Interview of Dr. Barry Castleman on Schmidheiny Asbestos Deaths Case by "Corporate Crime Reporter"

In the backdrop of some 20 years of legal proceedings against the Swiss Eternit Group’s factories in Italy, which were sold by Stephan Schmidheiny in 1986, which are alleged to have exposed workers and residents to asbestos, the conviction for manslaughter places blame on Schmidheiny, as former owner of the factories for the deaths of 147 residents of the town of Casale Monferrato and factory employees whose exposure to asbestos mineral fibers was associated with a large number of deaths due to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses. 

Corporate Crime Reporter (CCR) interviewed Dr. Barry Castleman, one of the world's leading experts on asbestos disease on October 27, 2025. The interview was published by CCR on November 3, 2025. Castleman has documented corporate crimes in the asbestos industry in India and the struggle of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) in his book Asbestos: Medical And Legal Aspects.   

INTERVIEW WITH BARRY CASTLEMAN 

Castleman opens his 2017 paper Criminality and Asbestos in Industry with a quote from Sin and Society, Edward Ross' 1907 classic.

"The grading of sinners according to badness of character goes on the assumption that the wickedest man is the most dangerous. This would be true if men were abreast in their opportunities to do harm. But the fact is that the patent ruffian is confined to the Social basement. He can assault or molest, to be sure, but he cannot betray. Nobody depends on him so he cannot commit breach of trust, that arch sin of our time. He does not hold in his hand the safety or welfare of the public. He is the clinker, not the live coal-vermin, not beast of prey. Today the villain most in need of curbing is the respectable, exemplary, trusted personage, who, strategically placed at the focus of a spider-web of fiduciary relations, is able from his office chair to pick a thousand pockets, poison a thousand sick, pollute a thousand minds, or imperil a thousand lives." 

Castleman then lays out his own five part formula for prevention - information, regulation, compensation, humiliation, and incarceration."

CCR: Criminal prosecutions for corporate manslaughter or homicide are few and far between. But you have been following one in Italy. Tell us about it. 

CASTLEMAN: The case was originally brought in Italy to hold businessmen criminally responsible for causing the deaths of workers and neighbors of their factories from preventable occupational and environmental cancers. The company involved is the Swiss company Eternit, which had cement pipe and sheet manufacturing plants all over Europe, in South America and even in Lebanon and India. It was a giant corporation using asbestos combined with cement to make construction materials. As a result, you see the corrugated asbestos cement roofs gray in color all over the developing world today. The company's owner and CEO was a man named Stephan Schmidheiny. Mr. Schmidheiny eventually realized that asbestos was going to have to go and in the 1980s he sold or closed all of his asbestos mines and plants.

CCR: How did he come to that realization? 

CASTLEMAN: Well, governments across Europe were banning asbestos, starting with Sweden. The Swedish labor unions took a look at the way asbestos was being used in the construction industry and said - we don't need to use asbestos cement roofs and pipes in our country, we have other alternative construction materials we can use for roofing and pipes - metal pipes, plastic pipes. And similarly, roofing materials could be made of other materials. Under pressure from the unions, the Swedes shut down the Enternit plants in 1976. And they put pressure on the giant automobile and truck companies - Saab, Volvo and Scania - and forced them to get serious about replacing asbestos in brake linings.

By 1987, the Swedes required that all new vehicles in Sweden be asbestos free. They started with brakes and then engine gaskets and clutches had to be asbestos free. That was the result of the Swedish unions pressuring the automobile industry. So the bans started in the Scandinavian countries. And by the early 1990s, other companies like Merdedez were seeing they had to go asbestos free in their new cars. And it turned out that the non asbestos brakes actually worked better than the asbestos brakes. They did cost a little more. 

CCR: What are the health implications of exposure to asbestos and how long have we known about the problem?

CASTLEMAN: Asbestosis was first recognized over 100 years ago as an occupational disease, a lung scarring disease you could get from breathing asbestos dust. In the early days they were making asbestos cloth for safety gloves in the steel industry. The dust was so thick you couldn't see across the room and people in their early 30s were dying of asbestosis.

But as some protective measures were introduced in some countries like Britain and Germany, the workers started living long enough to get occupational cancer. The Germans recognized as early as the 1930s that lung cancer was also caused by asbestos. They had state worker compensation boards and they were compensating lung cancer as an occupational disease even for workers who had slight asbestosis. And that was reported in the most prominent German medical journal - the German Medical Weekly--in the beginning of 1939. And that was received in libraries in the United States. Then in the 1940s, cancers of the pleura and peritoneum, the thin membranes lining the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity, were extraordinarily rare. And these cancers started to be reported with people with asbestosis.

The Germans were the first to recognize, based on two cases, that this rare cancer was an occupational cancer. And that was published in Germany in 1943. And it was published in England nine months later. The Brits were still reading the German Medical Weekly during the war and writing abstracts and publishing those in the UK. And that was republished here in the United States.

By 1960, it was recognized that people who lived near asbestos mines were getting these rare cancers in rather large numbers. Thirty three cases were reported in South Africa and 32 of the 33 cases had a demonstrable history of asbestos exposure.

