FEAR IN A HANDFUL OF DUST!
Laurie Kazan-Allen
Presented at: Asian Asbestos Conference 2006
Bangkok, Thailand, July 26, 2006

In the Waste Land, the poet T.S. Elliot wrote:“And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”– The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot 1922.

Asbestos kills by stealth; it lurks unseen in the air and finds a welcome deep inside
the human body. It attacks from the inside and humbles even the strongest; it breaks
the body and eats away the spirit until breathing becomes a torment and eating aforgotten memory.
Millions died from asbestos-related diseases during the 20th century; governments,
trade unions and international agencies colluded with multinational asbestos
corporations to maximize profits and minimize costs: asbestos was just another raw
material. Workers were expendable; those too ill to work were replaced. People
unlucky enough to live near asbestos processing factories or to have relatives working
with asbestos were collateral damage.
In the 21st century what has changed? Asbestos bans by forty industrializedcountries have shifted consumption to the developing world. Nowadays, Asian
countries consume over 50% of global asbestos production, with the biggest users
being: China, India, Thailand and Indonesia:(tonnes)
China
491,954
India
192,033
Thailand 132,983
Indonesia 75,840
It is appropriate that the Asian Asbestos Conference 2006 is being held in Bangkok,
capital of a country which currently has the dubious distinction of being one of thelargest per capita users of asbestos in the world.
With all that we have learned about the tragic impact of asbestos contamination onhuman health, how is it possible that global asbestos consumption is still 2 million
tonnes a year? Greed and politics motivate asbestos stakeholders to off-load the killer
fiber on unsuspecting governments and consumers in developing countries; they dress
up industry-sponsored events, such as the one held earlier this year in Jakarta, as“scientific conferences” and preach the industry gospel:

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chrysotile (white asbestos) can be used safely under “controlledconditions”;
substitutes are as dangerous or more dangerous than asbestos;asbestos-cement products are indispensable for developing economies;
chrysotile products pose no hazard to people who work in asbestoscontaining buildings.

These statements are lies and will be exposed as such by international experts
speaking at this conference over the next two days.
With the blessing of stakeholder governments, led by Canada, and with generous
funding at their disposal, pro-asbestos lobbyists travel the world to disseminate
industry’s propaganda. Any attempt to impose even minimal regulations on theglobal asbestos trade is fiercely resisted as illustrated by the blocking of United
Nations efforts to add chrysotile to the Prior Informed Consent list of theRotterdam Convention.
Mobilization of Counterpowers
The solidarity which underpins the mobilization of the virtual ban asbestos network
is nowadays cited as a classic example of 21st century grass-roots activism. Formerly
isolated groups are now working together on a global scale; using the internet, newalliances have been formed and coordinated action is being undertaken. The case of
the asbestos-contaminated French warship, the Clemenceau, is an excellent
illustration of the effectiveness of such global action and it is wonderful that we will
have the opportunity to hear about this victory for civil society from our colleague
Madhu Dutta, a member of the Platform on Clean Shipbreaking. Another example ofcoordinated action is the Regional Asbestos Conference in Sao Caetano do Sul, Brazil
which was held 3 months ago by the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI).
Whereas once upon a time, trade unionists would not have welcomed the input ofvictims’ groups at their meetings, these days it is routine for victims’ groups andNGOs to take an active part in BWI meetings and visa versa.
It is encouraging to report that asbestos hazards are now being actively debated inmany developing countries including Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, thePhilippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In these countries, until very recently, industry
stakeholders controlled the national asbestos debate; this control has been shattered by
the emergence of groups and individuals ready to challenge industry’s propaganda.
Many of these new voices are represented at this conference and we are eager to hear
about your experiences and to know what assistance can be given to help with yourcampaigns.
Year of Action on Asbestos 2006
To end the asbestos scourge, groups representing civil society declared 2006 theYear of Action on Asbestos. The range of activities organized in countries aroundthe globe address a broad range of subjects.
Feb 27
Apr 1

