With reference to the news report "Asbestos Cement Products Are Safe" published in The Financial Express on 5th Novemver, there is a concrete evidence both nationally as well as globally which suggests that asbestos cement is as harmful as the cancer causing fibre.

The Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers’ Association (CACPMA)'s claim that raw asbestos would not come into any direct human contact during manufacture of sheets in any factory in India and the raw material was fed into the system with its packing intact is an exercise in sophistry.

The "demarcation between asbestos and asbestos cement products(ACP)" is a myth.

In reality asbestos containing products like asbestos cement remain hazardous and lethal throughout their life cycle.

The industry will have the citizens believe that it can control wind erosion of asbestos fibres present in the asbestos cement through technology.

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs Sushma Swaraj replied in the Rajya Sabha on 18 August 2003, “Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) Ahmedabad have shown than long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma”.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has categorically said, chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) is cancer causing. The Indian asbestos cement industry has mastered the art of misinformation campaign to the detriment of every citizen's health in general and workers in particular due to asbestos exposure. WHO says all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic.

Worldwide there is a trend towards use of asbestos-free products. Japan went ahead and banned it. The most significant among the three meetings was the one held at Ottawa in Canada from September 12-14. It may be noted that Canada is the world’s second biggest exporter of white asbestos (chrysotile), a class one carcinogen. The final resolution stated that by dumping more than 95 per cent of its asbestos in other countries, Canada is “promoting occupational and environmental racism”.

The Indian Association of Occupational Health (IAOH) has passed a resolution seeking a ban on the use of all forms of asbestos. Occupational health experts also called for banning the material at a meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) called by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in February 2003.

The Financial Express should investigate and publish a full-page report on the dangers of white asbestos in public interest.

Gopal Krishna

15 November, 2003