Then in the mid 1960s, British epidemiologists Murial Newhouse and Hilda Thompson did an epidemiological study of people who had died in a London hospital of mesothelioma. They tracked down the survivors and identified 76 comparison patients who had other conditions. They interviewed those people for a comparison population. And they found the people with asbestosis had a greater history of occupational exposure to asbestos.

There was also a larger study of the people in the mesothelioma group who had only household exposure to asbestos. They never worked with it but they lived with someone who did and who would bring this dust home on their clothes, on their shoes, on their lunch boxes, their hair, in the car. And the household would be contaminated with these indestructible mineral fibers. They would accumulate in the household and kill the family members of the asbestos workers.

This one study also showed that of the remaining cases, the mesothelioma patients had a statistically significant excess of people who had neither occupational or household exposure but lived within a half a mile of an asbestos factory. you have demonstrated that mesothelioma is So a disease that threatens all the people who worked with asbestos, all the people who live with those people and all of the people who lived within the surrounding communities around the asbestos air pollution point sources like shipyards, asbestos factories and construction factories.

At the same time you had Dr. Irving Selikoff in New York in 1964 doing a mortality study of insulation workers. And although individual deaths had been reported on a number of workers in the insulation trade, using pipe covering and boiler insulation that contained asbestos, no one had really identified the extent of the danger.

Selikoff did this through a mortality study. He was able to do this because he had the cooperation of the union of insulation workers. And that union trusted him with the ass of the members of the New York and New Jersey locals. That was the beginning of 1942. He followed these workers up through 1962, by which time 255 out of 632 men had died. If you look at the mortality experience of these men, one out five of these men died of cancer of the lung and pleura. He documented an appalling excess of pulmonary cancer. And 12 of the 255 died from asbestosis.

CCR: What about exposure to asbestos insulation in the home?

CASTLEMAN: There was also a recognition that people could get killed by consumer products. There was a report in 1974 of the British Mesothelioma Register and one of the deaths had only done one day of work building chicken coops with asbestos boards. That was the only asbestos exposure this person had and he died of mesothelioma. Nobody was able to do a study of ordinary consumers. The exposure to asbestos was so permeated throughout our society, you couldn't find an unexposed group. 

CCR: If you had mesothelioma, that means you were exposed to asbestos. If you were not working in a facility or living near a facility or married to someone who worked in a facility - there must have been those cases. How many were there? 

CASTLEMAN: We don't know. How many people are going to remember that they worked in an office building where there were renovations done to the building and they were carrying out a whole bunch of asbestos? And this would have been before anyone was putting up warning signs or taking any kinds of precautions.

CCR: If someone has mesothelioma but doesn't know where they got the exposure, who do they sue?

CASTLEMAN: Good question. The lawyers on both sides of the take exposure histories. These lawyers are looking for every possible way these people were exposed to asbestos. The plaintiffs' lawyers are looking for someone to sue. The defense lawyers are looking for someone to blame. Both sides are assiduously questioning these people if they are still alive. You question these people. The plaintiffs' lawyers will very thoroughly explore every job these people had, every way they could have been exposed to asbestos. But there turn out to be new things that come along that they were not asking about-like talcum powder. Up until about twenty years ago, generally the only talc that was being subject of litigation was New York State talc, which was well known to be contaminated with asbestos. There have been reports since the 1960s of people dying from lung cancer and mesothelioma these were people who mined this talc.

Then people started looking more carefully at other products that had talc.

CCR: How many people have been killed by asbestos?

CASTLEMAN: We estimate maybe 40,000 a year in the United States. So that would be hundreds of thousands of people, maybe a million or two. 

CCR: What about worldwide?

CASTLEMAN: The estimates are now running around 300,000 a year.

CCR:How many criminal prosecutions have been brought against asbestos manufacturers?  

CASTLEMAN: Practically none.

CCR: Millions of people around the world have died from this, from an exposure that the industry understood could kill and they understood it more than 100 years ago. And there have been practically no criminal prosecutions, except in Italy. 

CASTLEMAN: They went after the Italian managers of the Eternit company. And they finally went after the top dog, the owner and CEO in Switzerland. He's a multi-billionaire. 

CCR: Was there a criminal prosecution against the company?

CASTLEMAN: No, but criminal prosecutions against companies are kind of amorphous. You can only get a fine. Nobody goes to jail. 

CCR: Except that our publication is called Corporate Crime Reporter and we have documented literally hundreds of prosecutions against companies. And there is a reason to prosecute companies instead of just individuals- and that is to send a message, and to deter future wrongdoing. There is a purpose for criminally prosecuting a company. In Italy the company was not criminally prosecuted. Instead they prosecute the top dog as you call him, Stephan Schmidheiny.

CASTLEMAN: Yes. He was initially charged with creating an environmental disaster. He was interviewed in 2002 by the Wall Street Journal and he said - "I will never go to an Italian jail." 

CCR: Actually, I just looked it up for the full quote. He told the Journal - "I promise you, I will never go to an Italian prison. Once in a while, I have to look myself in the mirror. I can very well look this guy in the eyes and feel good about what I have done. Of course, nobody is perfect, and from hindsight, you always know more and you should have done more.

CASTLEMAN: The case actually went forward in 2009. I testified in the case about how the big asbestos companies were sharing documents with each other. Those documents came out in U.S. litigation.

