned today that does not mean people will not suffer. Because of past usage people will continue to suffer from these diseases.

In this backdrop, the following documents are quite relevant:

1. Calcutta High Court’s verdict dated July 21, 2017 in Writ Petition (Civil). No. 14729 (W) of 2016, by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty in Ashis Mitra vs. The State of West Bengal and Others drawing on Supreme Court's verdict of January 27, 1995 in Consumer Education and Research Center and Others Vs. Union of India & Others by the Bench of Justice K. Ramaswamy, Chief Justice A. M. Ahmadi and Justice M.M. Punchhi; 

2.  World Health Organisation (WHO)'s publication dated September 27, 2024 refers to the World Health Assembly Resolution 58.22 on cancer prevention urges Member States to pay special attention to cancers for which avoidable exposure is a factor, including exposure to chemicals at the workplace and in the environment. Eliminating asbestos-related diseases is particularly targeted at countries still using chrysotile asbestos, in addition to assistance in relation to exposures arising from historical use of all forms of asbestos. WHO, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization and other intergovernmental organizations and civil society, works with countries towards elimination of asbestos-related diseases by: recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos; providing information about solutions for replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement;taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos in place and during asbestos removal (abatement);improving early diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation services for asbestos-related diseases; establishing registries of people with past and/or current exposures to asbestos and organizing medical surveillance of exposed workers; and providing information on the hazards associated with asbestos-containing materials and products, and by raising awareness that waste containing asbestos should be treated as hazardous waste;

3. World Bank's Asbestos Good Practice Guidelines-These Guidelines, as well as its earlier Environmental, Health & Safety General Guidelines, require that the use of asbestos must be avoided in new construction in projects funded by the World Bank around the world. The Guidelines also provide information on available safer alternatives to asbestos;

4. Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Good Practice Guidance for the Management and Control of Asbestos: Protecting Workplaces and Communities from Asbestos Exposure Risks, March 2022

5. Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects (2005), Barry I. Castleman, Stephen L. Berger,  Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

The complaint pointed out that human biology is the same everywhere if asbestos is deemed hazardous in the developed countries; it must be deemed so in India as well.  There is an abundance of incontrovertible adverse health effects asbestos based plants and products which create a compelling logic for the phase out of all kinds of asbestos including white chrysotile to protect the lives of present and future generations.

Given the fact that there were 30 functional asbestos mines in India till 2001 and several asbestos mines were operational till 2014 in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Jharkhand, the complainant has asked the Commission to recommend study of the presence of asbestos, its spread, and exposure in nearby communities around such abandoned mines by the authors of the paper and Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects, and to recommend measures to protect citizens who are exposed to carcinogenic fibres.

It has sought Commission's urgent intervention to recommend complete stoppage of ongoing exposure of Indians to carcinogenic asbestos fibers.

Éric Jonckheere, the defender of rights of asbestos victims is no more but his legacy remains

Message from Dr. Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)

Eric Jonckheere was an activist, pilot, and author.  He was the author of the book Asbestos:My War with the Devil's Dust. He had donated his books to Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) "in order to promote awareness and good health in regard to asbestos exposures." I learnt about him and his work from Dr. Barry Castleman, the author of Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects. I was introduced to Eric and his work exposing claims of "controlled use" of asbestos by him. 

 

The book is his memoir. The book is a call to action for global action to ban asbestos. The book is about Jonckheere's family's experience with asbestos and the loss of his parents and two brothers to environmental exposure. The book also gives a voice to families who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The book includes a foreword by Jonckheere's mother, Francoise Jonckheere, who was a founding member of the Association of Asbestos Victims in Belgium (ABEVA). Eric’s mother would refuse a 40,000 € settlement offer from the beneficial owners of Eternit. The book was released on April 28, 2022. In 2018, he had received the ADAO Alan Reinstein Memorial Award for his advocacy work to ban asbestos. 

