Use of asbestos building materials in Malaysia: legislative measures, the management, and recommendations for a ban on use

Our plain-English summary of Use of asbestos building materials in Malaysia: legislative measures, the management, and recommendations for a ban on use, by I. Safitri Zen, R. Ahamad, K. Gopal Rampal, et al (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2013).

The study

• Authors: I. Safitri Zen, R. Ahamad, K. Gopal Rampal, W. Omar
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2013;19(3):169-78
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Malaysia has partially banned the use of asbestos. The prohibition of asbestos building materials in schools, clinics, and hospitals built by government started in 1999. Since 2005, prohibition has also been applied to all government buildings. However, asbestos construction materials such as roof and ceiling tiles are still sold in the market. There are no acts or regulations prohibiting the use of asbestos in private buildings in Malaysia. Asbestos was first used for industrial purposes in Malaysia in the 1960s and the first regulations related to asbestos have been around since the 1980s. Non-governmental organizations have been pushing the government to impose a total ban since the 1980s. Asbestos is still used in the manufacturing sector under the "control use" concept. The study found difficulties in established and validated medical record data on asbestos-related diseases. This paper reviews existing asbestos-related regulations and guidelines in Malaysia and discusses the urgency for a total ban in the use of asbestos in building materials in the country. In the meanwhile, stricter enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations related to the use and exposure of asbestos among workers in the manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and demolition sectors has been in place.

In plain English

This article reviewed Malaysian laws, regulations and guidelines on asbestos, especially asbestos building materials. The authors traced asbestos from import to disposal, using government documents, stakeholder interviews and import statistics. They reported that 93 664 metric tons of raw asbestos were imported from 2000 to 2007 (an annual average of 11 708 metric tons), with imports decreasing. Of the asbestos types, only crocidolite was prohibited, except for research and analytical uses. Chrysotile and other types were permitted under an exposure limit of 0.1 fiber/ml averaged over 8 hours. Asbestos building materials were banned in government schools, clinics and hospitals from 1999 and in all government building projects from 2005. No act or regulation prohibited them in private buildings, though Kuala Lumpur guidelines barred them in workers' housing and terrace-house roofs. A 1984 building by-law still said asbestos cement must be used for firefighting in public buildings. Citing reports of only 26 asbestos-related disease cases from 1999 to 2005, the authors suggested underreporting. The authors concluded it was time for a total ban. They proposed interim steps such as a nationwide building survey and a chrysotile tax.

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: Policy review: a supply chain framework analysis of legislative measures, based on document review, semi-structured interviews and import statistics
• Who was studied: Malaysian asbestos-related laws, regulations and guidelines. Sources were documents from government agencies and semi-structured interviews with government agencies, professional and industry bodies (e.g. NIOHS, CIDB, SIRIM, the Architect Association Malaysia, the Institute of Quantity Surveyors) and non-governmental organizations (e.g. the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, Building Workers International). Import data for 2000 to 2007 came from the Statistics Department of Malaysia and MATRADE. The number of people interviewed is not given.
• Exposure: Asbestos and asbestos-containing building materials in Malaysia (e.g. roofing sheets, ceiling materials, asbestos cement pipes). Crocidolite is prohibited, while chrysotile and other asbestos types are under 'controlled use'.
• Main results:
  • From 2000 to 2007, Malaysia imported a total of 93 664 metric tons of raw asbestos for industrial use, an annual average of 11 708 metric tons.
  • Asbestos imports decreased from 2000 to 2007.
  • The top four exporting countries were Canada (6271.524 metric tons), Brazil (4805.581 metric tons), Russia (942.023 metric tons) and South Africa (338.512 metric tons). The article does not make clear what period these figures cover.
  • All uses of crocidolite are prohibited except for research and analytical purposes.
  • Controlled use of all asbestos types except crocidolite is permitted under a permissible exposure limit of 0.1 fiber/ml, 8-hour time-weighted average.
  • The import ban on crocidolite does not cover other asbestos types (actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite, tremolite and chrysotile).
  • Asbestos building materials were banned in government schools and clinics/hospitals in 1999, and the ban was extended to all government building projects in 2005.
  • The 2005 Public Works (JKR) specification requires asbestos-free building material, but specific regulations do not back up the prohibition.
  • The Uniform Building By Law of 1984 states that asbestos cement must be used for firefighting purposes in public buildings, which the authors said conflicts with the government ban.
  • No acts or regulations prohibit the use of asbestos in private buildings in Malaysia.
  • Kuala Lumpur City Hall guidelines prohibit asbestos building material in the construction of workers' housing and asbestos sheet for the roofs of terrace houses in Kuala Lumpur.
  • There is no data on the percentage of buildings containing asbestos materials.
  • Citing other reports of only 26 asbestos-related disease cases from 1999 to 2005, the authors suggested that, given the import quantities, these diseases may be underreported in Malaysia.
  • Citing a government plan, the authors reported that asbestos cement pipes make up about 45 746 km, or 50%, of Malaysia's 91 247 km of water pipes.
  • As interim measures before a ban, the authors recommended a nationwide survey of asbestos in buildings. They also recommended cooperation among government agencies, a tax on chrysotile, extending the prohibition to all buildings, rules for managing asbestos in existing buildings, and amending the Uniform Building By-Laws.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that it is time for a total ban of asbestos in Malaysia, and that such a ban would not entail a high cost to the country.

Related studies

• Optimal management program for asbestos containing building materials to be available in the event of a disaster — Y.C. Kim, W.H. Hong (2017)
• Worker exposure to asbestos during removal of sprayed material and renovation activity in buildings containing sprayed material — N.W. Paik, R.J. Walcott, et al. (1983)
• Asbestos release from whole-building demolition of buildings with asbestos-containing material — R.A. Perkins, J. Hargesheimer, et al. (2007)
• Respiratory morbidity in workers exposed to asbestos in the primary manufacture of building materials — T.G. Robins, M.A. Green (1988)
• Thorium determination in intercomparison samples and in some Romanian building materials by gamma ray spectrometry — A. Pantelica, I.I. Georgescu, et al. (2001)
• Mesothelioma among employees with likely contact with in-place asbestos-containing building materials — H.A. Anderson, L.P. Hanrahan, et al. (1991)

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