In 2012, a three judge panel convicted Stephan Schmidheiny of creating an environmental disaster. There was also a Baron from Belgium who was prosecuted, but he died a few weeks before the court rendered its verdict. So, Schmidheiny was the only one convicted. He was sentenced to 16 years in jail for creating an environmental disaster.

Unionists from all over Europe came to the court to hear the verdict. They were wearing their union jackets. There were Eternit companies in many of these European countries.

Three auditoriums were filled with people who wanted to witness the verdict being handed down. We had simultaneous translation into English and French.

The verdict went on appeal the following year- 2013. The appeals court added some additional deaths from Naples and they raised the sentence to 18 years.

Then the case went to the Court of Cassation - which is the highest appellate court. That was an appeal based on just the law, not the facts. The Court of Cassation heard the case. The legendary prosecutor - Raffaele Guarniniello - who brought this case was not the one who took the case on its final appeal. The appeal was handled by some political appointee from the Ministry of Justice. He walked into the court and said - we ask for the case to be dismissed on the grounds of statute of limitations. That would be like the Justice Department winning a criminal case in the district court and a U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington and then saying - never mind, we want this conviction to be thrown out. And the statute of limitations issue had been raised in the lower courts and dismissed out of hand. It's not as if this issue was being brought up for the first time.

The Court of Cassation threw out the case. But six months before the Court of Cassation heard the appeal, the prosecutor, Raffaele Guarniniello, suspecting this might happen, filed murder charges against Schmidheiny. There's no statute of limitation for murder, but there is for manslaughter. Schmidheiny was represented by the best lawyers money can buy. He was reputed to have been spending millions of dollars on lawyers. The cases were batted around in different courts in Italy. And in the end, it was decided that there would be four separate trials of Schmidheiny on manslaughter charges.

Schmidheiny was tried in three courts. And in all three trials, he was convicted of manslaughter - in 2018, 2022 and 2023. The big case was in 2023, which involved a large number of deaths in Casale Monferrato.

CCR: The reason there were three separate trials 

CASTLEMAN: They were broken down by different regions of the country. He was convicted three times by three different courts. And now three courts of appeal have upheld those verdicts. 

CCR: What were the sentences in each case? 

CASTLEMAN: Only a year or two in the first two. They started out with two deaths in Turin. Then it was reduced to one. They started out with eight in Naples and that was reduced to one.

Then the big case was in 2023. There were 392 deaths from mesothelioma in the Casale area. He was sentenced to twelve years in jail. And now the appeals court just ruled. It issued a judgment. But then it issued something called a motivation. This was an explanation on what the judgment was based on. The motivation was just issued and runs about 600 pages.

CCR: Where is Schmidheiny now? 

CASTLEMAN: He never appeared in Italy. Only his lawyers appear in court.

CCR: What happens now?

CASTLEMAN: The final appeal goes to the Court of Cassation. That court has been playing some funny games with statutes of limitations in other cases. But these cases have achieved a great deal o media interest in Italy. People are following this. People want to know what a going to happen. This is a matter of public concern

CCR: When is the Court of Castion going to hear the case?

CASTLEMAN: I would say within the cast year or so. It might take another year inder frase law, while these cases are delayet, the statue of limitations clock keeps running. Depelievable. 

CCR: How long has this been going on now? 

CASTLEMAN: The trial court convictions go back to 2018.

CCR: Where is Schmidheiny now? 

CASTLEMAN: Probably in Switzerland. 

CCR: How much is he worth?

CASTLEMAN: Billions.

CCR: How would you explain the lack of criminal manslaughter prosecutions? In the United States you have Ford Motor Company, BP, PG&E. But few others. But why so few?

CASTLEMAN: The first release of documents from the asbestos litigation, which the journalists referred to as "the Pentagon Papers of the asbestos industry," was in 1978. Then Congressman George Miller (D-California) put forth legislation that would subject corporate executives to criminal prosecution if they were involved with suppressing information from the public that lead to serious illness or death.

I testified at Congressional hearings in 1979. He told me he never saw anything like the corporate opposition to this bill. It was going nowhere. The corporate powers were absolutely determined not to allow the United States to establish personal responsibility for these business decisions which endangered so many people's lives. The hearing was chaired by Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan).

CCR: By the way, I searched for the term "Pentagon Papers of the asbestos industry and a 1978 Washington Post article came up titled - New Data on Asbestos Indicate Cover-Up of Effects on Workers. And here is the quote from the article: "These files are going to be the Pentagon Papers of the asbestos industry," said Barry Castleman, a consultant to the Environmental Defense Fund and to attorneys who have been distributing the material through legal circles."

National Green Tribunal reiterates Supreme Court’s directions, paves the way for adoption of alternatives of asbestos, reveals flaws in NHRC’s order after more than 9 years

Toxics Watch Alliance (TWA) welcomes NGT’s Judgment Endorsing Environment Ministry’s Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health for Phase Out  of Asbestos and for adoption of its alternatives

 

NGT’s judgement on asbestos vindicates TWA’s complaint petition in NHRC

 

Toxics Watch Alliance (TWA), a member of the Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) and Indian Asbestos Victims Association (IAVA) welcome the 85-page long judgment dated October 30, 2025 which paves the way for making the country’ free from all kinds of cancerous asbestos mineral fibers. NGT has endorsed the Union Environment Ministry’s Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health which aims to phase out  asbestos and opt for its alternatives.

