Asbestosis on the Rise in India
India is one of the world’s largest users of asbestos, a deadly fireproof product mined in Canada and the U.S. Canada exports 95% of its chrysotile asbestos to India for asbestos-cement roofs and in other building products. Construction workers and homeowners may become ill with a deadly cancer, mesothelioma, or asbestosis, a serious breathing disorder that scars the lungs. Breathing asbestos fibers when sheets are cut and the fibers exposed causes both diseases. Asbestosis particularly has been on the rise.
Asbestos attorneys maintain that India does not monitor the health of workers sufficiently. And, where there is legislation, enforcement is lax, according to health officials. Although India has used asbestos for years, only recently have asbestos cement factories proliferated, producing pipes, brake pads and roofs that are more durable than the traditional straw – but made of deadly asbestos.
Although new asbestos mining is banned in India, tremolite and chrysotile mines that existed prior to the ban are allowed to operate. Gopal Krishna of the Ban Asbestos Network of India, says that safety workshops do not translate into safe practices on asbestos mining and use. Occupational safety is not enforced strictly and unfortunately it is difficult to get an accurate diagnosis in India for lack of trained physicians and other health workers.
“Just because there’s a lack of evidence doesn’t mean there’s a lack of a problems,” says Madhumita Dutta, a founding member of the Ban Asbestos Network of India. This week in Rome, 126 countries are debating whether chrysotile asbestos should be added to a watch list of dangerous chemicals.
Canada’s continued export of asbestos and alleged suppression of a report about the mineral’s health effects has put the government on the defensive. The Canadian Medical Association Journal has called for a ban on Canada’s asbestos exports. The United States has also been accused in not regulating asbestos use sufficiently.
