Analysis of the Indian Government's position on the use of asbestos and its health effects

Our plain-English summary of Analysis of the Indian Government's position on the use of asbestos and its health effects, by R. Singh, A.L. Frank (Public Health Action, 2023).

The study

• Authors: R. Singh, A.L. Frank
• Journal: Public Health Action
• Published: 2023;13(2):50-52
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Based on WHO guidance, all forms of asbestos are a health risk. In India, the mining of asbestos has been stopped, but chrysotile (a type of asbestos) is still imported and processed in large quantities. Chrysotile is mainly used for asbestos-cement roofing, and the manufacturers claim its use to be safe. We sought to understand the Indian Government's position on the use of asbestos. To do so, we have analysed the replies of the executive wing of the Indian Government to questions on asbestos in the Indian Parliament. This revealed that, despite a mining ban, the government has defended the import, processing and continued use of asbestos.

© 2023 The Union.

In plain English

This short article was a policy review, not a study of patients or workers. The authors analysed replies by the executive wing of the Indian Government to questions about asbestos asked in the Indian Parliament. They reported that India had stopped asbestos mining but still imported and processed chrysotile, mainly for asbestos-cement roofing. In the replies, the government said chrysotile was left off a Rotterdam Convention hazard list because most Indian industry used a wet process. A 2011 Ministry of Health reply said chrysotile's health risks were yet to be proven, and a 2022 reply said there was no proposal to prohibit asbestos. Another 2022 reply cited a 2019 government survey of 50 asbestos-cement plants. In that survey, 10 of 2,603 workers were suspected cases of asbestos-related disorders, and 15 plants exceeded the 0.1 fibre/cc limit. The authors noted that this survey might miss disease because of long latency. They concluded that India may be choosing to be an outlier in protecting workers and that the government seems to defend chrysotile use.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Policy review: analysis of the Indian Government's replies to parliamentary questions on asbestos (no original medical data)
• Who was studied: Replies by the executive wing of the Indian Government (Ministries and Cabinet) to questions on asbestos in the Indian Parliament. The list of questions was taken from the website of an industry association that advocates continued asbestos use.
• Exposure: Imported chrysotile asbestos, used mainly for asbestos-cement roofing in India, where asbestos mining has been stopped
• Main results:
  • The government stated that chrysotile is excluded from Annexure III of the Rotterdam Convention because most Indian asbestos industry uses a wet process.
  • In 2011 the Ministry of Health stated in Parliament that the health risks of chrysotile asbestos were yet to be proven.
  • In 2022 the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change reiterated that there was no proposal to prohibit asbestos in India.
  • A 2022 government answer cited a 2019 government study of 50 asbestos-cement industries. Of 2,603 workers examined, 10 were suspected cases of asbestos-related disorders.
  • In the same 2019 government study, fibre levels in 35 of 50 industries were within the permissible level of 0.1 fibre/cc. In 15 industries they exceeded it, ranging from 0.185 to 0.400 fibre/cc.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that India may be choosing to be an outlier in protecting workers in asbestos processing and product manufacturing plants, and that the government seems to defend the use of chrysotile.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated this limitation of the 2019 government study cited in Parliament, not of their own analysis: because of long latency, disease may only appear decades after exposure.
  • The authors stated this limitation of the 2019 government study: there appears to be no record of external peer review.
  • The authors noted that some experts have raised concerns about whether the 0.1 fibre/cc permissible limit used in the 2019 government study is safe.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Asbestos-Cement.

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