Asbestos mining in Southern Africa, 1893-2002

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos mining in Southern Africa, 1893-2002, by J. McCulloch (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2003).

The study

• Author: J. McCulloch
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2003;9(3):230-5
• Type of article: Historical article
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos has been mined in Southern Africa for more than a century. Chrysotile from the mines of Swaziland and Zimbabwe was marketed around the globe, while South African mines produced almost all of the world's amphibole fiber. The major mines were owned and operated by British firms that in the United Kingdom from 1931 were subject to occupational health and safety legislation. The failure of those companies to apply knowledge of the dangers of asbestos to their Southern African operations saw men, women, and children labor in conditions that would have been unthinkable in Britain. The result has been a legacy of disease and environmental pollution.

In plain English

This article is a historical review, not a medical study, of asbestos mining in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe from 1893 to 2002, drawing on archival and published sources. The mines produced chrysotile, crocidolite and amosite. The author reported that South Africa accounted for 97% of global amphibole production. Women made up around half of the workforce on South Africa's asbestos mines, and the most dangerous work, in the mills, was done by women and juveniles. South African production peaked at 379,000 tons in 1977. Citing other people's accounts, the author described a 1949 visit to Penge mine that found children working in clouds of fiber, and 19 tailings dumps found in the villages of Mafefe in the 1980s. The author cited a separate study reporting asbestosis in over 90% of women cobbers. The author said the number who died from their work could only be guessed, because few records were kept and sick workers were dismissed. The author concluded that the British-owned companies chose profits above the health of employees.

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: Historical review drawing on archival records and published sources; no new medical or epidemiological data were collected
• Who was studied: Asbestos mines, their workers (men, women and children) and nearby communities in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), from 1893 to 2002
• Exposure: Mining, hand cobbing and dry milling of chrysotile, crocidolite and amosite, plus environmental exposure from mill dust and tailings dumps
• Main results:
  • South Africa was the major producer of amphibole asbestos, accounting for 97% of global production
  • On South Africa's asbestos mines, women made up around half of the labor force
  • According to the author, the most dangerous jobs were in the mills, and the most dangerous work of all was done by women and juveniles
  • South African asbestos production peaked at 379,000 tons in 1977
  • On a 1949 visit to Penge mine, Gert Schepers of the Silicosis Medical Bureau found children working in clouds of fiber, with no dust control (an account cited by the author)
  • Marianne Felix found 19 tailings dumps in the villages of Mafefe in the 1980s (another researcher's finding, cited by the author)
  • The author cited a separate study of women cobbers that found over 90% had asbestosis; this was not the author's own finding
  • Asbestosis was identified among Penge miners in 1955
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the British-owned companies did not apply in Southern Africa the knowledge of airborne fiber risks gained in their British factories, and that management chose profits above the health of employees
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The official record is incomplete, and company and government accounts often give a distorted picture of workforces, dust levels, pay and living conditions
  • Before the mid-1950s few records were kept of employees, and workers were sacked as soon as they became ill, hiding the most obvious cases
  • There are no dust readings for the early period
  • The number who died because of their employment, and the incidence of asbestos-related disease in Southern Africa, can only be guessed

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Amphibole Group.

Related studies

• Asbestos-related disease in South Africa: the social production of an invisible epidemic — L. Braun, S. Kisting (2006)
• Excess mortality from stomach cancer, lung cancer, and asbestosis and/or mesothelioma in crocidolite mining districts in South Africa — J.L. Botha, L.M. Irwig, et al. (1986)
• Double standards: the multinational asbestos industry and asbestos-related disease in South Africa — J. McCulloch, G. Tweedale (2004)
• Health effects of amosite mining and milling in South Africa — J. Murray, G. Nelson (2008)
• Asbestos mining and occupational disease in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, 1915-98 — J. McCulloch (2003)
• Re: "Excess mortality from stomach cancer, lung cancer, and asbestosis and/or mesothelioma in crocidolite mining districts in South Africa" — H.P. Hart (1987)

Browse more research in International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, or return to medical research.