 

Both Eric and I had struggled to get the books cleared from the Customs. We had exchanged notes with DHL Brussels and DHL India. I had to assure the Superintendent of Customs, New Courier Terminal, IGI Airport, New Delhi that "the consignment in question is some complimentary books on environmental health." He had written to them saying, "I, Eric Jonckheere, author of the book "My war with the devil's dust ", and president of ABEVA is donating his work/books to Gopal Krishna in order to promote awarness and good health in regard to asbestos exposures."

Eric's book narrates the story of betrayal by the beneficial owners of Eternit factory. How they allowed the ‘devil’s dust’ to enter homes and human bodies. Eric’s father, Pierre Jonckheere used to work at the factory but “overalls continued to be taken back to the thatched cottages and washed by housewives unaware of the dangers to which they and their children were exposed.” Children played in the contaminated area...and the dust billowed in the wind.” Eric’s mother and two brothers also contracted asbestos-caused diseases and sadly passed away.

The book is a story of families and friends and who are fighting for justice for all. His work inspires all anti-asbestos campaigners across the globe who are struggling for the safe removal and eradication of asbestos and asbestos related diseases it causes. His book reveals the deceit, lies, hypocrisy and bribes used by the asbestos companies. The story begins with a powerful foreword by Eric’s mother, Francoise Jonckheere. Whilst suffering from mesothelioma, Francoise faced the Eternit’s CEO but she refused to be bought and silenced, resulting in her ‘laying the groundwork for justice’. Francoise was also one of the founding members of the Association of Asbestos Victims in Belgium. The book has a preface from Laurie Kazan-Allen of International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS). It gives a voice to families who are living with diagnosis of mesothelioma.

I remember discussing the Letter to the Editor with him in a group which was submitted to the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) asking it to retract the inaccurate and misleading article entitled "The asbestos fibre burden in human lungs: new insights into the chrysotile debate" authored by Inke Sabine Feder, Iris Tischoff Anja Theile, Inge Schmitz, Rolf Merget and Andrea Tannapfel. In their June 2017 article, they claimed that it was critical for workers to show evidence of chrysotile asbestos fibres in the lungs in order to obtain compensation. The ERJ's Editorial entitled "Quantifying asbestos in lung tissue: what debate?" by Benoit Nemery Valerie Nuyts Kristiaan Nackaerts concluded that "it should be realised that the phrase “chrysotile debate” is not neutral. Indeed, the asbestos industry has applied the tactics used by other “merchants of doubt"...." But the ERJ refused to publish the letter. In December 2017, ERJ published "Correspondence regarding the article 'The asbestos fibre burden in human lungs: new insights into the chrysotile debate'" by Pietro Sartorelli and by L. Christine Oliver Fiorella Belpoggi Lygia T. Budnik David Egilman Arthur L. Frank Daniele Mandrioli Colin L. Soskolne Benedetto Terracini Laura Welch Xaver Baur. The latter pointed out "serious shortcomings" in the article like contrary to the authors' claim, there is no ongoing debate about the biopersistence of chrysotile asbestos among independent, credible scientists. In support of their claim that such a debate exists, the authors rely on an article commissioned, funded and developed in collaboration with asbestos lobbyists. In December 2017, ERJ also published "Correspondence regarding the article 'The asbestos fibre burden in human lungs: new insights into the chrysotile debate'" a response by Inke Sabine Feder, Iris Tischoff Anja Theile, Inge Schmitz, Rolf Merget and Andrea Tannapfel which cited "Comparison of Calidria chrysotile asbestos to pure tremolite: final results of the inhalation biopersistence and histopathology examination following shortterm exposure" an article by Bernstein DM, Cevalier J, Smith P. published in Inhalation Toxicology in 2008.

 

Subsequent to ERJ's refusal to publish their letter, Kathleen Ruffi, Eliezer João de Souza, Fernanda Giannasi, Evelyn Glenskiv, Marc Hindryv, Linda Reinsteinvi, Adrian Prietovii, Gopal Krishna, Laurie Kazan-Allen, Eric Jonckheere, Robert Vojakovic, and Pierrette Iselin had co-authored an 8-page long commentary entitled "Asbestos and insurance interests continue to use discredited scientific argument to sell asbestos and to deny justice to asbestos victims" which was published in the Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity in its April 11, 2019 issue.

