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World Bank Stepping Up Efforts To Warn of Health Risks with Asbestos Building Materials

Thursday, June 18, 2009

By WADE RAWLINS
People often get exposed to cancer-causing asbestos by working with building materials in construction. So the World Bank is stepping up efforts to raise awareness of the health risks associated with asbestos-containing materials such as asbestos-cement water pipe and roofing shingles to reduce their use in developing countries.

The World Bank, which provides financial aid and technical assistance in more than 100 countries, in May finalized new construction guidelines to discourage the use of asbestos in new construction projects after a letter of inquiry from Congressman Dennis Kucinich and four other members of Congress.

The good practice guidelines, which originally were commissioned in 2006, had stalled before final administrative approval. In March, Kucinich and four other members of Congress sent a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick questioning the delay.

Kucinich said global asbestos use was on the rise at the very time it should be eliminated.

"Asbestos is a highly toxic material that has no place in construction projects here or anywhere else, especially when viable alternatives are available," Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, said in a statement. "This guidance will reduce exposure and permanent lung damage to citizens and workers around the world."

Asbestos, a group of naturally occurring mineral fibers, was once widely used to make many household products because of its useful properties including its ability to be woven, fire resistance, insulation properties and strength.

But asbestos is now recognized as the cause of various cancers.

Health hazards from breathing asbestos dust include asbestosis, a lung scarring disease, and various forms for cancer including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. The disease often arises decades after the exposure.

The World Bank’s good practice guidelines present an overview of available alternatives to building materials containing asbestos. The bank said it expected borrowers to use alternative materials whenever feasible.

It said building materials containing asbestos should be avoided in new construction, including construction for disaster relief.

More than 90 percent of asbestos fiber produced today is chrysotile, which is used in construction materials made of asbestos-cement including pipe, water storage tanks and roofing. The largest users are developing countries.

Other products still manufactured with asbestos content include vehicle brake and clutch pads, gaskets and roofing.

More than 40 countries have banned asbestos, but not the United States.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from the state of Washington, has led a seven-year effort to ban asbestos in the U.S. Her legislation, which passed the Senate in 2007, would authorize additional studies to determine which commercial products still contain asbestos, increase funding for asbestos-related diseases and call for a national Mesothelioma registry to help public health professional track the disease.

"While more than 30 countries have banned asbestos and protected their citizens, the United States still has not," Murray said in a statement. "The time for Congress to ban asbestos is long overdue. Until we take the steps to ban this deadly substance, we will continue to put innocent lives at risk."

About 10,000 people a year die in the United States of diseases related to asbestos exposure, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit advocacy group. Worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates that 90,000 people die each year because of exposure to asbestos.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the World Bank is made up of two development agencies, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association.

World Bank Report (PDF)

Kucinich Press Release

Labels: Featured News

posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:03 AM
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