Open letter on the asbestos industry in India

Our plain-English summary of Open letter on the asbestos industry in India, by L. Kazan-Allen (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2000).

The study

• Author: L. Kazan-Allen
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2000;6(4):345-8
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article is not a research study. It is an open letter, published as a commentary, about the asbestos industry in India. It responded to an International Conference on Chrysotile Asbestos planned in New Delhi, whose theme was "Strengthening Responsible Use." The letter quoted the conference brochure's claim that chrysotile can be used safely, then argued against it. The letter stated that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis and can cause lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. It stated that the strictest occupational exposure limits for chrysotile are estimated to carry lifetime risks of 5/1,000 for lung cancer and 2/1,000 for asbestosis. It also said that workplace controls cannot prevent exposure to products in use or to waste. It cited other researchers' work, including a prediction by Julian Peto and colleagues about mesothelioma deaths among men in Western Europe. The letter named people it described as supporters of the asbestos industry in India. It called for an international ban on asbestos mining and use. No new data were collected or analyzed.

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: Open letter (commentary); no original research
• Who was studied: No people were studied. The letter addresses the asbestos industry in India, including a planned conference in New Delhi in 2000, and names individuals it describes as industry supporters.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos and asbestos-based products promoted by the industry in India
• Main results:
  • Statement in the letter (not a finding of this article): all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis and can cause lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma
  • Statement in the letter: the strictest occupational exposure limits for chrysotile are estimated to be associated with lifetime risks of 5/1,000 for lung cancer and 2/1,000 for asbestosis
  • Statement in the letter: even the best workplace controls cannot prevent exposure from products in use or from waste
  • The letter cited a prediction by other researchers (Julian Peto and colleagues), not this article's own finding, that mesothelioma deaths among men in Western Europe will rise from just over 5,000 in 1998 to about 9,000 by 2018
• The authors' conclusion: The letter's signatories concluded that an international ban on asbestos mining and use is necessary

Related studies

• Effects of informing workers of their health risks from exposure to toxic materials — P.S. Houts, V. McDougall (1988)
• Health experts concerned over India's asbestos industry — T. Burki (2010)
• Identifying predictors of personal exposure to air temperature in peri-urban India — C. Milà, A. Curto, et al. (2020)
• Asbestos-related morbidity in India — T.K. Joshi, R.K. Gupta (2003)
• A case from India of pleural malignant mesothelioma probably due to domestic and environmental asbestos exposure: a posthumous report — V. Muralidhar, P. Raghav, et al. (2019)
• Marble Waste Dump Yard in Rajasthan, India Revealed as a Potential Asbestos Exposure Hazard — R. Singh, S. Fitzgerald, et al. (2025)

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