Photoessay. Workers' exposures to asbestos in Brazil

Our plain-English summary of Photoessay. Workers' exposures to asbestos in Brazil (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1999).

The study

• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 1999;5(3):244-6
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a photoessay, not a research study, and no author was named. Its photographs were credited to Fernanda Giannasi, a Labor Ministry inspector. It described workers' asbestos exposures in Brazil in 1999. At an April 1999 inspection of Kubota's four auto brake and clutch plants in greater Sao Paulo, dust controls were reported to be completely lacking, and new painters' masks had been handed to workers minutes before. The essay stated that ABRA, the Brazilian asbestos industry trade association, evaluated exposures at the plant. Of 21 fiber counts from process measurements in these plants, 18 exceeded 0.1 f/cc (the U.S. limit), six exceeded 2 f/cc (the Brazilian limit), and the highest was over 5 f/cc. The mining company Eternit was reported to have cut off fiber sales until the plant adopted dust controls and followed the Labor Ministry's rules. Captions also described asbestos waste stored in open areas for 25 years, one warning label per package of 50 clutch plates, demolition of a building covered with asbestos-cement sheets with no precautions, and asbestos glove and cord operations the inspector shut down.

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: Photoessay (photographs with captions and a short text); not a research study; no author named
• Who was studied: Workers at Kubota's four auto brake and clutch plants in greater Sao Paulo, Brazil, inspected in April 1999. Also shown: workers at an asbestos cord plant (N. J. Factory), an asbestos glove plant (Duraveis), and construction workers demolishing a building covered with asbestos-cement sheets.
• Exposure: Asbestos used in making clutch plates and brakes, asbestos cord and asbestos glove cloth, and asbestos-cement sheets in demolition and in a building; fiber type not named
• Main results:
  • At the April 1999 inspection of the Kubota plants, dust controls were completely lacking, and new painters' masks had been given to workers just minutes before the inspection.
  • ABRA, the Brazilian asbestos industry trade association, evaluated exposures at the plant.
  • Of 21 fiber counts from process measurements in these plants, 18 exceeded 0.1 f/cc (the U.S. limit), six exceeded 2 f/cc (the Brazilian limit), and the highest was over 5 f/cc.
  • The Brazilian asbestos mining company Eternit cut off fiber sales until the plant adopted dust controls and followed Labor Ministry rules.
  • The Kubota plant had stored asbestos waste in open areas for the past 25 years.
  • Each package of 50 clutch plates was sold with only one asbestos-warning label.
  • In the demolition of a building covered with asbestos-cement sheets, the essay stated that construction workers knew nothing of 'controlled use' and that no precautions were taken.
  • The asbestos glove and cord operations were both shut down by Labor Ministry inspector Fernanda Giannasi.
  • General Motors was fined for misinforming the Labor Ministry about the use of asbestos in brake shoes made in Brazil.
  • In the Labor Ministry building in Sao Paulo, the hallway leading to a newly built emergency stairway was covered with asbestos-cement sheets.

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