Asbestos and Asbestos-related Diseases in Vietnam: In reference to the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization National Asbestos Profile

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and Asbestos-related Diseases in Vietnam: In reference to the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization National Asbestos Profile, by V.H. Pham, T.N. Lan Tran, G.V. Le, et al (Safety and Health at Work, 2013).

The study

• Authors: V.H. Pham, T.N. Lan Tran, G.V. Le, M. Movahed, Y. Jiang, N.H. Pham, H. Ogawa, K. Takahashi
• Journal: Safety and Health at Work
• Published: 2013;4(2):117-21
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

This paper describes progress on formulating a national asbestos profile for the country of Vietnam. The Center of Asbestos Resource, Vietnam, formulated a National Profile on Asbestos-related Occupational Health, with due reference to the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization National Asbestos Profile. The Center of Asbestos Resource was established by the Vietnamese Health Environment Management Agency and the National Institute of Labor Protection, with the support of the Australian Agency for International Development, as a coordinating point for asbestos-related issues in Vietnam. Under the National Profile on Asbestos-related Occupational Health framework, the Center of Asbestos Resource succeeded in compiling relevant information for 15 of the 18 designated items outlined in the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization National Asbestos Profile, some overlaps of the information items notwithstanding. Today, Vietnam continues to import and use an average of more than 60,000 metric tons of raw asbestos per year. Information on asbestos-related diseases is limited, but the country has begun to diagnose mesothelioma cases, with the technical cooperation of Japan. As it stands, the National Profile on Asbestos-related Occupational Health needs further work and updating. However, we envisage that the National Profile on Asbestos-related Occupational Health will ultimately facilitate the smooth transition to an asbestos-free Vietnam.

In plain English

This commentary described progress in compiling Vietnam's National Profile on Asbestos-related Occupational Health, modeled on the ILO/WHO National Asbestos Profile, from information collected in 2009 to 2011. Information was compiled for 15 of its 18 items. In recent years Vietnam used only chrysotile, mostly for asbestos-cement roof sheets. Vietnam still imported an average of more than 60,000 tons of raw asbestos yearly, and Russia supplied more than 80% of imports over 1992 to 2011. A 2008 decision permitted chrysotile in roof sheet manufacture until 2020, under strict monitoring of the working environment and workers' health. About 5,700 workers were estimated to be exposed annually, 4,350 in roof sheet production, though some figures were partial. Only three asbestosis cases had been diagnosed since 1976 among roof sheet workers screened by the Hospital of the Ministry of Construction. There were no officially recognized cases of asbestos-related lung cancer or mesothelioma, but several malignant mesothelioma cases had recently been confirmed with Japanese experts. The authors said the profile needed further work and updating, and hoped it would aid a transition to an asbestos-free Vietnam.

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: Commentary describing the compilation of a national asbestos profile from government, customs, industry and hospital sources; not an epidemiological study
• Who was studied: Vietnam as a country: asbestos imports, industries, exposed workers, regulations and disease records. Information was collected 2009 to 2011 through focal points including Vietnamese Customs, the Vietnamese Roof Sheet Association, the Hospital of the Ministry of Construction, the Worksafe Agency of MOLISA and provincial preventive medical centers.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos, more than 90% used for asbestos-cement (AC) roof sheets and the remainder for car brakes and thermal insulation. Imported asbestos-containing products were also covered, as were domestic asbestos-rock deposits containing mainly amphiboles (tremolite and actinolite) and some chrysotile, used for molten phosphate fertilizer.
• Main results:
  • Information was compiled for 15 of the 18 designated items of the ILO/WHO National Asbestos Profile
  • Vietnam continued to import an average of more than 60,000 tons of raw asbestos per year. According to Customs data, imports began in 1992 at 10,000 tons and peaked at 75,100 tons in 2007.
  • In the breakdown of import sources for 1992 to 2011, Russia accounted for more than 80%, followed by the United States (earlier years), China, Kazakhstan and Canada
  • A 2004 Prime Minister's decision banned only amphibole asbestos. A 2008 decision permitted chrysotile use in AC roof sheet manufacturing until 2020, under strict monitoring of the working environment and workers' health.
  • An estimated approximately 5,700 workers were directly and indirectly exposed annually: AC roof sheets 4,350 (75%), molten phosphate fertilizer 923, shipbuilding and boiler maintenance 406, car brakes 21
  • Among 4,306 workers at 31 surveyed AC roof sheet enterprises, most had job tenures under 15 years. At Dong Nai (established 1963), 98 of 188 workers (52.1%) had 16 to 25 years and 47 (25.0%) had more than 25 years.
  • Among 400 to 500 AC roof sheet workers given annual chest X-rays and CT scans by the Hospital of the Ministry of Construction, only three cases of asbestosis had been diagnosed since 1976
  • There were no officially recognized cases of asbestos-related lung cancer or mesothelioma in Vietnam, although several cases of malignant mesothelioma had recently been confirmed by pathological examination with Japanese experts
  • A health survey of AC roof sheet workers found that the commonly reported conditions were upper-respiratory disease (47 to 48%) and eye diseases (more than 10%)
  • The national exposure standards were 0.1 fiber/cc per 8 hours and 0.5 fiber/cc per 1 hour. In samples from 14 surveyed companies, the standard was exceeded in 3 of 56 samples (2009), 1 of 71 (2010) and 1 of 54 (2011).
• The authors' conclusion: The authors envisaged that the national profile would prompt an action plan involving all stakeholders and help a smooth transition to an asbestos-free Vietnam. They added that it currently needed further work and updating.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The profile needs further work and updating
  • The worker count for shipbuilding and boiler maintenance is only a small fraction of the true number, and other categories may be similarly affected
  • Job tenure reflected only the surveyed company and may not reflect lifetime exposure for people who worked at more than one company
  • The health survey may have missed other conditions, including chronic diseases
  • User industries such as power plants, construction and car repair were not investigated by the government
  • Import figures from Vietnamese Customs and the USGS disagree
  • No efforts have yet been made to estimate the disease burden or economic losses from asbestos-related diseases

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

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