Ban-Asbestos-India: Chrysotile Asbestos Under Scientific Scanner in India

Monday, December 10, 2007

Chrysotile Asbestos Under Scientific Scanner in India

Press Invite

Chrysotile Asbestos Under Scientific Scanner

Amid recent discussions in the winter session of parliament and in the backdrop of the controversial statements of Union Minister of Health and Minister of State for Mines, the Workshop on Occupational Health at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi is discussing global asbestos struggle.

Renowned scientists and experts of asbestos, occupational health and nanotechnology like Dr Barry Castleman among others are scheduled to address the workshop.

Date: December 11, 2007
Time: 11 AM–12 AM.
Venue: Magnolia Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Dr Castleman would also address the issue of Threshold Limit Value (TLV), a chemical substance defines the reasonable level to which a worker can be exposed without adverse health effects. TLV for particulates (such as dust etc) are constantly under excessive corporate influence. As part of an ongoing international effort is needed to develop scientifically based guidelines to replace the TLVs in a climate of openness and without manipulation by vested interests, the workshop would dwell on the role of Russian and Canadian chrysotile asbestos producers and Indian chrysotile asbestos product manufacturers.

Dr Castleman’s magnum opus Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects which is in its fifth edition provides accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter. He is well known for his role in global ban asbestos movement and the passage of Ban Asbestos America Act 21007 in the US Senate. His expert opinion is being filed in the Supreme Court of India in December 2007 in the Hazardous waste/Blue Lady case that is still sub judice.

The workshop is being organized by Centre for Occupational & Environmental Health, Maulana Azad Medical College.

For Details:Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Mb: 9818089660
Note: Investigations into the historical development of specific Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for many substances have revealed that unpublished corporate communications were important in developing TLVs for 104 substances. Out of these 104 substances, for 15 substances, the TLV documentation was based solely on such information. Efforts to obtain written copies of this unpublished material have been mostly unsuccessful. Corporate representatives listed officially as "consultants" since 1970 were given primary responsibility for developing TLVs on proprietary chemicals of the companies that employed them.

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mediavigil said...: Australian PM says asbestos campaigner was hero

Released on 07/12/2007
Australian PM says asbestos campaigner was hero

An Australian man who died campaigning for victims of asbestos-related disease has been given a state funeral and called a ‘great Australian hero’ by the country’s new Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Bernie Banton, who died at the age of 61 from asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma last week, led a sustained campaign to win compensation for employees of building products company James Hardie, where he used to work.

His campaign resulted in the establishment of an AUS$4 billion compensation fund.

Mr. Banton was vocal in the Australian general election campaign that saw Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party oust the long-standing coalition government of John Howard on 24th November, three days before Mr. Banton’s death.

Mr. Banton is reported to have asked Mr. Rudd to acknowledge the role of the unions in his campaign, which he did, saying: "I salute the roles of these unions in bringing justice to working people."

The construction industry in Australia will be watching Mr. Rudd’s stance toward unions closely in the months after the election because his opposition to the Howard government’s union-busting policies was a key plank of his election campaign.

The issue of asbestos-related claims among construction and other workers continues to loom in the developed world. Some experts believe that the worldwide rate at which people are diagnosed with asbestos-related disease will increase through the next decade. The total cost of asbestos litigation in the USA alone has been estimated at over US$250 billion.

Meanwhile there are reports that in developing countries such as China and India the use of asbestos-based sheeting is still used widely in construction.; December 10, 2007 at 8:48 PM

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Ban on Asbestos is a Must

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

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

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

Apex Court allocates meagre compensation for asbetsos victims

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

Asbestos Victims

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

Make India Asbestos Free

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Chrysotile Asbestos Under Scientific Scanner in India

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