Impending proliferation of asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Impending proliferation of asbestos, by B.I. Castleman, M.J. Vera Vera (International Journal of Health Services, 1980).

The study

• Authors: B.I. Castleman, M.J. Vera Vera
• Journal: International Journal of Health Services
• Published: 1980;10(3):389-403
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The international asbestos industry is under considerable pressure in some countries to control dust exposures in the workplace and restrict pollution. In addition, major firms in the United States face mounting compensation costs for past failures to protect asbestos workers. At the same time, however, the asbestos industry is expanding in developing nations, largely on the strength of sales of asbestos-cement construction materials. This report describes problems encountered with the use of asbestos-cement in schools and low-income housing in Puerto Rico, resulting in the condemnation of these buildings and the relocation of over 1,000 families at public expense. The manufacturer of the asbestos-cement panels, a Colombian affiliate of the European-based multinational Eternit, escaped all liability. The issue is presented as a needless, expanding threat to public health worldwide. Safe, economic alternatives exist, such as the use in some cases of crop waste fibers in place of asbestos as a cement binder. There have also been major advances in the commercialization of asbestos-free brake and clutch friction products.

In plain English

This article was a commentary, first presented at a 1979 conference on the export of hazardous industries to developing countries, not a study collecting new health data. The authors described how, beginning in 1975, nearly 2,000 asbestos-cement houses made by Eternit Pacifico, S.A., a Colombian subsidiary of the European Eternit multinational, were built in Puerto Rico; over 500 asbestos-cement schools had been built earlier. The houses developed cracked panels, and residents broke asbestos sheets with hammers and saws to reach failed plumbing. The authors cited a report by Dr. William Nicholson that found uniformly high asbestos air levels in seven samples in or around the schools, one at 4,500 ng/m3. House construction and sales stopped in 1978. A 1979 law provided $16.4 million to replace nearly 1,391 houses and relocate over 5,000 people. The authors stated that the manufacturer was beyond the residents' legal reach. An appended interview with a former employee described unlabeled products and uninformed workers at an asbestos plant in Bombay, India. The authors concluded that asbestos-cement use in construction worldwide ought to be drastically curtailed, if not eliminated.

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 and policy report presented at a conference. It includes a descriptive case account of asbestos-cement housing and schools in Puerto Rico and an appended interview. No new health data were collected.
• Who was studied: Nearly 2,000 asbestos-cement houses built throughout Puerto Rico from 1975 by the Housing Department, and their residents, including a community in San Sebastian. Also over 500 asbestos-cement schools built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The appendix covers a former employee of Hindustan Ferodo, Ltd., Bombay, India, interviewed in March 1980.
• Exposure: Asbestos-cement roofing, wall and ceiling panels in houses supplied by Eternit Pacifico, S.A., a Colombian manufacturer and subsidiary of the European Eternit multinational. Also asbestos-cement schools.
• Main results:
  • Residents of the houses broke asbestos-cement sheets with hammers and saws to reach plumbing that had broken behind them.
  • In the summer of 1978, construction and sale of the houses was stopped because of public outcry over the asbestos health hazard.
  • A report by Dr. William Nicholson, cited by the authors (not their own study), found uniformly high air concentrations of asbestos in seven samples in or about asbestos-cement schools.
  • One of the school samples in the Nicholson report measured 4,500 ng/m3.
  • The asbestos-cement classrooms were still being used by nearly 50,000 children.
  • Servicios Legales began a census of health problems that had started to appear in asbestos-cement communities. These included respiratory problems, allergies, rashes and a skin ulcer on the lower limbs, mainly in children. No counts or rates were given.
  • Law No. 125 (July 1979) provided $16.4 million to replace the asbestos houses under a two-year plan.
  • The money was to replace nearly 1,391 houses and relocate over 5,000 people.
  • The authors reported that the Colombian manufacturer and its parent company Eternit were out of the residents' reach for a legal claim.
  • In the appended interview, the former Hindustan Ferodo employee said no product carried any indication of a possible health hazard.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the use of asbestos-cement in the construction industry worldwide ought to be drastically curtailed, if not altogether eliminated.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors noted that results of a second round of air sampling in Puerto Rico had not yet been reported.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement, Eternit, Friction Products.

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