Ban on asbestos/asbestos
En 1991 el Banco Mundial estipuló, como política, su preferencia de no financiar la manufactura o el uso de productos que contengan asbesto.
El asbesto/amianto (en sus cinco formas anfibólicas: amosita, antofilita, actinolita, crocidolita y tremolita) está prohibido por el Convenio de Róterdam, firmado por más de cien países,[30] no sin cierta polémica con los países que todavía exportan asbesto[31] El asbesto de crisotilo es el primer producto químico que ha enfrentado una significativa oposición en la convención de Róterdam. Muchos observadores expresaron su preocupación de que esta decisión puede sentar un precedente para futuras discusiones sobre productos químicos económicamente importantes, temiendo que los intereses económicos y comerciales puedan superar preocupaciones ambientales y sanitarias. «Las objeciones de Canadá y de Rusia para enlistar los asbestos de crisotilo son vergonzosamente egoístas, protegiendo a exportadores domésticos interesados en la venta de este peligroso químico en el exterior» dijo Clifton Curtis, director del Programa Global de Productos Tóxicos de WWF. El gobierno canadiense defendió su acción, al decir «Si es agregado (a la lista), puede ser percibido por algunos países como señal de que el crisotilo es prohibido». Los productos químicos en la lista se pueden exportar solamente de un país a otro con el permiso del gobierno del estado de importación.[32].
En todo el mundo, 67 países y territorios (incluidos los de la Unión Europea por decisión de la Comisión) han prohibido el uso de amianto. Se permiten exenciones para usos menores en algunos países enumerados; sin embargo, todos los países enumerados deben haber prohibido el uso de todo tipo de asbesto.[33][34][35].
Peru
The starting point of the fight for health against Asbestos in Peru occurred in 1989 after the Medical Diagnosis of four cases of workers affected by asbestosis. Furthermore, at the beginning of the 1990s, complaints were made for violation of health and safety laws at work, proposals in documents, job changes for those affected, medical checks with knowledge and delivery of the results to workers, locating cases of asbestosis in various companies in Peru (20 in Eternit, 4 in Frenosa, 2 in Indutex and 10 in Repsa). This resulted in a criminal lawsuit for crimes against life and health promoted by the labor union. Subsequently, in 2000, studies carried out on 197 workers and former workers exposed to asbestos showed that more than 60% suffered from Asbestosis and 13% presented radiological signs of exposure, while 7% presented obstructive processes and those apparently healthy only represented 19%.[36].
In 2005, the General Directorate of Environmental Health of the Ministry of Health presented a draft Supreme Decree to approve a regulation for the Prohibition of Asbestos in all its varieties and regulation of removal processes, based on Law No. 26842, General Health Law, which in its article 97 establishes that when the import, manufacture, transportation, storage, trade and use of a substance or product is considered dangerous for the health of the population, the State must establish the corresponding protection and prevention measures.[37] However, because the draft regulation was based on filling a legal gap that did not specify asbestos as such, it was rejected until the proposal for a specific law was considered as a basis.
Finally, on January 21, 2011, the Congress of the Republic of Peru approves the Law that prohibits amphibole asbestos and regulates the use of chrysotile asbestos (Law No. 29662). Indicating that as of July 1, 2011, the possession, processing, export, import, distribution, manufacturing and transfer of all varieties of amphibole asbestos fibers would be prohibited, regulating the production, marketing and use of chrysotile asbestos throughout the national territory as they are carcinogenic.[38][39].
However, only in 2014 did the Congress of the Republic declare and approve the regulations of the law to come into operation through Supreme Decree No. 028-2014-SA.[35].
Colombia
The plenary session of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia approved in the last debate, on June 11, 2019, the prohibition of the use of this material in the national territory as of January 1, 2021.[40].
The plenary session of the Senate of Colombia approved in the last debate, on June 17, 2019, the conciliation of the bill that prohibits the exploitation and export of asbestos in the country as of January 1, 2021.[41].
