Authors' reply. Why countries ban asbestos: the roots of political will

Our plain-English summary of Authors' reply. Why countries ban asbestos: the roots of political will, by J. Bahk, Y. Choi, S. Lim, et al (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2013).

The study

• Authors: J. Bahk, Y. Choi, S. Lim, D. Paek
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2013;19(2):137-8
• Type of article: Comment
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short letter, not a research study. The authors replied to comments by Arthur Frank on their earlier article, "Why some, but not all, countries have banned asbestos," and gave no methods or figures for the findings they described. They agreed that political will matters but argued it is not the only factor. They noted that the US, Vietnam and Mongolia had once declared asbestos bans and later reversed them, and stated that a partial ban, as in China, is not a ban at all. They restated their view that passing bans depends on awareness of both the risk and the alternatives. They stated that in western Europe, the higher the rate of compensated occupational mesothelioma cases, and so the higher the cost, the earlier the ban, while in Japan and Korea environmental incidents played a larger role. They acknowledged that their paper had not properly addressed occupational versus environmental exposure, or the role of political, socio-economic and health rights. The authors concluded that they had tried to explain what makes up the political will to ban asbestos, and that their speculations need further study.

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: Letter to the editor (authors' reply to a comment on their earlier article); no methods or figures given
• Who was studied: Countries with and without asbestos bans, as studied in the authors' earlier article; this reply gives no numbers of countries or dates
• Exposure: Not an exposure study; the reply discusses factors behind national asbestos bans, mainly awareness of the risk and of alternatives to asbestos
• Main results:
  • The authors noted that the US, Vietnam and Mongolia had once declared an asbestos ban but later reversed position
  • The authors stated that a partial ban, as exists in China, is not a ban at all
  • The authors stated that among western European countries, compensated occupational mesothelioma cases correlated with the year of asbestos ban: the higher the rate, and therefore the higher the cost, the earlier the ban. No figures were given in the letter
  • The authors stated that in Japan and Korea, environmental threats (the Kubota shock and asbestos-contaminated baby powder incidents) played a much more significant role than occupational exposures in bringing about bans
  • The authors stated that rights to health, social security and political freedom are associated with the status and timing of asbestos bans
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that they had tried to provide a rationale for what makes up the political will to ban asbestos, and that their speculations and other untouched issues should be examined further
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that their paper had not properly discussed two issues: occupational versus environmental aspects of asbestos, and the precedence of political or socio-economic rights over health rights
  • The authors stated that they did not know how to assess occupational and environmental influences separately
  • The authors stated that they do not know the role each type of right plays in the ban process, and that their proposed sequence is speculation

Topics

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

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