History of Asbestos Ban in Hong Kong

Our plain-English summary of History of Asbestos Ban in Hong Kong, by C.K. Wong, S.H. Wan, I.T. Yu (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2017).

The study

• Authors: C.K. Wong, S.H. Wan, I.T. Yu
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2017;14(11)
• Type of article: Historical article
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

As millions of immigrants moved to Hong Kong (HK) from China in the recent decades, large amount of residential housings were built in the early years and a substantial proportion of those buildings used asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). Since the number of new cases of ARDs diagnosed has increased year by year since 1990's, the remarkable increase of incidences had drawn the attention of the public and most importantly the HK government. It became one of the trigger points leading to asbestos ban in HK history. Comparatively, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions and patients' self-help organizations demonstrated a more aggressive and proactive attitude than the HK government and have played a key role in the development of asbestos banning policy in HK. After numerous petitions and meetings with the government representatives by those parties in the past decade, the HK government eventually changed its attitude and started to consider terminating the endless threat from asbestos by amending the policy, and the new clause of legislation for banning of all forms of asbestos was enacted on 4 April 2014. Other than the restriction of asbestos use, the compensation system about ARDs has also made some great moves by the effort of those parties as well. Based on the experience we learnt through the years, efforts from different stakeholders including patients' self-help organizations, NGOs, legislative councilors, and media power are absolutely essential to the success of progression and development in today's asbestos banning in HK.

In plain English

This article was a historical policy review. The authors, based at the Hong Kong Workers' Health Centre, reviewed government data, earlier research and position papers on how Hong Kong moved toward banning asbestos and compensating people with asbestos-related diseases. Citing earlier sources, they reported that age-standardized mesothelioma incidence was below 0.5 per million in 1976 to 1990 and reached 2.5 in 2006. They also reported that 36 asbestosis and 96 mesothelioma cases were confirmed in 2006 to 2015, and that 87% of them had worked in construction. Amosite and crocidolite were banned in 1996, but chrysotile could still be imported. The authors described non-governmental groups, unions and patients' groups, including their own centre, as more proactive than the government. A ban on all forms of asbestos was enacted on 4 April 2014. It extended the import and sale ban to all forms and banned their supply and new use, but did not cover asbestos already in buildings. Mesothelioma was added to the compensation law in 2008. The authors concluded that efforts by many stakeholders were essential and that existing asbestos still needed addressing.

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 policy review based on documents, government data, earlier research and position papers
• Who was studied: Hong Kong: the development of its asbestos ban policy and of its compensation system for asbestos-related diseases over past decades
• Exposure: Imported asbestos-containing building materials such as corrugated cement roofing sheets, wall board, cement roof tiles, vinyl floor coverings and cable tray stuffing. The article names amosite, crocidolite and chrysotile.
• Main results:
  • Citing Hong Kong Cancer Registry data from a previous study, the age-standardized incidence rate of mesothelioma was less than 0.5 per million in 1976 to 1990. It rose sharply in the mid-1990s and reached 2.5 in 2006.
  • Citing compensation fund data, there were 36 confirmed new cases of asbestosis and 96 of mesothelioma in 2006 to 2015. Of these, 87% had an employment record in the construction industry.
  • Import and sale of amosite and crocidolite were banned in Hong Kong from 1996. Chrysotile and products made with it were still allowed to be imported or re-exported from 1996 to 2010.
  • The authors described non-governmental organizations, labor unions and patients' self-help organizations as more proactive than the government and as having played a key role in the ban policy.
  • The proposal submitted on 20 April 2011 would extend the existing ban on import and sale of blue and brown asbestos to all other forms of asbestos, and would ban the supply and new use of all forms of asbestos.
  • This proposal was passed by the Legislative Council and enacted on 4 April 2014.
  • The authors noted that the 2014 law does not address removing asbestos-containing materials already in the community.
  • A 2008 amendment to the compensation ordinance made patients with mesothelioma caused by inhaling asbestos eligible for the same compensation as patients with silicosis and asbestosis.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that efforts from many stakeholders were essential to the progress of the asbestos ban. They described banning import and new use as a first step and said existing asbestos in old buildings still needs to be dealt with.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM).

Related studies

• Are current or future mesothelioma epidemics in Hong Kong the tragic legacy of uncontrolled use of asbestos in the past? — L.A. Tse, I.T. Yu, et al. (2010)
• Mesothelioma and lung cancer mortality: a historical cohort study among asbestosis workers in Hong Kong — M. Chen, L.A. Tse, et al. (2012)
• Malignant mesothelioma in Hong Kong — K.C. Chang, C.C. Leung, et al. (2006)
• Asbestos fiber burdens in lung tissues of Hong Kong Chinese with and without lung cancer — Y. Liu, P. Zhang, et al. (2001)
• Banning Asbestos in New Zealand, 1936-2016, an 80-Year Long Saga — W.I. Glass, R. Armstrong, et al. (2017)
• Mixtures research at NIEHS: an evolving program — C.V. Rider, D.J. Carlin, et al. (2013)

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