Action Mesothelioma Day – UK
National Asbestos Awareness Day – US2

Apr 18
Apr 21
Apr 25-26
Apr 20-21
Apr 25-27
Apr 28Apr 28May 14
May 16
Jun 26-27
Jul 26-27
Sep 28-29
Oct 19-22
Nov 23-24
Dec 3
Dec 4-5

2nd Annual ADAO Conference – USAsbestos: Policy, Problems & Activity – Bulgaria
Ban Asbestos Nationally and Globally Workshop – Bangladesh
Open Hearing and Photo Exhibition: Clean Ship-breaking? – Belgium
Regional Asbestos Conference – Brazil
Asbestos Symposium for Latin American Countries – Brazil
Asbestos Workshop – Argentina
International Workers’ Memorial Day – Worldwide
March & Rally by Belgian Asbestos Victims – Belgium
Asbestos Seminar, House of Commons – UK
Asbestos-Related Disease Seminar – Egypt
Asian Asbestos Conference – Thailand
Asbestos Risk Reduction & Measurement of Asbestos Fibre
Concentration – Poland
8th International Conference of the International Mesothelioma
Interest Group – USInternational Asbestos Conference – Greece
Workshop on Asbestos Exposure – India
Asbestos Risks and Monitoring – Italy

International groups representing labor made a global asbestos ban a top priority onApril 28: International Workers Memorial Day. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Guatemala,Panama, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia and Swaziland, trade unionists highlighted theasbestos hazard at demonstrations, rallies, information sessions and conferences. Onceagain, the BWI played a pivotal role in advancing the global ban asbestos campaign;
we look forward to hearing more about the BWI’s campaign from Fiona Murie during
her presentation tomorrow afternoon
Playing Catch-Up!
On May 5, 2006, a letter written by a Senior Official from the World HealthOrganization (WHO) confirmed a huge shift in the organization’s position. Whereas
formerly the WHO’s focus on asbestos was directed “towards assessment of thehealth risks of different types of asbestos and substitutes,” the WHO has now
concluded that:
1.
2.
3.
4.

all types of asbestos cause asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer;
there is no safe threshold level of exposure;safer substitutes exist;
exposure of workers and other users of asbestos-containing products isextremely difficult to control;
5. asbestos abatement is very costly and difficult to carry out in a completely safeway.
Dr. Jukka Takala, Director of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO)
SafeWork Programme agrees:“Asbestos is the most important single factor causing death and disability atwork, some 100,000 fatalities a year… There is no ‘safe use’ of asbestos… the3

ILO should have a campaign of its own to eliminate future use of asbestos, andproperly manage asbestos in place today...
The task is now to increase the number of countries that have already eliminatedfuture asbestos use from the present 40 countries to at least 100 in the coming
10 years. This should certainly reduce the asbestos use radically. The priority
order is to concentrate on the present biggest producers, importers, and users ofany kind of asbestos.”
On June 14, 2006, the ILO adopted a Resolution Concerning Asbestos which stated:“the elimination of the future use of asbestos and the identification and proper
management of asbestos currently in place are the most effective means toprotect workers from asbestos exposures and to prevent future asbestos-relateddisease and deaths…”
Concluding Thoughts
The WHO and the ILO have joined a rapidly expanding list of internationalorganizations, including the World Trade Organization, the Collegium Ramazzini, theEuropean Union, the United Nations and the World Bank, that have recognized thetragic impact asbestos has had on human health. If we accept the fact that humanbiology is universal, and how can it be otherwise, increasing asbestos consumption inAsia will, in years to come, assuredly result in an epidemic of ill-health and death.
People in Asia are entitled to live and work in a healthy environment. We do notneed to see another pile of bodies to prove that asbestos is a killer. The experiences ofasbestos victims and afflicted communities in Europe, North America and Australia
tell us all we need to know. Working together we can end this needless slaughter;
Asia’s asbestos-free future starts here!

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