Global corporate policies and international "double standards" in occupational and environmental health

Our plain-English summary of Global corporate policies and international "double standards" in occupational and environmental health, by B. Castleman (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1999).

The study

• Author: B. Castleman
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 1999;5(1):61-4
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 13 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This editorial examined how global corporations applied lower standards of worker and environmental protection in some countries than in others, using asbestos in Brazil as the main example. The author reported that General Motors still used asbestos engine gaskets in Brazil, although it had stopped using them in North America five years earlier. At least one gasket supplier's Campinas plant lacked dust control. In a four-year-old survey partially disclosed by the manufacturer, at least one fiber count exceeded Brazil's limit of 2 f/cc, and all exceeded the U.S. OSHA limit of 0.1 f/cc. Asbestos brake parts were shipped from Brazil to the United States, including by Bosch, which did not sell asbestos brakes in Germany. St. Gobain converted its French asbestos-cement plants after the 1996 French ban but kept asbestos interests in Brazil. Its subsidiary Eternit sought to prosecute labor inspector Fernanda Giannasi for criminal defamation, and the court rejected the complaint. The author also described alleged business influence at WHO, ILO, IPCS and ICOH, including asbestos reports that were withdrawn. He proposed an independent study and comparison of corporate health, safety and environment policies, supported enforceable international requirements such as a European Parliament code of conduct, and described liability suits, including asbestos claims against Cape Industries in British courts. He concluded that individual countries could act to curb corporate double standards.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article is an editorial, not a research study. Using asbestos in Brazil as the main example, the author argued that global corporations protect workers and the environment less in some countries than others. General Motors still used asbestos engine gaskets in Brazil, five years after stopping in North America. A maker of gaskets used by General Motors there lacked dust control at its Campinas plant. In a four-year-old survey partly disclosed by the manufacturer, at least one fiber count exceeded Brazil's 2 f/cc limit, and all exceeded the U.S. OSHA limit. Cases included a $125,000 court award to a former employee of St. Gobain's subsidiary with asbestosis, and Eternit's criminal defamation complaint against labor inspector Fernanda Giannasi, which the court rejected. The author also described alleged business influence on draft asbestos reports at WHO Europe and on an industry draft proposed for ILO publication. The ILO draft was withdrawn. WHO Europe withdrew its 1997 drafts; a revised draft of one was scheduled for printing, and the other was still being revised. The author concluded that corporate practices need careful analysis to help develop internationally enforceable requirements.

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: editorial (opinion piece, not a research study)
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses practices of multinational corporations, chiefly the use of asbestos in Brazil, as of 1997-1998.
• Exposure: Asbestos products: asbestos engine gaskets used by General Motors in Brazil (discontinued in North America five years earlier), asbestos brake pads and linings, and asbestos cement. No fiber type is named.
• Main results:
  • At a gasket plant in Campinas, Brazil, without dust control, a four-year-old survey partly disclosed by the manufacturer included at least one fiber count above Brazil's occupational exposure limit of 2 f/cc.
  • All measurements in that survey exceeded the U.S. OSHA limit. The scanned text garbles the figure for this limit.
  • Brazil was the largest source of friction materials imported into the United States in 1997. These import categories include both asbestos-containing and asbestos-free materials.
  • St. Gobain's subsidiary was ordered to pay damages to a former employee with asbestosis. 'Moral damages' made up about two-thirds of the $125,000 award.
  • A Brazilian criminal court rejected Eternit's criminal defamation complaint against labor inspector Fernanda Giannasi.
  • In 1997, WHO's Regional Office for Europe withdrew draft reports 'Asbestos and Health' and 'Asbestos in Buildings' after criticism that they read like asbestos industry products.
  • An August 1998 revised draft of 'Asbestos and Health' was scheduled for imminent printing. The 'Asbestos in Buildings' report was still being revised.
  • The asbestos industry used an ICOH committee in trying to get the ILO to publish its report as an ILO document. The ILO withdrew the draft.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that a careful analysis is needed of what corporations are and are not doing to prevent international double standards. The author added that such an analysis could help develop internationally enforceable requirements.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Gasket, Dust Control, OSHA, Brake Lining, Asbestos-Cement, Eternit.

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