Industrial workers' health and environmental pollution under the new international division of labor: the Taiwan experience

Our plain-English summary of Industrial workers' health and environmental pollution under the new international division of labor: the Taiwan experience, by M.S. Chen, C.L. Huang (American Journal of Public Health, 1997).

The study

• Authors: M.S. Chen, C.L. Huang
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health
• Published: 1997;87(7):1223-31
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Using Taiwan as an example, this paper conducts a historical analysis of the relationship between economic development in the new international division of labor and environmental pollution and industrial workers' health. Three industries-asbestos, plastic, and dye-were chosen for case studies. We trace the emergence of each industry in Taiwan and study each industry's protection of workers' health and environmental quality. Under the new international division of labor, the state's prioritization of economic development leads to lenient regulation. Under such state policies, employers have few incentives to invest in the protection of their workers' health and in the control of environmental pollution. Workers and the public are constrained in their efforts to protect their own health and prevent environmental pollution. This situation is exemplified by the deplorable working conditions and inadequate environmental pollution controls in the asbestos, plastic, and dye industries. Workers' health and the public's health are greatly compromised by economic development in the new international division of labor.

In plain English

In this historical analysis, the authors used case studies of three Taiwanese industries (asbestos, petrochemicals and dye) to examine how export-driven growth affected workers' health and pollution. They drew on published reports, trade data and 1993 interviews with 13 union cadres from plastic and petrochemical industries. The authors stated that no health data on these workers were available, but cited a study finding reduced respiratory function in asbestos workers in Taiwan. Asbestos textile exports to the United States began on a large scale in 1970 and peaked at about 1.3 million pounds in 1978. Taiwan regulated asbestos as generic dust in the 1970s; its later limit, 2 fibers per cubic centimeter, was 10 times the US 1986 standard. Citing a 1986 and 1987 survey by Chang and colleagues, the authors reported that none of the asbestos factories surveyed had measured asbestos fiber levels and 21% buried their wastes; one third of factories making brake linings, insulation and textiles by a dry process lacked exhaust ventilation. The authors concluded that less industrialized countries are likely to sacrifice workers' health and environmental quality unless public and worker pressure makes the state and employers act.

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 analysis using case studies of three industries, based on literature and secondary data, plus ethnographic interviews with union cadres; no original health data
• Who was studied: Taiwan's asbestos, petrochemical and dye industries from the 1950s to the early 1990s; interviews in 1993 with 13 union cadres from the plastic and petrochemical industries (not the asbestos industry)
• Exposure: Asbestos in Taiwanese manufacturing, mainly asbestos textiles, also brake linings and insulation; no fiber type is named. Vinyl chloride and dye chemicals are covered in the other case studies.
• Main results:
  • Taiwan began large-scale export of asbestos textiles to the United States in 1970. These exports peaked at about 1.3 million pounds in 1978, according to US import data.
  • In the 1970s Taiwan regulated asbestos as generic dust rather than as a hazardous fiber.
  • Taiwan's workplace asbestos limit, 2 fibers per cubic centimeter of air, was 10 times higher than the US 1986 standard.
  • Other studies cited by the authors found that more than half of asbestos factories exceeded the Taiwanese limit.
  • In the survey by Chang and colleagues (1986 and 1987), none of the asbestos factories had measured asbestos fiber concentration, and only 21% measured particulate concentration.
  • In the same survey, among the factories that produced brake linings, insulation and textiles using a dry process, one third did not use exhaust ventilation to filter fibers.
  • In the same survey, no factory had a full-time occupational hygienist.
  • In the same survey, 21% of factories buried their production wastes, and 51% treated used bags of raw asbestos fibers as common garbage.
  • A cited study of asbestos workers in Taiwan found a significant effect of asbestos exposure on reduced respiratory function.
  • In the authors' interviews, most union cadres were ignorant about occupational health and safety. One reported that only 3 of the 200 workers in his plant attended a talk explaining their health examination reports.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that less industrialized countries are likely to sacrifice workers' health and environmental quality to achieve economic growth unless public and working-class pressure induces the state and employers to protect them.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that no data on the health status of workers in the three industries were available to track changes since the industries developed, although they cited a few separate studies of worker health.
  • Some occupational diseases may not have appeared yet because of long latency.
  • Job mobility and long latency made it impossible to assess the overall health impact of the asbestos industry.
  • Only cadres of independent unions were interviewed, all from the plastic and petrochemical industries.

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