Dr. T.K. Joshi and asbestos in India: a message from the Collegium Ramazzini

Our plain-English summary of Dr. T.K. Joshi and asbestos in India: a message from the Collegium Ramazzini, by P. Landrigan (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2004).

The study

• Author: P. Landrigan
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 2004;45(2):125-8
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a commentary, not a research study, written by Philip Landrigan for the Collegium Ramazzini, an international society of occupational and environmental health physicians and scientists. It reported no new health data. Its subject was Dr. Tushar Kant Joshi of India, a Fellow of the Collegium who had called for a ban on all uses of asbestos in India. Citing earlier publications, the commentary stated that India used around 100,000 metric tons of asbestos a year, about three fourths of it imported, mainly from Canada. It described events around a February 2001 symposium Dr. Joshi organized. An asbestos manufacturers' association threatened legal action. A government mine-safety official wrote that government committees had recommended controlled use. Only two of 20 senior members at an Indian Association for Occupational Health meeting supported Dr. Joshi. Dr. Joshi's government salary was frozen and later reinstated. In September 2003, after industry complaints, the budget of Dr. Joshi's health center was substantially reduced. The Collegium urged support for Dr. Joshi's efforts to ban asbestos in India.

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 (advocacy message from the Collegium Ramazzini); no original research data
• Who was studied: No study population. The subject is one person, Dr. Tushar Kant Joshi, a Fellow of the Collegium, and the situation of asbestos use in India
• Exposure: Asbestos use in India, primarily chrysotile traded worldwide. The figure of about 100,000 metric tons per year in India is cited from earlier work (Joshi and Gupta, 2003)
• Main results:
  • The commentary stated, citing earlier work, that about three fourths of Indian asbestos manufacturers' needs were met through imports, mainly from Canada
  • The commentary stated that the Indian government repeatedly lowered import taxes on asbestos between 1995 and 2000
  • Before the February 2001 symposium organized by Dr. Joshi, the Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers' Association sent Dr. Joshi a letter threatening legal action
  • A senior official in the Directorate General of Mine Safety wrote that government committees set up in 1985 and 1995 had recommended controlled use of asbestos
  • At an Indian Association for Occupational Health Central Council meeting, 2 of the 20 senior members attending gave Dr. Joshi any degree of support
  • Dr. Joshi's government salary was frozen at this time and was later reinstated
  • In September 2003, after the Indian asbestos industry presented complaints to the Health Minister, the budget of Dr. Joshi's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health was substantially reduced
• The authors' conclusion: The Collegium Ramazzini urged support for Dr. Joshi's efforts to ban asbestos in India

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Collegium Ramazzini.

Related studies

• Collegium Ramazzini call for an international ban on asbestos — P.J. Landrigan, M. Soffritti (2005)
• Collegium Ramazzini statement on the Tokyo Declaration banning asbestos — P.J. Landrigan, M. Soffritti (2005)
• Collegium Ramazzini: Comments on the 2014 Helsinki consensus report on asbestos — X. Baur, A.L. Frank, et al. (2016)
• Statement of the Collegium Ramazzini — M. Soffritti, P.J. Landrigan (2004)
• Asbestos-related morbidity in India — T.K. Joshi, R.K. Gupta (2003)
• Health experts concerned over India's asbestos industry — T. Burki (2010)

Browse more research in American Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.