 

Eric’s story is captured in a video depicting the lives of many victims from Eternit’s asbestos operations near the Belgian cities of Kapelle and Harmignies. 

I will always remember Eric as a fellow comrade who lived and struggled for a just and fair world without asbestos. His memory will inspire the global fight against asbestos killers and their collaborators in public institutions. I will his treasure his book and his memory. 

Message from Alec Farquhar, Coordinator, Asbestos Free Canada and Convenor, Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB) Asbestos Working Group

Éric Jonckheere and his family endured an unimaginable degree of suffering caused by asbestos.  Their story began in a small company town in Belgium, where Éric’s father was the manager of an Eternit asbestos cement factory. A significant proportion of the asbestos used there came from Canada.  Eventually, Éric’s father, mother and two of his brothers died from mesothelioma.  Tragically, Éric himself joined them on December 13, 2024 after a tenacious struggle against the relentless cancer that began four years ago.

Éric decided years ago that he would not rest until he helped win justice for asbestos victims and achieved a global ban on asbestos.  He made a magnificent contribution to that struggle.  He was a charismatic, bigger than life figure who won people over with charm and humour (often dark) as much as by statistics and policy arguments. 

Éric contributed greatly to our asbestos struggle in Canada, as he did in many parts of the world.  I was privileged to host him in 2012, when he stood in solidarity with the hundreds of wonderful activists of Sarnia, Ontario;  this was a major moment of progress on our journey to ban asbestos in Canada in 2018.

Éric visited Canada again with his friend Daniel Lambo, in 2019, when the Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation sponsored the Canadian launch of Daniel’s film “Breathless”, which portrayed the global reach of the asbestos industry, grounded in the story of the Jonckheere family.

Then, after Éric’s mesothelioma diagnosis, he told me that we would like to visit Canada while he was still able.  So in November 2023, he came to Toronto and made a powerful intervention at the Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation’s conference.  Following that, I was privileged to accompany him on a visit to the closed down asbestos mines in Quebec – in the town formerly called Asbestos and now called Val des Sources.  He was in great discomfort at times but courageously and in good humour confronted once again the place where the asbestos in his lungs came from. 

Eric was a powerful influence in our movement and I miss him deeply.

Message from ABEVA

Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims, (ABEVA) mourned the death of its president. Its press release dated December 15, 2024 reads: "Eric Jonckheere, president of the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims, (ABEVA) died Friday evening, Dec. 13, of mesothelioma, the most serious of the asbestos-related diseases. He was 66 years old. His illness was caused by asbestos to which he had been exposed as a young man near the Eternit factories in Kapelle-op-den-Bos. Four other members of his family have already died from the same causes. ABEVA has fallen into a state of intense sadness.  ABEVA assures all of Eric's loved ones, his partner and children of its solidarity. For four years, Eric endured this disease with admirable courage and tenacity, carrying out his duties and our struggle on behalf of asbestos victims with particularly positive energy. Eric reiterated to us recently that he is not moved by a feeling of revenge, but above all by the urgent need for justice, recognition of guilt and just compensation for the victims from those responsible for their illnesses. This is the meaning of the legal actions he has taken, so far successfully. This is also the meaning of his struggle-our struggle-to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future by removing asbestos from all places that can still generate hazards, primarily schools and other public places. ABEVA will naturally continue these battles in which it has been engaged for nearly 25 years and to which Éric has contributed extensively and tirelessly."

Message from Occupational Health and Safety Managers, Nigeria

In a message dated December 18, 2024, Ehi Iden, Chief Executive Officer, Occupational Health and Safety Managers, Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria wrote: "It is really sad to read of Eric's death.  I have read of his story and great activism efforts towards asbestos ban but sadly, this is where his journey ends. In solidarity with Eric, we must keep up the advocacy; no one is safe in a world where asbestos thrives until everyone of us is safe. My condolences to his family and everyone who knew him closely."