 

NGT has tasked all the Chief Secretaries of the States and Union Territories and Member Secretaries of State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees to ensure requisite compliance. The judgement is logical step in pursuance of Supreme Court’s landmark judgement on fundamental right to health in Consumer Education and Research Center & Ors vs. Union of India & Ors  (1995) 3 SCC 42.  In one of its six directions, the Court had directed asbestos related rules shall be reviewed “after every 10 years and also as an when the I.L.O. gives directions in this behalf consistent with its recommendations or any Convention.” NGT’s judgement underlines that the resolution concerning asbestos adopted in June 2006 by the the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (I.L.O.)  is mandatory.

 

The I.L.O. resolution states that all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile, are classified as known human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a classification restated by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (a joint Programme of the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme). It expressed its deep concern that workers continue to face serious risks from asbestos exposure, particularly in asbestos removal, demolition, building maintenance, ship-breaking and waste handling activities, It noted that it took three decades of efforts and the emergence of suitable alternatives for a comprehensive ban on the manufacturing and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing products to be adopted in a number of countries. It resolves that: (a) the elimination of the future use of asbestos and the identification and proper management of asbestos currently in place are the most effective means to protect workers from asbestos exposure and to prevent future asbestos-related diseases and deaths….”

 

The Action Taken Report (ATR) by all the States and Union Territories which is required to be submitted within one month next to the expiry of the period of six months before the Registrar General of NGT in view of the hazards associated with exposure to asbestos cement roofing sheets and other asbestos contained material, following directions for  taking of following remedial measures for protecting workers, their family  members/persons coming in contact with them, residents of the locality, occupants and users of the buildings with asbestos cement roofing and other asbestos contained material have legal compulsion to factor in the resolution of the I.L.O.  

 

NGT’s judgement creates a compelling necessity to recognize that no public or private building in the country is asbestos free. Even the buildings of foreign embassies and consulates are either ridden with asbestos or asbestos-laden water supply pipes. NGT has recorded the fact that Union Ministry of External Affairs of India has informed the parliament that the Indian cultural centre in Washington DC was delayed due to asbestos problems in the building. It is high time a register of all the asbestos laden buildings is created besides a register of all the citizens who are either exposed to cancerous asbestos fibers or are suffering from asbestos related incurable diseases. A compensation fund is also required to compensate the victims of the asbestos related diseases.           

 

Significantly, in the aftermath of the stoppage of the installation of some six asbestos factories in the state, Bihar’s chief minister had announced In the state assembly that no asbestos plants will be allowed to be set up in the state. The Chief Secretary of Bihar has also been sent the judgement of the NGT. At a Conference on Environmental and Occupational Health, Awadesh Narain Singh, Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council had favored phasing of hazardous factories in public interest if they cause incurable but preventable diseases. He said, "buying asbestos is buying akin to buying cancer. I will get asbestos removed from my residence." He added, "the ache of asbestos hazards is worse than the ache of unemployment."    

Notably, Union ministry of commerce and industry and environment, forests and climate change have banned trade in asbestos (dust and fibers) in compliance with the UN's Basel Convention. The Union railway ministry has phased out asbestos roofs from all the 9274 railway stations. The Union education ministry has launched an asbestos free schools campaign. The Union Ministry of Defense has taken a position against induction of asbestos laden ships in the Indian Navy. The Union Ministry of Shipping is a signatory to the Convention of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which forbids use of asbestos in ships. At a India-EU Seminar, the Union Labour Ministry had presented a concept paper disclosing that, “The Government of India is considering a ban on the mining and use of chrysotile asbestos in India to protect the workers and the general population”. The Union ministry of mines has already banned mining of all kinds of carcinogenic asbestos mineral fibers. Most recently, Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025 under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 asbestos as one of the 189 hazardous chemicals.

The NGT’s judgement and these Rules create a path for listing of white chrysotile asbestos in the Annex III of the UN’s Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. Its inclusion has been pending since 2006.  Coincidentally, Dinesh Runiwal, a scientist in the Hazardous Substances Management Division in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) is a member of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention until April 30, 2028. There are six known varieties of Asbestos, namely, Crocidolite, Actinolite, Anthophylite, Amostile, Tremolite and Chrysotile. Out of these varieties of asbestos, Chrysotile is majorly used in chemical and petrochemical sector. Government of India has not banned the use of any type of asbestos in the country. The Crocidolite, Actinolite, Anthophylite, Amostile, Tremolite varieties of asbestos are listed in Annexure-III (List of certain hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides) of the Convention procedure by the exporting country for the imports to India. So far the white chrysotile asbestos has not been included in Annexure-III of the Rotterdam Convention and is imported without any prior consent.

NGT judgement refers to the order of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), wherein TWA’s claim about 50,000 people dying in India every year on account of Asbestos related diseases, and its demand for a ban on asbestos usage is mentioned. The 85-page long judgement in Dr. Raja Singh vs. Union of India & Ors.(2025) mentions National Human Rights Commission on nine occasions, Commission on 40 occasions and to NHRC on 4 occasions.     

