Asbestos and health in the Third World: the case of Brazil

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and health in the Third World: the case of Brazil, by D.M. Berman (International Journal of Health Services, 1986).

The study

• Author: D.M. Berman
• Journal: International Journal of Health Services
• Published: 1986;16(2):253-63
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Almost all of the asbestos used in Brazil is mined by an enterprise wholly owned by two European multinational companies, which also produce and market over two-thirds (by weight of asbestos) of the products made from asbestos. About 80 percent of the asbestos used in Brazil is finally consumed in the form of asbestos cement: for roof tiles and roofing panels, wall-board, and domestic and industrial water tanks. A survey of consumer literature and advertising printed by Eternit, S.A., and Brasilit, S.A., disclosed no mention of a potential danger from exposure to asbestos dust, and no recommendations for cutting down exposure to that dust. The situation at smaller, Brazilian-owned firms is reputed to be disastrous from the standpoint of workers' exposure to asbestos dust at the point of production. At a large asbestos-cement manufacturing plant owned by Eternit, however, exposure to asbestos dust (according to company records) seemed to be kept under 2.0 fibers per cc., the present standard for the United States.

In plain English

This article was a commentary and first-hand report on asbestos use in Brazil, not a scientific study. The author reviewed Eternit and Brasilit sales literature, interviewed industry figures, and toured Eternit's Osasco plant in São Paulo state in January 1984. About 80 percent of Brazil's asbestos went into asbestos cement. In 138 pages of Brasilit material the author examined, the word asbestos appeared once. An industry spokesman admitted the industry had done no studies of health effects. A company dust survey at Osasco in March 1983 found most of 43 samples at 0.0 to 1.0 fibers per cc, with peaks of 3.3 and 4.2. Brazil's limit was 4.0 and the U.S. limit 2.0. The company physician reported no cancers among workers, but there was no medical follow-up program. The author judged the controls probably adequate to prevent asbestosis, if company records were accurate, but expected some cancers. The author argued that asbestos cement in homes where children are exposed should be prohibited. The author could not verify that other Eternit plants were similar.

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 and investigative report, not a scientific study. It drew on a review of company advertising and technical literature, interviews, and a guided plant visit, including company dust records.
• Who was studied: The Brazilian asbestos industry, mainly the SAMA mine and its owners Eternit and Brasilit. The site visited was Eternit's Osasco asbestos-cement plant in São Paulo state (January 1984). Brazilian asbestos consumption grew from 21,415 tons in 1967 to 145,000 tons in 1982.
• Exposure: Asbestos used mainly in asbestos-cement products (roof tiles, roofing panels, wall-board, water tanks), and asbestos dust at the point of production and during use. The article does not name a fiber type.
• Main results:
  • In 138 pages of Brasilit advertising and technical material the author examined, the word asbestos appeared once. The author found no dust warnings in the literature.
  • At the Osasco plant, a company dust survey on March 15, 1983 found that most of 43 samples recorded between 0.0 and 1.0 fibers per cc at breathing level. One sample was between 2.0 and 3.0, and there were peaks of 3.3 and 4.2 fibers. The Brazilian limit was 4.0 fibers per cc and the U.S. limit 2.0.
  • The industry spokesman admitted that the Brazilian asbestos industry had not carried out any studies of the health effects of its products on workers and consumers.
  • The Eternit physician denied that any cancer had been found among present and former Osasco workers. However, the firm had no medical follow-up program for these workers, and cleanup had begun only in the late 1970s.
  • The Eternit technical director and physician both stated that dust was out of control in small- and medium-sized asbestos-cement plants.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the Osasco in-factory controls were probably tight enough to prevent asbestosis, if company exposure records are to be believed, but that some cases of lung and gastrointestinal cancer and mesothelioma were likely. Elsewhere the author argued that installing asbestos cement in homes where children are exposed should be prohibited.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author could not assess the claim that conditions at Osasco were typical of Eternit's other four Brazilian factories.
  • Exposure figures came from company records, which the author qualified as reliable only if they are to be believed.
  • The author noted there were no published Brazilian studies of dust exposure from cutting asbestos cement with hand saws.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Non-malignant consequences of decreasing asbestos exposure in the Brazil chrysotile mines and mills — E. Bagatin, J.A. Neder, et al. (2005)
• Battling over asbestos in the third world — (1997)
• The art of perpetuating a public health hazard — M. Greenberg (2005)
• Lung cancer in Brazil — E. Algranti, A.M. Menezes, et al. (2001)
• The third wave of asbestos disease: exposure to asbestos in place. Public health control. Introduction — P.J. Landrigan (1991)
• Health implications of atmospheric aerosols from asbestos-bearing road pavements traditionally used in Southern Brazil — R.H.M. Godoi, S.J. Gonçalves, et al. (2016)

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