Ban-Asbestos-India: UN headquarters to become asbestos free

Monday, November 23, 2009

UN headquarters to become asbestos free

Press Note

UN headquarters to become asbestos free

Indian Parliament, Courts, Govt buildings & media houses remain asbestos laden

BANI expresses grave concerns about the health & safety of Indian government officials, judges, parliamentarians & media persons

New Delhi-24/11/2009: The headquarters of the United Nations, based in New York City, will soon undergo a $2 billion extreme makeover. Plans for the massive overhaul of the UN campus involve removal of asbestos, a material once commonly used in a variety of building materials including fireproofing, tiles, and insulation. The work on the building will force some diplomats to relocate. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will move to a temporary structure. The UN's $2 billion renovation project is slated for completion in 2014. In order to show a leadership initiative for countries around the globe, the UN is making its buildings asbestos free.

Asbestos was used in 19th and 20th-century design of the buildings, its high time developning countries like India too stepped in the era of 21st century asbestos free design.

Exposure to asbestos is now known to be a contributing factor to the development of mesothelioma a rare form of cancer that affects thousands worldwide each year. Mesothelioma symptoms may not become apparent until many decades after a person has been exposed to asbestos.

Many mesothelioma patients lose their battle with mesothelioma only months after being diagnosed, with the majority of patients succumbing within 24 months of being diagnosed. Exposure to asbestos can also lead to lung cancer, pleural plaques, and asbestosis.

Earlier, President of the U.N. staff union, Stephen Kisambira had called a rare news conference to express concerns on behalf of U.N. workers that the asbestos abatement will not be carried out safely and effectively.

The matter is complicated even further because the UN, which is technically not United States territory despite its location in New York, has special legal status. This status would prevent workers or residents from bringing lawsuits against the contractors working on the abatement. If anyone contracts a asbestos realted disease which they believe is directly related to the renovation, they will be allowed to pursue arbitration but not litigation.

United Nations spokesperson Farhaq Haq has given an assurance that the abatement will be performed safely saying, “We will have another independent group that will monitor how the abatement process is carried out”. Architect Michael Adlerstein added that ATC Associates, an independent environmental engineering, health and safety specialist, will be “taking air samples several times a day at prescribed locations inside and outside the work area.”

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) is deeply concerned about the health and safety of Indian government officials, judges,the parliamentarians and media persons who work and live in asbestos laden buildings. It is about time steps are taken to make their work and and residential places as safe as UN headquarters. BANI has witnessed asbestos structures in the premises of the Indian Supreme Court as well.

About Ban Asbestos Network of India
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) is engaged in responding to public health crisis due to mining, manufacturing, use, and import of all forms of asbestos including Chrysotile. As part of a global anti-toxic activists’ coalition, BANI is fighting to ensure asbestos free India. Asbestos is a commercial term for six fibrous minerals of which chrysotile (white asbestos), the fibrous form of serpentine, is the form of asbestos which is mostly used now. BANI was founded by public health and environmental health researchers and activists in 2002. For more information visit banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

For Details: Gopal Krishna, BANI, Mb: 9818089660, E-mail: krishnagreen@gmail.com

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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

Ban-Asbestos-India

Monday, November 23, 2009

UN headquarters to become asbestos free

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