 

NGT has detected the error in NHRC’s order which was based solely on a conflict-of-interest study by National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH). NGT refers to the case which was pursued by TWA in the National Human Rights Commission during June 21, 2011-August 8, 2016. TWA had “drawn attention of the Commission towards death of approximately 50000 people every year in the country due to Asbestos related cancer. He has alleged that white Asbestos is a fibrous material used for building roofs and walls and various in other forms. The complainant has sought Commission's intervention for a ban on the use of Chrysotile Asbestos(White Asbestos), which is hazardous for the health of people and causes various incurable diseases. Citing contradictory position of the Government on the issue, he has alleged that though the mining of Asbestos has technically banned by the government but it allows its import and that too from the countries which do not prefer its domestic use. The complainant has also requested for grant of a compensation package for present and future victims of Asbestos diseases.” NHRC had issued notice to the Secretaries of Ministries of Chemical Fertilisers, Environment and Forest, Health and Family Welfare, Industry and Commerce, Labour and Chief Secretaries of all the States/Union Territories calling for a status report on the asbestos related issues on June 28, 2011. NHRC had sought additional from all of them in 2012, 2013, 2015 and in June 2016. 

 

Prior to abrupt closure of the case without addressing all the prayers on August 8, 2016, NHRC had sought additional information as part of its 60 actions by NHRC through its communication dated June 30, 2016. The communication reads: “The Commission, in this case has been dealing with the issue of hazards posed by Chrysolite Asbestos (white asbestos) which is said to be adversely affecting the health of people causing various incurable diseases including cancer. The issue was raised by Shri Gopal Krishna of Toxics Watch Alliance through his complaint dated 16.6.2011. In the course of inquiry, the Commission has obtained expert opinion from Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai which was forwarded by its Director vide letter dated 3.2.2015. The said expert opinion was forwarded to Asbestos Manufacturers Association for their comments. In response the Asbestos Cement Product Manufacturers Association vide their communication dated 29.6.2015 has refuted the contents of Tata Memorial Report. The complainant Toxics Watch Alliance has made further submission vide their letter dated Nil received on 16.3.2013, dated 17.5.2013, dated 4.7.2014 and dated 1.3.2015. The Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Cement Section) Government of India to whom notice was issued, has vide communication dated 26.3.2013, responded that the issue of banning chrysolite asbestos is being dealt with by Department of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals. Subsequently, Department of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals vide letter dated 2.7.2013, has forwarded an office Memorandum dated 26.3.2013 in which the complaint of Toxics Watch Alliance has been examined and commented upon. It was stated that a study was commissioned on the subject through National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahemdabad. Further the report of NIOH was circulated to various stakeholders and agencies for their comments on the report, all of which were not received (page 825 vol. IV). It was stated that the comments received on the NIOH report from various Ministries/ Departments/ Stakeholders are being complied and considered for taking an appropriate stand in the matter. The Commission would now like to request the Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals: a) To inform the Commission about the final view that has been taken by the Department on the issue of banning Chrysolite Asbestos based on the report of NIOH and the comments received from Stakeholders. b) To analyze the expert opinion of Tata Memorial Centre, comments of the Asbestos Cement Product Manufactures Association and also the submissions of the Toxics Watch Alliance, the complainant. c) To send a knowledgeable person to appear before the Commission on ________ at 1100 hrs. to explain the latest position of science and Ministry's view in the matter.”

 

This communication from NHRC did not disclose that the study which was ‘’commissioned on the subject through National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahemdabad” was co-sponsored by Asbestos Cement Product Manufacturers Association, which made it a doctored study. This came to light through a reply under Right to Information Act and union government’s reply in the parliament. he government study on better working conditions in asbestos factories was partially funded by the asbestos industry itself. 

The Indian ministry of chemicals had commissioned NIOH to conduct the study in 2004 in the light of the proposed inclusion of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of the convention, which was recommended in 2005 and 2006. We learnt about it in February, 2008. The documents obtained by through the Right to Information Act revealed that the asbestos industry added Rs 16 lakh to the government's allocation of Rs 44 lakh for a study by the NIOH to "specifically indicate how technology has made working conditions (in asbestos factories) better." The Government conducted the study only to justify its position that asbestos does not pose an unmanageable risk. The industry is manufacturing science to back its pre-determined position. The industry was being consulted by the Government at every step and the study was presented at the meeting of the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention in March 2008 to justify its third veto against the UN action on white asbestos. The minutes of the Review Committee dated December 19, 2006 reads: "The report will be finalised after due discussions with the asbestos industry." Another meeting minutes dated April 18, 2007 reports that "...the results of the study which was underway could not be shared (with public) till the same was finalised." According to the documents, a letter from the department of chemicals and petrochemicals to the director of the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in 2006 states that the study should include "generation of data, which would justify the safe standards of its usage as also the reasons/rationale justifying its non-inclusion/or otherwise in the Prior Informed Consent (PIC)". The questionable scientific study that was finalized after discussion with the corporate interests is grossly conflict of interest ridden and deserves to be retracted. 