 

BANI demands asbestos free schools and public buildings like Calcutta High Court and Indian Railways

Responding to an order dated November 26, 2024 by National Green Tribunal (NGT) 's principal bench comprising of judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member Dr. Afroz Ahmad, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) has pointed out that in its submission before the NGT, India's Asbestos Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association refers to judgement of 1995 by the Supreme Court in Consumer Education Resource Centre v. Union of India but omits significant part of the directions with regard to ILO resolution concerning Asbestos and the compensation to the certified victims in order to mislead the NGT. The next date of hearing is on December 17, 2024. The case was registered on April 17, 2023. So far 11 orders have been passed in the case.

Press Trust of India, The Tribune, Business Standard, The Print, Udayvani, Deccan Herald, The Hill Times, The Telegraph, Amar Ujala, Outlook Business have reported that NGT has said that Environment Ministry causing 'serious obstruction' in functioning. The Sunday Standard has reported that NGT has slammed MoEF for ‘stalling action’ over asbestos sheets in educational institutions. It has been reported that Tribunal Faces Roadblock: MoEFCC’s Silence on Asbestos Hazards in Schools

NGT's order reads: "Issue of non-occupational health hazards likely to be caused by use of Asbestos sheets in educational institutional to students has been raised in this application. Vide order dated 18.07.2024, we required Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as ‘MoEF&CC’) to find out whether in respect of use of asbestos sheets in Educational Institutions, there are some different kinds of health hazards to students i.e. non-occupational health hazards, comparing to health hazards applicable to workers in Industrial Sector, and if there is a distinction, let the matter be given a scientific study and report of such scientific study be submitted along with reply. Tribunal considered the matter on 25.09.2024 and found that though an affidavit dated 24.09.2024 has been filed by MoEF&CC but no specific reply has been given in respect of scientific study on the question posed by Tribunal in para 6 of order dated 18.07.2024. Tribunal by order dated 25.09.2024 again directed Ministry to get study conducted by constituting an expert Committee comprising of specialist of multi-discipline and submit report within two months. Shri Narender Pal Singh, Advocate present on behalf of MoEF&CC has stated that a Committee has been constituted comprising of 12 persons but could not give any reply, whether any study has been conducted and report has been submitted or not. No official from MoEF&CC is present to apprise Tribunal about compliance of Tribunal’s order dated 25.09.2024 and no report has been placed on record. In these facts and circumstances, Tribunal, due to lack of appropriate response on the part of MoEF&CC is not in a position to proceed further in the matter and this a serious obstruction caused in functioning of Tribunal by Environmental Ministry itself. In these facts and circumstances, having no option, we are constrained to direct an officer of MoEF&CC to remain present personally before Tribunal, not below the rank of Joint Secretary, who is well conversant with the subject in issue, on the next date, and to explain as to why order dated 25.09.2024 has not been complied with by it though non-compliance of Tribunal’s order constitute an offence under Section 26 of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010."

Dr. Raja Singh, the applicant who has filed the application before the NGT is a visiting faculty in the Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi for issuance of directions for stopping the use of Asbestos roof sheets for schools as a measure of public health and safety and environmental health under the Environment Protection Act 1981 and Air (Prevention and Control) of Pollution Act 1986 at the pan-India level. The applicant has submitted that asbestos roofing is composed of a mixture of asbestos fibers and cement. Many times, schools buildings use these asbestos sheets, especially in the rural areas. Over time, the asbestos sheets become friable or crumble and asbestos fibers are released from these sheets which can become airborne in the indoor air of the school and be inhaled by the occupants of the school who may be small school going children. These buildings also have higher dust pollution. The inhalation of the asbestos fibers causes lung diseases which may turn fatal. The peculiar character of diseases related to asbestos fiber inhalation is their high latency period and any student who is exposed at a young age will only get the manifestations of the diseases after decades during his/her bread winning or family raising period. Asbestos being a non-biodegradable material is a health hazard to school children. The applicant has referred to research titled ‘The natural reduction of threat in selected systems of old buildings containing asbestos’ published in Nature Scientific Reports. 

