Ban-Asbestos-India: Chronology of National Asbestos Bans

Friday, July 30, 2010

Chronology of National Asbestos Bans

Chronology of National Asbestos Bans (1)

1983 Iceland bans all types of asbestos (with exceptions); updated in 1996.

1984 Norway bans all types of asbestos (with exceptions); updated in 1991.

1986 Denmark bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

Malaysia bans crocidolite.

Sweden introduces the first of a series of bans (with exceptions) on various uses of chrysotile.

1988 Hungary bans amphiboles.

1989 Switzerland bans crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile (with exceptions).

Singapore bans raw asbestos.

1990 Austria bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

1991 The Netherlands introduces the first of a series of bans (with exceptions) on various uses of chrysotile

1992 Italy bans chrysotile (with exceptions until 1994).

1993 Finland bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

Germany bans chrysotile (with exceptions until 2011).

Croatia bans crocidolite and amosite; updated in 2006 to include all types of asbestos, although that decision was overturned six weeks later.

1994 Brunei implements administrative rules on asbestos.

1995 Japan bans crocidolite and amosite.

Kuwait bans all types of asbestos.

1996 France bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

Slovenia bans production of asbestos-cement products.

Bahrain bans all types of asbestos.

1997 Poland bans the production and use of asbestos products.

Monaco bans the use of asbestos in all building materials.

1998 Belgium bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

Saudi Arabia bans all types of asbestos.

Lithuania restricts asbestos use.

1999 United Kingdom bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

2000 Ireland bans chrysotile (with exceptions).

Argentina bans amphiboles; updated in 2001 to ban chrysotile.

2001 Latvia bans new uses of asbestos; installed asbestos products must be labeled.

The first in an eventual series of Brazilian states ban asbestos.

Chile bans all types of asbestos.

Oman bans amosite and crocidolite; updated in 2008 to include chrysotile.

2002 Spain bans chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite.

Luxembourg bans chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite.

The Slovak Republic bans all types of asbestos.

New Zealand bans the import of raw asbestos (import of asbestos-containing materials and secondhand asbestos products still allowed).

Uruguay bans all types of asbestos.

2004 Honduras bans all types of asbestos (with exceptions).

South Africa announces a phase-out of chrysotile over the next three to five years.

Japan bans the new use of chrysotile in building and friction materials.

2005 Bulgaria bans all types of asbestos.

Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia pledge to prohibit the new use of chrysotile, other forms of asbestos having been banned previously, under European Union rules.

Japan announces a ban on all types of asbestos within three years.

Egypt bans all types of asbestos.

Jordan bans amosite and crocidolite; updated in 2006 to include all types of asbestos.

2007 New Caledonia bans all types of asbestos.

2008 South Africa bans all types of asbestos.

Taiwan bans the use of asbestos in construction materials; updated in 2010 to include virtually all remaining uses of asbestos.

2009 Republic of Korea (South Korea) bans all types of asbestos.

2010 Qatar “strictly prohibits” the import of asbestos.

1. International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. Chronology of National Asbestos Bans. Revised 8 March 2010. Comp. Laurie Kazan-Allen. London:International Ban Asbestos Secretariat. Available: http://www.ibasecretariat.org/chron_ban_ list.php [accessed 9 June 2010].

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Anonymous said...: 很期待新的內容，支持你..................................................................; August 5, 2010 at 10:26 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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Friday, July 30, 2010

Chronology of National Asbestos Bans

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