Health experts concerned over India's asbestos industry

Our plain-English summary of Health experts concerned over India's asbestos industry, by T. Burki (Lancet, 2010).

The study

• Author: T. Burki
• Journal: Lancet
• Published: 2010;375(9715):626-7
• Type of article: News
• Cited by: 44 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This news report from The Lancet's World Report section described health experts' concerns about the growth of asbestos use in India. It drew on published figures and interviews with experts from WHO, Drexel University (USA), the Occupational Health and Safety Centre in Mumbai, the Ban Asbestos Network of India, a Canadian member of parliament who was a former asbestos miner, and an environmental consultant. The report stated that India's asbestos use rose from roughly 125 000 metric tonnes in 2000 to about 300 000 in 2007. Nearly all of it was mixed with cement to make roofing sheets. The asbestos-cement industry was growing by about 10% a year and employed more than 100 000 people. Import tariffs fell from 78% in the mid-1990s to 15% by 2004. About 7 million tonnes had been built into buildings since 1960. Experts described several problems: poor recording of death and disease, little occupational health training among doctors, misdiagnosis of asbestosis as tuberculosis or bronchitis, and minimal protection for workers, including India's roughly 60 000 ship breakers. The report set the Canadian-government-funded Chrysotile Institute's claim that chrysotile can be used safely against WHO's position that all types of asbestos are carcinogenic. Experts expected much more death and disease. They said workers who are already ill must be compensated, and that the final aim was an outright ban.

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 is a news feature from The Lancet's World Report section, not a research study. It reports no new data and draws on figures it cites and on interviews with experts. The author described rising asbestos use in India. Over the period the article gives as 2000–07, use rose from roughly 125 000 metric tonnes to about 300 000, nearly all mixed with cement to make roofing sheets. About 7 million tonnes had gone into India's buildings since 1960. India sources much of its asbestos from Canada, and chrysotile (white asbestos) is the only form still being mined. The article contrasted the claim of the Chrysotile Institute, funded by the Canadian Government, that chrysotile can be used safely with WHO's position that all types of asbestos cause cancer. Arthur Frank of Drexel University said India has a very poor, almost non-existent system for recording death and disease, and cited a Mumbai hospital that sees a dozen mesothelioma cases a year. The article reported that only one of about 300 medical schools trains doctors in occupational health and that asbestosis is often misdiagnosed as tuberculosis or bronchitis. An activist said most workers are not protected. Frank expected more death and disease, and another expert called for compensation of workers who are already ill. The article named an outright ban as the final aim.

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: News feature (journalistic report based on interviews and cited figures); not original research
• Who was studied: India's asbestos industry and its workers. The article says the asbestos-cement industry employs more than 100 000 people, and it also mentions about 60 000 ship breakers.
• Exposure: Asbestos, mainly chrysotile (white asbestos), used in asbestos-cement roofing sheets in India
• Main results:
  • According to the article, India's asbestos use rose from roughly 125 000 metric tonnes to about 300 000 over the period it gives as 2000–07.
  • The article states that about 7 million tonnes of asbestos had been built into Indian buildings since 1960.
  • The article states that India sources much of its asbestos from Canada.
  • The Chrysotile Institute says chrysotile can be used safely. WHO's director of public health and environment was quoted as saying all types of asbestos are carcinogenic.
  • Arthur Frank of Drexel University cited a Mumbai hospital that sees a dozen cases of mesothelioma every year.
  • Of India's roughly 300 medical schools, the article reports that only one has an occupational health training programme.
  • The article reports that asbestosis is frequently misdiagnosed as tuberculosis or bronchitis.
  • Madhumita Dutta of the Ban Asbestos Network of India was quoted as saying that most workers are not protected.
  • The article reports that only a handful of ill workers had received compensation.
• The authors' conclusion: The article states no research conclusion of its own. It reported Arthur Frank's expectation of more death and disease and V Murlidhar's call to compensate workers who are already ill, and it named an outright ban as the final aim.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement, Misdiagnosis, Chrysotile Institute, Chrysotile, Carcinogenic.

Related studies

• Job tasks, potential exposures, and health risks of laborers employed in the construction industry — G. Burkhart, P.A. Schulte, et al. (1993)
• Controversies at international organizations over asbestos industry influence — B.I. Castleman (2001)
• IARC in the dock over ties with asbestos industry — D. Holmes (2013)
• The incidence of medically reported work-related ill health in the UK construction industry — S.J. Stocks, R. McNamee, et al. (2010)
• Incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with occupation, industry, and workplace exposures in the Health and Retirement Study — S.R. Silver, W.A. Alarcon, et al. (2021)
• Present status of asbestos mining and related health problems in India--a survey — A.L. Ramanathan, V. Subramanian (2001)

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