On July 11, 2019, the Presidency of Colombia sanctions the Law that prohibits the use of asbestos in Colombia from January 1, 2021.[42].
Chili
In the 1940s, the first company to manufacture construction materials with asbestos was Pizarreño, which was the only Chilean construction materials manufacturing company dedicated to manufacturing and selling fiber cement roofs with this harmful material. Years later and after the constant contamination, health damage and deaths caused by asbestos, the residents of Villa Pizarreño located in the commune of Maipú "Maipú (Chile)"), the union of the same company and former officials sued the company for not taking responsibility for not providing safety equipment to handle the dangerous material. To this we must add the concealment of the workers' examinations, falsifying diagnoses to avoid lawsuits and the direct and indirect damages, which alerted the authorities in Chile, even with reports broadcast in the media in Chile, denouncing the severe damage caused by asbestos by Pizarreño, which they left in the hands of the Chilean Judiciary.
In 2001, the former official of the same company, Eduardo Miño, burned himself to death in front of the La Moneda Palace as a sign of protest for those affected by Pizarreño,[43] which forced the government of Ricardo Lagos to create a law to prohibit the use of asbestos in construction materials, which was possible by the unanimous vote of the chambers of the National Congress of Chile.[44].
USA
Due to the dangerous nature of the material, in the United States the handling of asbestos is usually carried out by highly specialized workers with salaries between $24 and $55 per hour, between $53,000 and $123,000 per year (2016).[45].
The EPA states that removal of any asbestos residue must be done using very careful methods. If this does not occur, the EPA has federal jurisdiction (like the FBI) and the resulting penalties are felony-level.
The judicial incidence of liability lawsuits in the United States led to the bankruptcy of the main production companies, some declared insolvent under the so-called "Section 11", related to financial bankruptcy, by which a Court can approve the reorganization of the debt while the company continues operating. The overall cost of covering victims of these conditions is so high that it dangerously imbalances compensation schemes for occupational diseases.
In the United States, almost fifty thousand people a year file a complaint due to diseases caused by asbestos. American insurance companies spent $21.6 billion on these diseases until the year 2000. In addition, the accused companies had to shell out $32 billion. Compensation claims could reach $260 billion in the US.[46]
Asbestos became the subject of controversy again after the attacks on the World Trade Center "World Trade Center (1973-2001)") in New York on September 11, 2001, in which, after the collapse of the buildings, several tens of thousands of kilograms of this pulverized material were released into the atmosphere.
Europe
The French and German governments each allocate more than one billion euros per year to compensation for diseases derived from asbestos.[46].
The European Commission itself speaks of an epidemic of 500,000 deaths in the coming years, a number 10 times higher than the number of accidents at work.[47].
It is estimated that cancer from asbestos exposure will cause more than 200,000 deaths over the next decade in the UK.[48].
On May 4, 1999, the Technical Commission of the European Parliament[49] approved the ban on the use of any type of asbestos as of January 1, 2005 for those countries that have not yet banned it, and in 2006 the European institutions began a campaign against asbestos under the expressive slogan: "Asbestos is deadly!"
Under a directive "Directive (European Union Law)") of the European Commission, all States of the Union have had to prohibit the marketing and use of any type of asbestos.
Spain
In Spain it began to be used without any control from the 1940s,[50] with the highest level of use in the 1970s after the industrial takeoff, continuing its use in very specific activities until 2001, the year in which its use was completely prohibited.
The majority of buildings built in Spain between 1965 and 1984 contain asbestos, either in their construction elements or in their facilities, with 2001 being the date from which the asbestos content in a material produced in Spain can be completely ruled out. Some experts estimate that the citizens of Spain live among three million tons of asbestos. Many companies introduced products made with asbestos in Spain[51].
• - Water tank made of asbestos.
• - Roof made with asbestos. In Spain known by its trademark, uralita.
• - Construction that uses asbestos roofing, known as uralite or fiber cement.
• - Uralite or fiber cement roof.