 

Besides the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the other three respondents in the NGT case were: Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Union Ministry of Education and Fibre Cement Products Manufacturers Association (FCPMA). It is apparent that due to infamy and notoriety of the “Asbestos” name, Asbestos Cement Product Manufacturers Association (ACPMA), a cartel of asbestos companies has re-named itself as Fibre Cement Products Manufacturers Association. Curiously, the association has registered itself as a non-profit entity.

Notably, the URLs of the press releases issued by NHRC with regard to the white chrysotile asbestos case have been disabled. The URL of Union Labour Ministry’s concept paper too has been disabled.  

Not only that Asbestos Cement Product Manufacturers Association (ACPMA) persuaded Secretary, Health Chandigarh Administration to write to forward its letter to Director Principal, Government Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) and The Director, Health & Family Welfare, Union Territory of Chandigarh for circulation and for comments. The letter dated February 5, 2024 by the Secretary, Health, Chandigarh Administration reads:"Subject: NHRC Case No.2951/30/0/2011/UC Dated:1.7.2011 Enclosed please find herewith a copy of letter dated: 26.08.2013 received from Manohar Lal IAS (Retd.) Director General for the Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association for sending the comments in the matter to this Administration." It added that it was "For circulation specially to the Deptt. of chest & T.B & Radiotherapy to the issued & after obtaining be forwarded to the quarter concerned if so agreed." Its copies were sent to the Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine/Department of Radiotherapy, GMCH, Chandigarh, the Office Superintendent. (HA-II), GMCH, Chandigarh, the Law Officer, Legal Cell, GMCH, Chandigarh and the Computer Programmer, GMCH, Chandigarh. It stated that "A copy along with its enclosure is forwarded to the followings for information & necessary action at their end" and "They are requested to offer their comments to this effect at the earliest, so that the same may be transmitted to the quarter concerned." 

Besides this Asbestos Cement Product Manufacturers Association alias Fiber Cement Product Manufacturers Association had filed a case against NHRC and ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) in the Delhi High Court to get itself impleaded in the NHRC case filed by TWA.

A 2-page long letter dated August 26, 2013 by Manohar Lal, IAS (Retd.), Director, Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers’ Association (Registered under Indian Societies Act, 1860) was sent to the K.K. Sharma IAS, Advisor Chandigarh Administration regarding "NHRC case no. 2951/30/0/2011/UC dated 1.7.2011 and  "Your letter no, 2272-F 11 (6) 2011 dated 17.11. 2011". It reads: "Kindly refer to your above mentioned letter vide which the Chandigarh Administration had submitted the status report called by the NHRC regarding occurrence of asbestos etc., in the UT of Chandigarh. The Chandigarh Administration in their above reply has concluded, "........Hence use of white asbestos should also be completely banned in India also and the same may be replaced by some safe alternative material”.  In fact had anyone made an effort tried to go through the literature/policy of the Government of India/ scientific and epidemiological studies by the National Institute of Occupation Health (NIOH) an Indian institute of international standing, the Chandigarh Administration would have never opined for even banning and never for completely banning the use of white asbestos. In June, 2011 one Mr. Gopal Krishna of ‘Toxics Watch Alliance (TWA) an anti-asbesios activist NGO filed a complaint with NHRC immediately prior to the meeting of the 3rd Conference of Parties (COP5) under the UN’s Rotterdam Conference. Jointly implemented by UNEP & FAO, the 1989 Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure programme has helped to ensure that governments have the information they need about hazardous chem for a assessing risks and taking informed decision on chemical imports. Any chemical to be brought under PIC procedure has to be by way of consensus alone of all the member countries. The anti-asbestos activists have been lobbying hard and working overtime to bring the white asbestos ( (chrysotile) used in the manufacture of asbestos cement roofing sheets (a.c. sheets) under the PIC list. Since its inception in 2004 the Rotterdam Convention, consensus has not been achieved for almost 10 years till now the 6th Conference of Parties (COP6) under the Rotterdam Convention held in May, 2013 in Geneva. Mr. Gopal Krishna of Toxics Watch in his complaint to, NHRC requested in June, 2011 immediately before the 5" conference of parties (COP5) which was held in June, 2011 in Geneva as under: 'in view of the above, it is your solemn duty of NHRC to protect Indian citizens from the exposure of fibres of chrysotile asbestos. In pursuance of the same as a first step there is a compelling reason for Government of India to support listing of chrysotile asbestos in the Prior informed Consent (PIC) procedure list of hazardous materials at tie 5‘ meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP5) to the UN’s Rotterdam Convention on the Prior informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (20 to 24 June, 2011, Geneva)'. When Mr. Gopal Krishna mentioned above as the first step what he really meant was the beginning of the process of completely banning the white asbestos (chrysotile) used in India for manufacturing cement roofing sheets (a.c. sheets). But the facts and the evidence that white asbestos (chrysotile) is a health hazard or causes cancer of lungs is totally at variance to what Mr. Gopal Krishna a has argued in his complaint. And this will be amply clear after Going through the views/stand of ACPMA submitted to the Ministry of Environment and “Forests immediately prior to the meetings of the Conference of Parties (COP6) held under the Rotterdam Convention in April-May this year in Geneva. The stand of the delegation of the Government of India led by the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests in this conference in May this year inter-alia was as under: 'India did not support listing, citing the utility of the substance the finding of “no hazard” in domestic studies arid the increased trade costs cf the PIC procedure'. We have taken this opportunity to bring in your kind notice that the Chandigarh Administration has replied to the NHRC rather without going through the facts and certainly in our view detrimental to our industry. Therefore, it is requested that all these information and factual position be kept on record and also would appreciate if the Chandigarh Administration may like to review and revise their reply to NHRC. In any case the undersigned would be highly obliged if you kindly give an opportunity for a meeting with you to explain you the matter personally with still more literature so that the concerned department in the Chandigarh Administration has all the facts before replying such question in future." 

