Asbestos Consumption in Mongolia: 1996-2014

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos Consumption in Mongolia: 1996-2014, by N. Damiran, A. Frank (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018).

The study

• Authors: N. Damiran, A. Frank
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2018;15(1)
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Asbestos is still used in Mongolia in the energy and construction sectors, among others. However, limited data is available on asbestos consumption and asbestos-related disease in Mongolia. The purpose of this paper is to present the available information on the importation of asbestos into Mongolia. We used data on annual asbestos imports between 1996 and 2014 from Mongolian Customs Statistics and the National Council on Toxic and Hazardous Substances Affairs. The uses of this material are also presented with respect to chrysotile alone. Most asbestos is used for construction. Mongolia started using asbestos in the energy and construction industries as thermal insulation in 1961. Asbestos is still allowed for use in Mongolia under the Law on Toxic and Hazards Substances. There are no asbestos mines in Mongolia, and the manufacture of asbestos-containing materials does not take place there. Thus, asbestos is mainly imported from China and Russia. Mongolia used 44,422 metric tons of asbestos-containing materials between 1996 and 2014. In Mongolia, with the current use of asbestos, there will be a continuing risk of developing asbestos-related diseases from past use, and proper oversight of asbestos-involving activities and the safe removal and disposal of asbestos must be considered.

In plain English

This study described Mongolia's 1996 to 2014 asbestos imports. Mongolia neither mines asbestos nor makes asbestos products, so imports were treated as national use. They used customs records (1996 to 2014) and licensing records (2011 to 2014). A 2013 pilot laboratory study found only chrysotile in Mongolian materials. Mongolia imported 44,422 metric tons of asbestos-containing materials overall. Yearly imports averaged 423 tons in 1996 to 2004, peaked at 7852 tons in 2008, and averaged 2257 tons in 2011 to 2014. In 2011 a 2010 ban gave way to rules allowing asbestos only in thermal power plants, for thermal insulation and heat-resistant materials in licensed quantities. China supplied 86.8% and Russia 10.6%. Imports from 2011 to 2014 exceeded licensed amounts; the authors said 1.2 thousand tons were illegally used. Construction materials, mainly roof panels and wall boards, made up 93.8% in the text but 89.45% in a table of licensing data. Their rough estimate was 0.3 kg per person per year for 2011 to 2014, possibly an underestimate. They concluded that asbestos-related disease risk will continue and that oversight and safe removal and disposal must be considered.

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: Descriptive study of national asbestos import data (customs records and licensing records), used as a measure of national consumption
• Who was studied: Mongolia as a whole: annual asbestos import records from the National Customs Administration for 1996 to 2014, and licensed import amounts from the National Council on Toxic and Hazardous Substances Affairs (NCTHSA) for 2011 to 2014. No import data exist before 1996.
• Exposure: Imported asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), mainly from China and Russia. A 2013 pilot laboratory study identified only chrysotile in asbestos-containing materials in Mongolia. Products included construction materials (roof panels, wall boards), automobile, industrial equipment and train parts, piping and gaskets, and asbestos powder.
• Main results:
  • Mongolia used 44,422 metric tons of asbestos-containing materials between 1996 and 2014 (the table total is 44,421.9 metric tons).
  • Average annual consumption from 1996 to 2004 was 423 metric tons.
  • Consumption peaked in 2008 at 7852 tons.
  • After the 2010 ban (Resolution 192), consumption fell to 2742 tons in 2011. Resolution 176 in 2011 again permitted use in thermal power plants. Average annual consumption from 2011 to 2014 was 2257 tons, still higher than the 1996 to 2004 average.
  • Under the 2011 rules, asbestos and ACMs are allowed only in thermal power plants, for thermal insulation and heat-resistant materials, and only in licensed quantities. Other industries are not allowed to use any form of asbestos.
  • Of consumed asbestos-containing materials over 1996 to 2014, 86.8% were imported from China, 10.6% from Russia and 2.5% from other countries, according to customs statistics.
  • The NCTHSA permitted imports totalling 7.8 thousand tons of ACMs for 2011 to 2014. Actual imports exceeded this, and the authors reported that 1.2 thousand tons of ACMs were illegally used.
  • According to NCTHSA data for 2011 to 2014, the article's text says 93.8% (7360 tons) of imported ACMs were construction materials. Table 2, also from NCTHSA data, lists construction materials as 7014.80 tons, or 89.45% of the total. The article does not explain the difference. Of the construction materials, the text says 53.8% were roof panels and 46.2% were wall boards.
  • Only 60 tons of asbestos powder were recorded as imported in 2011. The authors said asbestos powder seems to be under-registered, because their earlier study at thermal power plants observed its use in pipe insulation and for coal burning.
  • Using a rough estimate of the asbestos content of imported materials, the authors calculated that asbestos use averaged 0.3 kg per person per year from 2011 to 2014. They said this may be an underestimate.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, with current asbestos use, there will be a continuing risk of asbestos-related diseases from past use in Mongolia. They also concluded that proper oversight of asbestos-involving activities and safe removal and disposal of asbestos must be considered. They further stated their belief that the amount used should be considered high-level and that asbestos-related diseases are likely to occur in the future.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • No registry exists of asbestos imports before 1996, so earlier use could not be measured.
  • Imports may be underestimated because of the customs administration's limited technical capacity to identify asbestos.
  • The study does not give detailed information on asbestos use in industrial settings or in the general environment.
  • Accurate information on the asbestos content of imported materials was not available, so per capita consumption was only roughly calculated.
  • Unauthorized use of asbestos means import data differ from actual use.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Construction.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Thermal System Insulation (TSI), Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM).

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