Cases of lung cancer related to exposure to asbestos, called MPM (malignant pleural mesothelioma), will increase in Spain to half a thousand a year, starting in 2015; currently, between 250 and 300 annual cases of MPM are registered in Spain, a type of cancer with extreme mortality, which in 85% of cases is linked to occupational exposure to asbestos and for which, until now, there was no pharmacological treatment despite the fact that only 5% of those affected are susceptible to surgery.[52].
Currently, due to the excessive time it takes for cancer to manifest itself, deaths are due to people who worked with this material decades ago in foundry, naval industries..., in some industrial areas such as Ferrol (Galicia),[53] Oviedo (Asturias)[54] with Cartagena[55] being the city in Spain with the highest incidence of Mesotheliomas,[56] and certain areas of the Basque Country, where the increase in cancer has skyrocketed in recent years. years, being higher than the national average, increasing each year the number of cases in which the incidence of asbestos in the development of cancer is recognized.[57][58][59][60] Judicially, certain rights are beginning to be recognized for those affected and the relatives of the deceased.[61].
Regulation in Spain related to asbestos began in 1940 and since 1947 it was mandatory for companies to carry out controls on the levels of exposure of workers to asbestos. The basic regulations are the Regulations on work with asbestos risk, approved by a ministerial order in 1984, which is later complemented with complementary regulations and some modifications.
According to the R.D. 363/1995, relating to notification of new substances and classification, packaging and labeling of dangerous substances, asbestos is included in the harmonized list contained in Annex I and classified as toxic and carcinogenic category 1 and is assigned the following R and S phrases:.
In December 2001, Spain anticipated, through the Ministerial Order of December 7, 2001, the maximum deadline set until 2005 by the EU, to prohibit the marketing and use of chrysotile (white asbestos), which was the only type that was still used in Spain, especially in the form of fiber cement or uralite, since other varieties such as "blue asbestos" and "brown asbestos" were prohibited in Spain in 1984 and 1993, respectively.
Dominican Republic
According to several studies by the WHO and international conventions that urge the avoidance of asbestos production, he highlighted that this country is one of the six in Latin America that have banned this natural material, which is highly carcinogenic and also affects the environment.[63].
In the Dominican Republic, legislation on occupational health and safety does not have a specific standard that regulates the protection of the safety and health of workers against the risks derived from exposure to asbestos.
The reason for this is that the preventive treatment of asbestos management is framed within the obligations applicable to chemical products in general, within Part 3 of Title I of Resolution No. 04/2007, of January 30, 2007, which establishes the General and Particular Conditions of Safety and Health at Work.
Now, within the section relating to the preventive management of chemical agents in general, there are provisions that make explicit reference to asbestos, which are regulated in point 3.2.8 of Part 3 of Title II of the Resolution. This section establishes the limit values for occupational exposure to asbestos, these being:
• - Chrysolite: 0.60 fibers per cubic centimeter.
• - Other varieties of asbestos: 0.30 fibers per cubic centimeter. Mixtures containing chrysolite are included in this category.
The standard also establishes a series of prohibitions regarding the use of asbestos. The use of any variety of asbestos by means of projection, especially by atomization, is prohibited, as is any activity that involves the incorporation of low-density insulation or soundproofing materials (less than 1 g/cm³) that contain asbestos. The use of the crocidolite or blue asbestos variety is also prohibited.[64].
Current exporting and importing countries
By 1900, the amount extracted in the world was around 30,000 tons annually. Asbestos exploitation increased steadily until reaching a peak in 1975, when almost five million tons were extracted. After the scandals in 1995 it dropped to three million tons.
Today, countries such as Canada and Zimbabwe (which are the two largest exporters), as well as China, Russia, Peru and Brazil,[65][66] continue to trade and send asbestos to other parts of the world, with their workers affected by the diseases it causes.
Although Canada was one of the first countries to prohibit the handling of asbestos with strict regulation, it is currently one of the main exporters to countries that are beginning their development and in which there is no restrictive legislation for these products, such as India and its respective markets and areas of influence. This attitude has generated numerous international protests.[67].
Other developed countries also take their asbestos to developing countries to recycle [68].