Mongolia: Failure of Total Banning of Asbestos

Our plain-English summary of Mongolia: Failure of Total Banning of Asbestos, by N. Damiran, A.L. Frank (Annals of Global Health, 2023).

The study

• Authors: N. Damiran, A.L. Frank
• Journal: Annals of Global Health
• Published: 2023;89(1):50
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The primary uses of asbestos in Mongolia are in thermal power plants, construction and at railway companies. There is, however, limited data on both asbestos consumption and asbestos related disease (ARD) in Mongolia. The purpose of this paper is to report on the failure to completely ban asbestos in Mongolia. To write this paper, available asbestos related literature, published nationally and internationally, and legal regulations, national standards and guidelines on asbestos control were reviewed. Mongolia consumed a total of 44,421.9 metric tons of asbestos containing materials (AMCs) between 1996 and 2014. As a key indicator of ARD, 54 cases of mesothelioma were diagnosed at the National Cancer Center by pathological testing of tissue samples between 1994 and 2013. In 2010, The government made the decision to stop all types of asbestos use under the Law on Toxic and Hazardous Substances. However, there was no nationwide action plan to gradually reduce asbestos use, promote substitutes and raise awareness of health hazards and economic burdens in the future from asbestos use. There was also no planning for safe removal of asbestos currently in place. After the banning of asbestos, thermal power plants told the government that they could not produce electricity without insulation of AMCs and substitution materials were economically not feasible. Due to pressure from the energy sector and inadequate awareness of asbestos hazards, the government changed the legal status on asbestos in 2011 as a restricted chemical. Asbestos is still allowed to be used, and workers and the general community are still unnecessarily exposed to this carcinogen.

Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s).

In plain English

This paper was a review written to explain why a total ban on asbestos in Mongolia failed. The authors reviewed asbestos studies published in international journals and in Mongolia, along with Mongolian laws, standards and guidelines. Drawing on earlier work, they reported that Mongolia consumed a total of 44,421.9 metric tons of asbestos containing materials between 1996 and 2014. An earlier study they cited found average airborne asbestos among pipeline insulators at thermal power plants of up to 0.93 fibers per cubic centimeter, above the Mongolian eight-hour limit of 0.1. Another cited source reported 54 mesothelioma cases diagnosed at the National Cancer Center between 1994 and 2013. The government banned asbestos in 2010 under Resolution 192. After pressure from thermal power plants, it changed asbestos's legal status in 2011 with Resolution 176. Asbestos is now allowed only in thermal power plants, as thermal insulation and heat resistant materials, in licensed amounts. The authors concluded that this caused a step backward on asbestos control. They noted that Mongolia has no registration or surveillance of asbestos-related diseases, and that asbestos consumption figures could be underestimated.

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: Review of published literature, legal regulations, national standards and guidelines on asbestos in Mongolia (described as a report on a failed policy, not a new study of patients or workers)
• Who was studied: Mongolia as a country. The review covered five articles from international journals, locally published articles, and Mongolian laws, regulations and government resolutions. All asbestos used in Mongolia is imported, mainly from China and Russia.
• Exposure: Asbestos and asbestos containing materials used mainly in thermal power plants, construction and railway companies. Uses included insulation, piping, brake pads and gaskets. The only fiber type named was chrysotile, in a cited case report.
• Main results:
  • Mongolia consumed a total of 44,421.9 metric tons of asbestos containing materials between 1996 and 2014 (drawn from earlier work by the authors)
  • A cited study found average airborne asbestos exposure among pipeline insulators at thermal power plants of up to 0.93 f/cm3, which exceeds the Mongolian eight-hour limit of 0.1 f/cm3
  • Cited studies reported concentrations of 0.39 to 1.48 f/cm3 at distances of 3, 4 and 20 meters from asbestos insulation work
  • Cited research reported 0.38 f/cm3 among workers at locomotive repair shops and 0.2 f/cm3 for construction workers removing asbestos containing board from building walls
  • The National Asbestos Profile stated that over 14,800 workers of thermal power plants and heat distribution pipeline systems were exposed to asbestos
  • A 2010 WHO study identified 29 confirmed mesothelioma cases among 21,973 patient records at the National Cancer Center between 1994 and 2010
  • A cited source reported 54 mesothelioma cases diagnosed at the National Cancer Center between 1994 and 2013. It estimated an age specific incidence rate of 19.2 per million per year, 3.9 times higher than the WHO world average.
  • A cited case report described a 47 year old woman diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma after 27 years of exposure to only chrysotile asbestos at a thermal power plant
  • Asbestos use was legally banned in 2010 under Resolution 192
  • Thermal power plants complained that substitute materials were expensive and not compatible for thermal insulation on hot surfaces. Under this pressure the government changed asbestos's legal status in 2011 with Resolution 176.
  • All forms of asbestos are now allowed only in thermal power plants, for thermal insulation and heat resistant materials, in licensed amounts. Other industries may not use asbestos.
  • A cited article reported that annual asbestos consumption in 2014 had declined by four times compared with peak use in 2008
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the 2010 ban was made without proper preparation for its effects on industry, and that main users such as power plants were not prepared to replace insulation. In their view this caused a step backward on asbestos control and allowed asbestos use again in 2011.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Mongolia has no registration and surveillance of asbestos-related diseases, so nationwide prevalence is difficult to estimate
  • Asbestos consumption could be underestimated because of under-registered imports and lack of registration of asbestos use
  • Asbestos consumption before 1996 cannot be accurately estimated
  • The total number of asbestos-related diseases cannot be estimated from current limited data

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Exposure to airborne asbestos in thermal power plants in Mongolia — N. Damiran, E.K. Silbergeld, et al. (2015)
• Mesothelioma in Mongolia: case report — N. Damiran, K. Davaajav, et al. (2015)
• Asbestos Consumption in Mongolia: 1996-2014 — N. Damiran, A. Frank (2018)
• Letter to Editor regarding Franzblau et al. 2020: Asbestos-containing materials in abandoned residential dwellings in Detroit, Science of Total Environment, v714,1-8 — A.L. Frank (2020)
• Australia's Ongoing Legacy of Asbestos: Significant Challenges Remain Even after the Complete Banning of Asbestos Almost Fifteen Years Ago — M. Soeberg, D.A. Vallance, et al. (2018)
• How Canada Changed from Exporting Asbestos to Banning Asbestos: The Challenges That Had to Be Overcome — K. Ruff (2017)

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