This study underlines that "The health aspect of asbestos works must be taken into account relative to contemporary tendencies leaning towards absolute asbestos removal. Pleural mesothelioma cancer is characterized by a 40-year latency period. Therefore, results of exposure from 1990 to 2019 will result in diseases arising in 2030–2059. This applies in particular to the higher asbestos exposures arising during the asbestos removal programs. Accelerated and imprecise disassembly, may result in increasing mesothelioma in future decades. Research on the increase in mortality in the USA in the 1980s caused by asbestos removal confirmed this problem." 

 

The conclusion of the study is as under: "1. The concentration of asbestos fibers in indoor air of “rigid-constructions” is most often small, ~ 0–300 f/m3; “non-rigid construction” is often higher.
    2. In a such buildings after many years of operation the air quality getting better over time.
    3. Active behavior in buildings with asbestos is a cause of above-normal dust pollution. For this reason, children and young people should not use buildings with asbestos, regardless of their physical condition.
    4. In a normally used building containing ACM, ventilation and air exchange are important factors in reducing the concentration of asbestos dust over time.
    5. If there is no evidence of an increase in the concentration of asbestos in the air, the removal of ACM from such facilities should be postponed until the building is no longer used.
    6. Repeated confirmation of low concentrations and/or confirmed concentration decreases in the building allows an extension of safe facility operation.
    7. The reduction of asbestos dust in buildings can be a normal and natural process after proper and long service life (if the operation is not accompanied by the destruction of asbestos). Such conditions are met by many buildings with non-friable ACM, in which asbestos is insulated from the internal air. An example of this construction is BISTYP." BISTYP seems to refer to a Polish design of industrial building of rigid structure. 
 

BANI has also pointed out that the Asbestos Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association, a cartel of asbestos based companies which has referred to a “National Study on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Environment in Asbestos Cement Product Industries” covering 50 functional asbestos cement product industries of the country carried out by the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This study found that out of 2603 workers, 10 cases were suspected cases of asbestos related disorders. This study came under scrutiny of a paper entitled “Analysis of the Indian Government’s position on the use of asbestos and its health effects” published in Public Health Action (June 21, 2023) by Dr. R. Singh and Prof. A. L. Frank. The paper concludes that the DGFASLI “study has some potential limitations, including the possibility that disease latency could be a factor, as the presence of disease may only be revealed decades after exposure. Furthermore, there appears to be no record of external peer review by an organisation outside the one conducting the study.”

This dishonest and insincere approach of the asbestos companies and DGFASLI demonstrates "their pre-existing ideological commitment to support corporate interests over worker or community interests."  The Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No.206 of 1986 had given the following directions on January 27, 1995. It reads: “All the industries are directed

(1) To maintain and keep maintaining the health record of every worker up to a minimum period of 40 years from the beginning of the employment or 15 years after retirement or cessation of the employment whichever is later;

(2) The Membrane Filter test, to detect asbestos fibre should be adopted by all the factories or establishments at par with the Metalliferrous Mines Regulations, 1961; and Vienna Convention and Rules issued thereunder;

(3)  All the factories whether covered by the Employees State Insurance Act or Workmen's Compensation Act or otherwise are directed to compulsorily insure health coverage to every worker;

(4) The Union and the State Governments are directed to review the standards of permissible exposure limit value of fibre/cc in tune with the international standards reducing the permissible content as prayed in the writ petition referred to at the beginning. The review shall be continued after every 10 yews and also as an when the I.L.O. gives directions in this behalf consistent with its recommendations or any Conventions;

(5) The Union and all the State Governments are directed to consider inclusion of such of those small scale factory or factories or industries to protect health hazards of the worker engaged in the manufacture of asbestos or its ancillary produce;

(6) The appropriate Inspector of Factories in particular of the State of Gujarat, is directed to send all the workers, examined by the concerned ESI hospital, for re-examination by the National Institute of Occupational Health to detect whether all or any of them are suffering from asbestosis. In case of the positive Ending that all or any of them ant suffering from the occupational health hazards, each such worker shall be entitled to compensation in a sum of rupees one lakh payable by the concerned factory or industry or establishment within a period of three months from the date of certification by the National Institute of Occupational Health."  

The members of the India's Asbestos Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association have not been complying with these directions of the Supreme Court. They are trying to mislead the Tribunal by withholding the full text of the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court which has recognised right to health as part of fundamental right to health.

