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AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE

Decades after asbestos ban, former miners continue to suffer deadly health effects

A new University of Cape Town study has found elevated mortality among former asbestos miners in South Africa, highlighting the long-term health consequences of asbestos exposure…

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
A member of a spill cleaning crew removes dead fish from the river in the uMhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve in Durban on July 18, 2021. – South African authorities said on July 17, 2021, they were investigating possible pollution suspected to be linked to a spill at a chemical plant attacked during last week’s riots after dead fish washed ashore. The spill was identified on July 15, after an agrochemical warehouse near the eastern port city of Durban storing chemicals used for making herbicides, pesticides and fungicides was set ablaze. African authorities are investigating possible pollution suspected to be linked to a spill at a chemical plant attacked during recent riots in area. The agrochemical warehouse which stores chemicals used for making herbicides, pesticides and fungicides was set ablaze during the unrest that started last week. (GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)
CHEMICAL SPILL

‘South Africa must learn from its environmental disasters’

Although a legal framework exists, regulation and implementation fall through the cracks, as shown by the UPL chemical spill in KwaZulu-Natal

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read