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| Sunday, 17 November 2002 |
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Cancer scare : Asbestos off the roof? by Shanika Sriyananda Liyanage Environmentalists and non-governmental organisations urged the authorities to implement restrictions to phase out asbestos from the country considering the health hazards, especially the swelling number of cancer victims in the country. They say that in the lapse of a proper local research into the subject to prove that asbestos, is cancerous, the responsible authorities should consult the experts which, in other countries which had totally banned this harmful substance. The Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL), which operates a data-base for victims, who have been exposed to asbestos while working in asbestos manufacturing factories and developed cancer, has sent letters to Ministers, organisations, private building constructors, the Sri Lanka Standard Institute (SLSI) and the Board of Investment (BOI) requesting not to encourage those who engage in manufacturing and importing of asbestos. Hemantha Witanage, environmental scientist and the EFL Executive Director told the Sunday Observer that a recent research have shown that all types of asbestos including white asbestos might be one of the hidden causes for many incurable health disorders, especially the cancer. " White asbestos is use in roofing and ceiling sheets. Following these research findings, the World Trade Organization ( WTO) accepted that white asbestos as a carcinogenic substance", he said. Austria, Belgium, England, The Chech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Netherlands, Poland, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Spain have totally phased out all kinds of asbestos products and a number of other countries are in the process of banning this deadly substance. " Now, the asbestos producing countries, after this international ban, have found their way into the third world countries, to dump their products in a well organised manner. This has become easy for them mainly due to lack of restrictions and poor knowledge on the danger among the people", Witanage added. Over 35 percent of houses in Sri Lanka have asbestos roofing and half of all houses use asbestos ceilings for their roofs. He claimed that asbestos waste was now disposed in a very haphazard manner in open dumps where the asbestos fibre, which has a diameter of 2 micrometres, is not visible to the naked eye, can easily be released to the environment. However, the EFL has written to Minister of Employment and Labour, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Minister Housing Development, Minister of Industries, Institute of Engineers of Sri Lanka, National Building Research Organization and the private housing construction firms such as John Keels Housing Developers and Vajira House Builders in this regard. The EFL has requested the SLSI to evaluate the worker health and safety of the employees who engage in asbestos manufacturing and to re-consider issuing of SLI certificates to these products which is highly harmful to the human beings. Replying to the letter sent by the EFL, the BOI confirmed that there were no BOI projects that manufacture asbestos products, which were given special incentives and privileges. "Further, at the time of approving a project certain guide lines are issued to the investor. One such condition that the BOI stipulates is that they are only allowed to import articles other than asbestos products for their construction work duty free", the letter states. Meanwhile, over 50 persons, some of them were the workers of asbestos factories, have registered with the data base of the EFL. Those who have exposed to the deadly fibre - the production workers : when the asbestos production are being manufactured, construction workers : when it is being installed and the public : all those who have asbestos roofing sheets and are suffering of lung cancer can contact EFL hotlines : 074-616474 or 697226 for more information. The World Vision Lanka, a NGO which distribute asbestos roofing sheets free of charge among the needy in 20 rural areas, has decided to carry out a research to ascertain the health and environmental hazards of asbestos. World Vision Lanka official said that poor rural folk in Hambantota, Moneragala, Ampara, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Matale, Nuwara Eliya will get roofing sheets free of charge under their welfare program. " Now we are in the process of doing a research on asbestos and if it is proved that asbestos is toxic we stop distributing the asbestos roofing sheets", he said. Anura Dissanayake, consultant engineer building services, who more than 15 years in Australia in the construction field, said that there were workers in one of the main asbestos producing factory, who suffer from cancer. " They told me that there are more victims but do not come out fearing that they would loose their jobs", he said. He also said that experienced Australian doctors will be visiting Sri Lanka, shortly, to identify cancer victims those worked and were still working in asbestos factories. Dissanayake said that the technology to detect asbestos fibre in the lung when a person is affected with a lung cancer, was not available in Sri Lanka, yet. |
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