White Poison: Asbestos
As a child i remember my summer holidays in my grandfathers old house. Those were unending days of leisure and one can still recall how time stood still in those long summer afternoons when we played on the kitchen floor. My grandma’s kitchen brings back memories of exotic smells, of food being eaten hot as it was cooked. But that ended when my grandma died after a long spell of suffering caused by asbestos related poisoning and subsequent lung cancer….you see the roof was not cemented but was made of old asbestos sheets lined next to one another. It was the fumes from the microscopic fibers that she inhaled and ingested over the years that had a devastating effect on her health.
According to International law, Asbestos is listed as a category of controlled waste under Annex I of the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. Banned in 60 countries worldwide including the European Union, Asbestos is India’s next biggest killer.
Known for years as the poor man’s material and popular for its use in construction due to its high resistance to heat and fire, asbestos use in India continues to grow.
Asbestos fibres are used in the cement industry located in 18 different parts of the country. It also has its uses in the textile industry and in the mining and milling industries of Andra and Rajasthan. Despite its hazadrous nature the Indian government gives incentives and makes Asbestos artificially cheaper.New factories are coming up near Vaishali in Bihar despite opposition from NGO’s, local workers and the Human Rights Commission.
The country is now the world’s second largest asbestos market, behind only China, consuming nearly 3,50,000 tonnes . The industry generates more than $850 million a year in revenue, and directly employs 3,00,000 people. Indirectly, it supports as many as three million more. Backed by a powerful lobby and government consent asbestos use in India has risen by 83 percent. Serving the poor, this hazadrous material is imported in tonnes from Russia and Canada.
A study by two Delhi researchers suggests that by 2020, deaths from asbestos-related cancers could reach one million in developing countries. So what exactly is Asbestos poisoning?? Shortness of breath, a dry cough and a tightness in the chest is what a person exposed to Asbestos will feel. These are the first symptoms.
Main health problems attributed to asbestos include
- Asbestosis - A lung disease first found in textile workers, asbestosis is a scarring of the lung tissue from an acid produced by the body’s attempt to dissolve the fibers. The scarring may eventually become so severe that the lungs can no longer function.
- Mesothelioma - A cancer of the mesothelial lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, unlike lung cancer, mesothelioma has no association with smoking.
- Cancer - Cancer of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, kidney and larynx have been linked to asbestos. The latency period for cancer is often 15–30 years.
Disturbing facts about Asbestos use
- India is the largest importer of Asbestos. Most of it is used in making corrugated sheets which sell for as little as 300 INR.
- More than 100,000 people in India are employed by companies producing Asbestos.
- An estimated 55,000 workers are constantly exposed to the harmful effects of Asbestos unaware of the dangers.
- Economic development and construction are the reasons for the overuse and easy availability of this resource.
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