The word "Asbestos" has become so notorious that Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association has changed its name to hide the word "Asbestos". Now it calls itself "Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association"! But in their naked lust for profit they will have present and future generations of Indians and residents in India including the foreign embassies and foreign visitors whose countries have banned all kinds of asbestos, that foreign asbestos is “safe”. 

Significantly, in Writ Petition (Civil). No. 14729 (W) of 2016, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty has passed the verdict observing, “The High Court main building is undergoing repairs with the assistance of the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of West Bengal and other Authorities. When the entire renovation is undertaken, it is expected that the High Court and the PWD or, any other body entrusted with the renovation will ensure that the asbestos-sheets, which have been used for roofing, would be replaced by any other materials which are non-carcinogenic.”

Calcutta High Court has recorded that “there is sufficient study material indicating that asbestos sheets used for roofing could cause cancer” and “various documents, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), and other materials obtained from the Internet, that the exposure to asbestos including chrysotile causes lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.” It was contended by the petitioner that “the High Court should not continue to use these materials for roofing, especially after legislation in different parts of the world has been enacted on recognizing the potential health risk of asbestos to the citizens at large. Even in India several Acts recognized the fact that asbestos is a health-hazard.

 

In a related development, Indian Railways is removing asbestos roofs from 7,364 railway stations all over India. But instead of learning from this positive step, Stores/North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur has invited tenders (Tender Reference Number: 28240783) for the supply of Compressed Asbestos Fiber Jointing Sheet (3.2 mm thick, conforming to IS:2712/1998 GR 0.1, oil-resistant, 1500-1800 mm long). North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur should learn from Railways Ministry;s Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research and development and railway technical specification development organisation which functions as a technical adviser and consultant to the Railway Board, the Zonal Railways, the Railway Production Units, RITES, RailTel and Ircon International in respect of design and standardization of railway equipment and problems related to railway construction, operations and maintenance. In April 2001, RDSO developed new kinds of asbestos-free composite materials for use in brake blocks. These are known as the 'L' type brake blocks and after being introduced for BG, were introduced on MG in 2005.

 

Notably, the government of India has banned mining of all kinds of asbestos due to its harmful effect on human health. 

The Asbestos Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association will have media, legislatures and courts and residents of India believe that Indian asbestos is unsafe, hazardous, poisonous and harmful but asbestos from Russia, Brazil, Kazakhstan and China is safe, non-hazardous, non-poisonous and harm free.

India is the world’s largest asbestos importer and consumer. As per United States Geological Survey, India used 408,000t in 2021 and 424,000t in 2022. As per Government of India, India imported 436,119t in 2021  and 403,292t in 2022. Indian Minerals Year Book reveals that although India banned mining of all kinds of asbestos including chrysotile asbestos due to its harmful health effect but it continues to import it from China besides Russia, Kazakhstan and Brazil unmindful of the fact that Brazilian court has banned its use in Brazil.

It has been estimated that one person dies from mesothelioma for every 170 tons of asbestos consumed. WHO estimates we have107,000 deaths worldwide per year from occupational exposure to asbestos.If non occupational exposure is added it reaches a figure of about 120,000deaths. Average world consumption/year 30-60 years ago was -- looks like 3/2 of what it is now (2 million metric tons/year). Give India its share of that based on its share of global consumption. At 300,000 tons in 2013, that's about 18,000 deaths (15% of 120,000).  Asbestos diseases have a very long incubation period. So if you are exposed today to an asbestos fibre, you are likely to get the disease in next 10-35 years.

It as been estimated by a Canadian jurist that approximately 50, 000 people die every year due to asbestos related cancer. But so far Government of India and state governments has failed to take a pro-people’s health position and a scientific stand on the import of chrysotile asbestos whose mining is technically banned in India. It is a matter of fact that health is a state subject.

Asbestos is like a time bomb to the lungs and Indians will suffer the most. If it is banned today that does not mean people will not suffer. Because of past usage people will continue to suffer from these diseases.

