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Chrysotile is the source of white asbestos
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Demand
for Zimbabwean-produced asbestos is steady, even growing, despite moves by the
European Union and much of the industrialized world to ban all types of the
mineral due to health concerns.
Zimbabwe
is the world’s fifth largest producer of chrysotile fiber, or white asbestos,
after
Russia
,
Canada
,
China
and
Brazil
.
Earnings
from the industry in
Zimbabwe
are expected to top US$40 million this year through exports to over 50
countries around the world, the major export destinations being the
Far East
,
Middle East
and
Africa
.
Still,
the sector’s growth has been dampened by the EUs campaign for a total ban on
all types of asbestos. Due to pressure from its Green movement, the
Union
has given its members until early 2005 to remove all asbestos from the market.
Argentina
,
Australia
,
Chile
,
Croatia
and
Saudi Arabia
are also among countries that have banned the substance.
The
‘Ban Asbestos in
America
’ Bill
Asbestos
fiber is used mainly in the lining of brake and clutch pedals of heavy vehicles
and for high temperature seals, as well as in asbestos-cement applications such
as in roofing sheets. Unmatched in terms of strength, durability and cost, the
fiber is estimated to be, or to have been, a component of some 5,000 products.
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| Mesothelioma of the lungs results from exposure
to asbestos
|
Although
the material is not a banned substance in the
US
, where asbestos products worth US$208 million entered the country last year,
there is increasing pressure to do so. In May, Senator Patty Murray of
Washington
introduced a ‘Ban Asbestos in
America
’ bill arguing, “It is outrageous that at the same time Congress is trying
to protect companies from future asbestos lawsuits, we continue to import and
consume more and more asbestos.”
Murray
says asbestos is a carcinogen with no known safe level of exposure. She
contends that at least 2,000 Americans per year die from mesothelioma, a deadly
cancer of the lining of the lungs and internal organs caused by exposure to
asbestos.
The
proposed legislation aims to compel the Centers for Disease Control into
creating a National Mesothelioma Registry to improve tracking of the disease,
including lung cancer and asbestosis. In addition, 10 mesothelioma treatment
centers would be established around the country to improve treatments for, and
awareness of, the disease.
More
significantly, if the bill is passed, within one year the Environment Protection
Agency would propose regulations to outlaw the manufacture, processing,
importation and distribution of asbestos-containing products.
A
Chrysotile Asbestos Taskforce Formed
Such
moves are bad news for the asbestos industry in
Zimbabwe
, which fears the trend might spread to its markets. Apart from the potential
loss of crucial foreign exchange earnings, jobs would also be on the line. The
country’s two asbestos mines employ 7,000 people directly. Another 120,000
people work in downstream industries.
Given
such stakes, the
Zimbabwe
asbestos industry has been at pains to explain that it only produces white
asbestos, which it says is no health hazard if handled correctly.
This
effort has been supported by the government which, four years ago, set up a
National Chrysotile Asbestos Taskforce to make the case for white asbestos.
The
taskforce’s deputy chairman is Phil Whitehead. He says there is ample evidence
to prove that white asbestos, unlike its two shorter-grained cousins –
crocidolite (blue asbestos) and amosite (brown asbestos) - is not harmful to
health if produced and manufactured under responsible conditions and when its
use is strictly controlled.
Blue
and brown asbestos were mined mainly in
South Africa
and
Australia
. But production has since ceased owing to adverse health effects.
“Certainly
there is a lot of disinformation from the first world on our particular kind of
asbestos,” Whitehead says, adding, “And we need to balance that up with
scientific information, again from the
First World
, that supports our industry.”
Zimbabwe’s
Chrysotile is Pure and Rare
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| From the top: chrysotile,
amosite and crocidolite
|
The
industry in
Zimbabwe
argues that the crusade to ban asbestos has failed to make a distinction
between the dangerous blue and brown types and the relatively safe and
widely-used white asbestos whose health risks are miniscule and barely
measurable.
Furthermore,
the industry states that questions about the safety of asbestos suffer from
inherent bias: that they are not based on current (and much improved) standards
of asbestos manufacturing, but on those of 30 to 50 years ago, the effects of
which are being felt only now.
Rabelan
Baloyi, an environmental and occupational health specialist who is also a member
of the asbestos industry taskforce, says there is still a risk from
over-exposure to all types of asbestos.
But
he says Zimbabwean chrysotile asbestos has been shown to be a pure and rare
variety unlike
Canada
’s which, for instance, is contaminated with another type of asbestos,
trimolite.
According
to Baloyi, cases of mesothelioma in
Zimbabwe
have only been detected in people exposed to a mixture of chrysotile and
crocidolite. These have mainly been in people working for the railways.
Zimbabwe
used to import crocidolite, which was also the material of choice for
mattresses of steam engines.
“Chrysotile
has been shown experimentally to cause tumors in rats,” Baloyi says. “But is
has not been shown to do the same in humans.”
Government
Slow to Ratify ILO Convention
Whitehead
maintains that the
Zimbabwe
asbestos industry, which still has reserves that will last another two years at
current consumption levels of 175,000 tons a year, has been a success story.
“Asbestos
is widely-used more and more around the world,” he says. “Ninety percent of
the asbestos fiber that we sell to those 60 countries around the world is used
without any risk in asbestos-cement applications.”
Indeed,
as demand for asbestos faded in the industrialized world, it has escalated in
developing countries. For instance, global sales of asbestos to
Asia
rose from 661,000 metric tons in 1970 to 1,137,000 metric tons in 1995.
Whitehead
points out that the most common products of such asbestos-cement applications
are cement roof sheets and pipes. In
Zimbabwe
itself, about 90 percent of the water pipeline is made of asbestos-cement
pipes.
“The
World Health Organization (WHO) makes specific statements about the
gastro-intestinal risks and those risks are zero coming from the water,”
Whitehead says. “There is fiber release from the roof sheets but the amount of
fiber released is no different from the amount of fiber that’s in the air
anywhere.”
Despite
such safety assurances, the speed with which the
Zimbabwe
government has thrown its weight behind white asbestos has been unmatched by
its commitment to improving safety standards. Despite signing the International
Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 162 on the safe and controlled use of white
asbestos in 1986, it only ratified it in May of this year.
Baloyi
says to comply with the convention, the government still lags behind in adopting
legislation that will compel the industry to adequately protect workers from
exposure as well as guarantee compensation for those already affected, the
number of which is a closely-guarded industry secret.
Sources:
Media
workshop on asbestos issues,
24 October, 2003
,
Bulawayo
,
Zimbabwe
.
National
Chrysotile Asbestos Taskforce of Zimbabwe, http://www.nacatf.org.zw
Senator
Patty Murray, http://murray.senate.gov/
“The
European Union’s Ban on Asbestos: A Battle May Be Over, But the War
Continues”, by Hind Benjelloun
“U.S.
Imports of Asbestos Brake Material are on the Rise”, by Andrew Shneider,
Sunday Post-Dispatch,
October 26, 2003
*
Wilson Johwa is an independent journalist and photographer based in
Zimbabwe
. You can reach him at:
wilsonjohwa@yahoo.com
.