 

The notice addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Union Territory of Chandigarh  dated June 28, 2011 reads:" Shri Gopal Krishna of Toxics Watch Alliance, TWA in his complaint dated 16.6.2011 has drawn attention of the Commission towards death of approximately 50000 people every year in the country due to Asbestos related cancer. He has alleged that white Asbestos is a fibrous material used for building roofs and walls and various in other forms. The complainant has sought Commission's intervention for a ban on the use of Chrysotile Asbestos(White Asbestos), which is hazardous for the health of people and causes various incurable diseases. Citing contradictory position of the Government on the issue, he has alleged that though the mining of Asbestos has technically banned by the government but it allows its import and that too from the countries which do not prefer its domestic use. The complainant has also requested for grant of a compensation package for present and future victims of Asbestos diseases. Issue notice...." 

 

Responding to the notice, in its reply on behalf of Secretary, Medical Education & Research,  Chandigarh Administration categorically informed NHRC: “a. White Asbestos (Chrysotile Asbestos) is implicated in so many studies with the following  diseases:-Mesothelioma (Cancer of Pleura), Lung Cancer, Peritoneal  Cancer, Asbestosis, And also consider as cause of following cancers:- Ovarian Cancer, Laryngeal Cancer, Other Cancer b. Diseases are produced in the person involved in Asbestos Industry.” 
It stated that “No. of cancer deaths due to asbestos requires further large  scale study from India”. It informed, “It is definitely harmful material, causing cancer and other related diseases.”  It quoted from Pulmonary Medicine, “Asbestos is a set of six naturally  occurring silicate minerals exploited commercially for their desirable physical properties. However, it has been proved beyond doubt that Asbestos is hazardous to humans. White asbestos has been found to have causal relationship with various diseases like pulmonary asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma leading to deaths of thousands of people every year.” Considering the risk, its use has been banned more than 50  countries including Japan, European Union and Australia and efforts are being made for its prohibition in many countries. The reply concludes  saying, “Hence, use of white asbestos should be completely banned in  India also and the same may be replaced by some safe alternative material.” 

 
In a separate reply dated June 6, 2012 Assistant Labour Commissioner,  Union Territory, Chandigarh has referred to para 16 of the judgement of  Hon’ble Supreme Court dated January 21, 2011 passed in Writ Petition  (Civil) No.260 of 2004 wherein directions of January 27, 1995 in the Writ  Petition (Civil) No. 206 of 1986 is required to be strictly adhered to.  It further states, “In terms of the above judgement of this Court as well as  reasons stated in this judgement, we hereby direct the Union of India and  States to review safeguards in relation to primary as well as secondary  exposure to asbestos keeping in mind the information supplied by the  respective States in furtherance to the earlier judgement as well as fresh resolution passed by the ILO. Upon such review, further directions,  consistent with law, shall be issued within a period of six months from  the date of passing of this order.” 

 

The fact is that there is nothing on record to show that Chandigarh Administration has changed its conclusion sent to NHRC, wherein it asserted "........Hence use of white asbestos should also be completely banned in India also and the same may be replaced by some safe alternative material” but NHRC did not factor it in its order dated August 8, 2016. 

 

So far it is clear that Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association (ACPMA) alias Fibre Cement Products Manufacturers Association (FCPMA) has failed to exert its undue influence on Chandigarh Administration.

 

NHRC had also disregarded the reply of Piyush Singh Joint Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand. In his reply dated May 29, 2012 to the NHRC, he enclosed a document Medline Plus Trusted Health Information for You, U.S. National Library of Medicine and the prescription of National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlighting the Treatment stating: “There is no cure. Stopping exposure to asbestos is essential. To ease symptoms, drainage, chest percussion and vibration can help remove fluids from the lungs. The doctor may prescribe earsol medication to thin lung fluids, People with the condition may need to  receive oxygen by mask or by a plastic piece that fits into the nostrils. Certain patients may need a lung transplant”. This was submitted by J P Bhatt Director General, Medical Health and Family Welfare, Government of Uttarakhand on May 17, 2012 in the  matter of NHRC Complaint Letter (Case No. 2951/30/02/2011) in the context of victims of diseases caused by Chrysotile Asbestos.

 

Disregarding scientific and medical evidence of public health hazard and its own order about the harmful effect of asbestos, NHRC refrained from prohibiting use of carcinogenic mineral fibers of white chrysotile asbestos using an irrelevant and an admittedly questionable study by NIOH. NHRC committed a grave error by merely reproducing the submission of one Assistant Industrial Advisor, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals as part of its “Directions”. By doing so, NHRC ignored its own order in Case No.693/30/97-98. In this case NHRC’s direction read: “Replace the asbestos sheets roofing with roofing made up of some other material that would not be harmful to inmates.” It is evident from it that the NHRC considered asbestos sheets as harmful but it allowed itself to be misled by a questionable study by NIOH.

