Occupational Exposures to Asbestos in Brazil

Our plain-English summary of Occupational Exposures to Asbestos in Brazil, by F. Giannasi, A. Thébaud-Mony (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1997).

The study

• Authors: F. Giannasi, A. Thébaud-Mony
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 1997;3(2):150-157
• Cited by: 18 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

European and Canadian asbestos companies have long taken advantage of the lack of regulation of the asbestos industry in developing countries. Their activities exploit vulnerable workers whose lack of medical care may result in a silent epidemic of asbestos-related diseases. At this time, virtually all cases of asbestosis and asbestos-related cancers are not identified, reported, or compensated in developing countries. Brazil provides a compelling example of this growing problem. To stem the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, Brazil, and many other countries, must adopt the total ban on asbestos use now in effect in more developed countries. Obstacles to accomplishing this in developing countries are daunting.

In plain English

This article was a commentary on asbestos use and asbestos-related disease in Brazil, not an epidemiological study. The authors wrote that no epidemiologic study of asbestos workers had ever been carried out in Brazil, and that about 25% of deaths in Brazil had no defined cause, so true rates of mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis could not be known. They reported that Brazil produced 237,000 tons of asbestos a year and that use averaged 1,400 g per citizen per year. At the Eternit asbestos-cement plant in Osasco, the first 12 former workers seen at a local clinic after the plant closed included four diagnosed with asbestosis and seven with pleural plaques. One, whose chest x-ray was normal, died four months later with peritoneal cancer. The article also described exposure limits (4 fibers/cc as of 1986), a two-year government-coordinated health assessment in nine asbestos-cement plants, and a 1994 agreement to phase asbestos out of friction products by 1998. The authors concluded that an epidemic of occupational disease was going unrecognized because of powerful private interests and government collusion.

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 / descriptive overview of asbestos production, regulation, health impact and ban campaigns in Brazil (no original study methods)
• Who was studied: Asbestos workers in Brazil, discussed generally. Specific groups mentioned: 12 former workers of the Eternit asbestos-cement plant in Osasco seen at a local clinic, and 3,500 exposed workers in nine asbestos-cement plants in Sao Paulo State covered by a government health assessment.
• Exposure: Asbestos in general (mining and manufacturing), mainly used in Brazil in asbestos-cement, friction materials, textiles, and plastic, chemical and furniture products. Workplace exposure limits are discussed.
• Main results:
  • Brazil produced 237,000 tons of asbestos per year.
  • Asbestos use in Brazil averaged 1,400 g per citizen per year.
  • Employee turnover reached 90% each year in some asbestos plants.
  • Of the first 12 former Eternit Osasco workers seen at a local clinic after the plant closed, four were diagnosed with asbestosis and seven had pleural plaques. One, who had a normal chest x-ray, died four months later with peritoneal cancer.
  • The Eternit Osasco plant never reported a case of cancer.
  • As of 1986, Brazil's official workplace exposure limit was 4 fibers/cc, 20 times the 0.2 fibers/cc limit in the United States.
  • A two-year health assessment in nine asbestos-cement plants in Sao Paulo State, where 3,500 workers had been exposed, found significant health consequences, including asbestosis, radiologic abnormalities and dismissals for poor health. The article gave no numbers.
  • A later industry agreement set the exposure limit at 0.4 fiber/cc.
  • More than 300,000 automobile repair shop workers had unregulated asbestos exposure from brake and clutch work.
  • In 1994, workers, government and the automotive parts industry agreed to phase out asbestos in friction products by 1998.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that an epidemic of occupational diseases in Brazil goes unrecognized because of powerful private interests and government collusion.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that no epidemiologic study of asbestos workers had ever been conducted in Brazil.
  • The authors stated that about 25% of deaths in Brazil have no defined cause, so true mortality from mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis cannot be known.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure, STEM.

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