The fortunes of asbestos have declined in recent years, after the realisation that inhaling asbestos fibres could lead to cancer. However, debate about the safety of this mineral hasn’t ended yet — at least not in Zimbabwe.
This country is the world’s fifth largest producer of chrysotile fibre, or white asbestos — after Russia, Canada, China and Brazil.
Earnings from the industry in Zimbabwe are expected to top $40-million this year through exports to over 50 countries, the major export destinations being the Far East, Middle East and Africa.
Zimbabwe’s two asbestos mines employ 7 000 people — no small number in a country facing 70% unemployment. Another 120 000 people benefit from the extraction in downstream industries.
With this mind, Zimbabwe’s government has renewed efforts to draw a distinction between white asbestos and crucidolite, or blue asbestos, and amosite (brown asbestos).
A government-funded body — the National Chrysotile Asbestos Taskforce –claims that white asbestos is not harmful if produced and used carefully.
Blue and brown asbestos were mined mainly in South Africa and Australia — but production has ceased because of fears about the health hazards of these asbestos varieties.
Zimbabwe’s argument is proving a tough sell in the European Union (EU) and the United States.
Due to pressure from environmentalists and trade unions, the EU has given its members until 2005 to remove all asbestos from the market. Argentina, Australia, Chile, Croatia and Saudi Arabia have also banned the substance.
Although the material is not outlawed in the US, where asbestos products worth $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.
”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,” she argued.
Murray contends that at least 2 000 Americans die every year from mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest and lung lining that is caused by the mineral.
The proposed legislation would compel the Centres for Disease Control to set up a National Mesothelioma Registry to improve tracking of lung cancer and other diseases associated with asbestos. Ten mesothelioma centres would be established around the country for treating and creating awareness of these illnesses. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency would be required to propose regulations that banned the manufacture, processing, importation and distribution of asbestos-containing products — all within a year of the bill being passed.
Asbestos fibre is used mainly in the lining of brake and clutch pedals of heavy vehicles, high temperature seals, gaskets, and in asbestos-cement products like roofing sheets.
The Deputy Chairman of the Chrysotile Asbestos Taskforce, Phil Whitehead, says ”… there is a lot of disinformation from the first world on our particular kind of asbestos …There is fibre released from the roof sheets, but the amount … released is no different from the amount of fibre that’s in the air anywhere.”
The speed with which Zimbabwe’s government has thrown its weight behind white asbestos has been unmatched by its commitment to improving safety standards.
Although government signed an International Labour Organisation convention on the safe and controlled use of white asbestos in 1986, authorities only ratified it in May this year.
Rabelan Baloyi, an occupational health specialist who sits on the task force, says that as a result of this delay, government lags behind in adopting legislation that will compel the industry to adequately protect workers from exposure.
In addition, it has yet to guarantee compensation for those already affected — whose number is a closely-guarded industry secret.
As it continues with efforts to promote white asbestos, Zimbabwe might also find matters complicated by a 2001 ruling of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The decision followed a complaint lodged by Canada against France in 1997, after authorities in that country outlawed the import of white asbestos from Canada. While Ottawa claimed the ban was in violation of global trade law, the WTO ruled that French fears about the safety of chrysotile were justified. – Sapa-IPS