 

Unlike NHRC, NGT drew on the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement on fundamental right to health in Consumer Education and Research Center & Ors vs. Union of India & Ors  (1995) 3 SCC 42. The Court gave following directions:-

“31. The writ petition is, therefore, allowed. 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 years 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 products; (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.”  

 

NHRC’s order was passed during the tenure of Justice H. L. Dattu as its 7th Chairperson who had joined the Commission in February 2016. The part heard case was decided in August 2016. Notably, NHRC took a total of 61 recorded actions in this case, out of which 58 actions were taken prior to the arrival of Justice Dattu. It seems unethical on his part to decide a part heard complaint without factoring in the submissions made by all the state governments and union territories and other union ministries, solely on the basis of the submission by Ministry of Chemicals and Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association which relied on a dubious NIOH study co-funded by them. Prior to him, the Commission headed by Justice K G Balakrishnan (7 June 2010-11 May 2015)  and Justice Cyriac Joseph (11 May 2015-28 February 2016) had heard the issue of banning use of white asbestos and had taken 58 actions. There is a compelling need for the NHRC to adopt the long held norms of judicial discipline for cases which remain part heard by Courts. A paper entitled ‘Research on Chrysotile Asbestos: Failure of Ethics by National Institute of Occupational Health and National Human Rights Commission’ presented at the 14th World Congress of Bioethics and 7th National Bioethics Conference held at Bangalore in December 2018 provided detailed account of the unethical conduct of both these public institutions. NGT’s judgment has set the matter right after more than nine years. 

 

Significantly, the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes, (DGFASLI) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, carried out a “National Study on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Environment in Asbestos Cement Product Industries” from November, 2018 to February, 2019 covering 50 functional asbestos cement product industries of the country. Drawing on the findings of this study, the Department of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has informed the Lok Sabha that "Out of 2603 workers, 10 cases were found to be suspected cases of asbestos related disorders". This reply makes it crystal clear that unlike NIOH the findings by DGFASLI's findings are consistent the finding of the Chemical review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention.  

 

It is noteworthy that in a 19-page long paper entitled 'Notification and recordkeeping of occupational mesothelioma in India' by Raja Singh and Arthur Frank dated February 14, 2025 following twelve recommendations have been made: 

1. Non-reporting by doctors itself despite their moral and legal responsibility could be avoided by enforcement of fines. 

2. Create infrastructure and mechanisms so that there is ease of reporting.

3. The healthcare cost due to occupational diseases must be quantified and this must be subtracted from the sum total of revenue generated from factories and mines. 

4. There should be coordination between the National Cancer Registry Program run by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Centre for Disease Informatics Research and the recordkeeping done by the mining and factory regulators. 

5. Cancer must be made notifiable across the country, despite it being a non-communicable disease. This will enable universality in reporting and prevent underreporting especially in cases where there is no clear-cut differentiation between occupational and non-occupational aetiology can also be recorded. 

6. Mesothelioma being a rare malignancy, associated with a specific exposure to asbestos, should be listed as a separate entry. 

7. Future studies related to asbestos exposure and mesothelioma must have the following three components: A. Consideration of long latency of disease caused by asbestos exposure, which may be 10/15 to 40 years or more. B. Inclusion of sampling of the environmental conditions, non-occupational exposures and para occupational exposures in studies performed related to asbestos exposure. C. Consideration that permissible levels may not exist for carcinogenicity. 

8. In compliance of the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in CERC vs. Union of India (1995), the directions which might not have been complied with, must be complied with, their as non-compliance is a contempt of the orders of the Court. 

9. India should ratify ILO’s Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 and Asbestos Convention, 1986, which remain non-ratified in India. 

10. History taking by doctors in mesothelioma suspected cases must not only take an occupational history, but also a history of other factors related to exposure such cosmetic talcum powder, exposure to other minerals with asbestos contamination, proximity to asbestos an factory or mine, or use of asbestos products, para-occupational exposure, some of which may be known and be recallable and others must require some further questioning by the history taking physicians. 

11. There must be focus on worker health and safety. The District Mineral Foundation should be made to concentrate on the health and safety of workers by provision of Personal Protective equipment, regular health check-ups and all other mechanisms for the well-being of workers. 

12. Apart from focus on recordkeeping and history-taking, a general increased interest in occupational medicine must be made a focus in India.

 

With regard to ILO's Conventions, besides the Conventions of 1974 and 1986, the paper should have paid heed to a 20-page long WHO/ILO's Outline for the Development of National Programmes for Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases, Substitutes for Asbestos-Cement Construction Products by Barry Castleman published in 2009 and the ILO position on safety in the use of asbestos published in 2010 and ILO's publication dated September 27, 2024 which refers to "Asbestos substitute materials", stating "Several alternatives and substitutes for the uses of asbestos have been identified, and human health evaluations of substitute materials have been published. Many fibre substitutes for chrysotile asbestos assessed by WHO pose a relatively low hazard to human health.". It is quite evident that NGT's judgement is consistent with the position of ILO and WHO.