The Asbestos Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association will have all Indians believe that the governmental patronage they are enjoying is not linked to their donations to ruling parties under Section 182 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Since 2002 BANI’s work is dedicated to the implementation of the Court’s directions and the recommendations of ILO and WHO to prevent preventable diseases and preventable deaths by prevention of asbestos trade, manufacture and use. It demands revision of the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 which declare manufacture, handling and processing of Asbestos and its products as Hazardous Process but do not impose ban on manufacture, handling and processing of asbestos and asbestos based products. It seeks amendment in the Schedule XIV, Section 87 of the Factories Act which deals Dangerous Operation of “Handling and Processing of Asbestos, Manufacture of any Article or Substance of Asbestos and any other Process of Manufacture or otherwise in which Asbestos is used in any Form’ to ensure that India supports listing of chrysotile asbestos under list of hazardous substances as per UN’s Rotterdam Convention. 

BANI demands cancellation of all the environmental clearances and No Objection Certificates given to asbestos based factories and ban on all asbestos based products. It seeks legal and medical relief for the victims of incurable asbestos related diseases caused by primary and secondary exposure. It wants asbestos free schools and hospitals, asbestos free powder, asbestos free water supply pipes and asbestos free vehicles. It demands decontamination of all the public and private buildings including foreign embassies which are ridden with asbestos fibers. The decision making with regard to asbestos must be shifted from the commerce ministry, a promoter of trade in asbestos, to the health ministry, a regulator of health hazards. The latter must be empowered to ensure that it gives precedence to public health.      

In such a context, there is an urgent to take note of:

-Calcutta High Court’s verdict drawing  on Supreme Court's verdict of 1995 by the bench of Justice K. Ramaswamy, Chief Justice A. M. Ahmadi and Justice M.M. Punchhi; 

-WHO's publication dated September 27, 2024 refers to the World Health Assembly Resolution 58.22 on cancer prevention urges Member States to pay special attention to cancers for which avoidable exposure is a factor, including exposure to chemicals at the workplace and in the environment. Eliminating asbestos-related diseases is particularly targeted at countries still using chrysotile asbestos, in addition to assistance in relation to exposures arising from historical use of all forms of asbestos. WHO, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization and other intergovernmental organizations and civil society, works with countries towards elimination of asbestos-related diseases by: recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos; providing information about solutions for replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement;taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos in place and during asbestos removal (abatement);improving early diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation services for asbestos-related diseases; establishing registries of people with past and/or current exposures to asbestos and organizing medical surveillance of exposed workers; and providing information on the hazards associated with asbestos-containing materials and products, and by raising awareness that waste containing asbestos should be treated as hazardous waste;

-Need to announce the compensation package for present and future victims of asbestos diseases as it has done in the case of Silicosis and make the asbestos companies criminally liable for knowingly exposing citizens and consumers of asbestos products;

-The fact that every international health agency of repute including the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the American Cancer Society agree there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Most recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reconfirmed that all commercial asbestos fibers - including chrysotile, the most commercially used form of asbestos - cause lung cancer and mesothelioma. In addition, IARC newly confirmed that there is sufficient evidence that asbestos causes ovarian cancer and reconfirmed asbestos causes laryngeal cancer;

-The World Health Organisation estimates that asbestos already claims 107,000 lives a year. Even that conservative estimate means every five minutes around the clock a person dies of asbestos related disease. The ongoing use of the asbestos fibre kills at least 300 people every day;

-World Bank's Asbestos Good Practice Guidelines-These Guidelines, as well as its earlier Environmental, Health & Safety General Guidelines, require that the use of asbestos must be avoided in new construction in projects funded by the World Bank around the world. The Guidelines also provide information on available safer alternatives to asbestos;

 

-Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Good Practice Guidance for the Management and Control of Asbestos: Protecting Workplaces and Communities from Asbestos Exposure Risks, March 2022

-Human biology is same everywhere if the asbestos is deemed hazardous in the developed countries; it must be deemed so in West Bengal too.

There is abundance of incontrovertible adverse health effects asbestos based plants and products which create a compelling logic for the phase out of all kinds of asbestos including white chrysotile to protect the lives of present and future generations.