Development and Implementation of Asbestos Public Policy - Research Paper Example

Development and Implementation of Asbestos Public Policy Introduction Asbestos is a natural material commonly found in the rock formations. It is basically a compound consisting of six natural silicate minerals. Asbestos is present all around the world and is commonly used for commercial purpose1. It is widely used in the constructions and certain other industries liking mining and milling. Asbestos fibbers pose great risk to the human health and can cause some severe diseases to the human beings constantly exposed to the friable form of this material2. The identification of health hazards associated with asbestos over the last few decades have generated great wave of awareness among the policy makers and environmentalists. At present there are strict policies developed and implemented to safeguard the health of people from the devastating effects of asbestos3. The essay aims to discuss the development and implementation of asbestos public policy. In this regard, the essay identifies the health risks associated with asbestos to elucidate the environmental concerns associated with this material and affirms the exigency of developing a public policy regarding the use of asbestos. The essay traces the evolution of awareness regarding the harmful effects of asbestos upon people health and describes the phases of development and implementation of asbestos public health policy. It is revealed that asbestos could cause serious harms to the health of the people especially upon those engaged in the construction industry. The exposure of asbestos has become as an important environment concern and the public health safety activists insist upon the development of adequate public policy to assure the preservation of human health from this material. There is significant level of awareness among policy makers and general public due to which there are adequate policies created to save the health of the living beings from the detrimental effects of asbestos4. Health Risk of Asbestos – Need for Public Policy The health conditions of people are exposed to great health risks during the erection, renovation and repairs of the buildings when asbestos are immensely infiltrated in to the environment5. During this process, different people are exposed to asbestos like construction workers, labour, supervisors, trade people, customers, managers etc. These people face high risks from concentration of the asbestos fibbers present in the environment and it is essential that the related people must be well trained regarding adequate handling of the asbestos containing material. The workers or labour is more likely to face the negative and harmful effects of asbestos because these people have direct exposure to this material and there are more chances that they will inhale asbestos fibbers during breathing at the construction sites6. Experts believe that asbestos could not harm the human health considerably if they are enclosed or bound very tightly in a compound, however, if the asbestos fibbers are present in atmosphere in sprayed or friable form then there are great chances they will cause great harm to the human health after breathing7. The use of sprayed or friable form of asbestos was common before 1970’s and at present the asbestos are not used in this form. However, still the people associated with the construction and renovations of the old buildings are required to be very careful while handling this material because it could harm their health in so many ways8. The effects of asbestos upon the health of people depend upon the concentration of the asbestos fibbers present in the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the duration and frequency of exposure to the asbestos fibre also determines the level of potential harmful effects upon the health of individuals. If the asbestos fibres are inhaled in significant quantities, the risks of asbestosis increase because it affects the lungs and makes breathing very difficult. Moreover, the people having continuous exposure to asbestos could also suffer from lung cancer, chest cancer or abdominal cavity cancer. The risks of lungs cancer are much higher for the smokers having frequent contact with asbestos fibres. Some other skin and lungs related diseases are also caused by asbestos including asbestos wart, pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thickening9. Rise of Asbestos Awareness – Towards the Development of Asbestos Public Policy The usage of asbestos became popular in the end of nineteenth century when the manufacturers and builders started using this material after identifying its attributes like strength, ability to absorb and heat resistance. It was also found that asbestos has the capability to refrain chemical and electrical damages. The use of asbestos became popular in the industrial revolution age and commercial asbestos mines were also established in America and Canada. During 20th century asbestos became a common material used for fire radiant coating, ceiling insulation and certain other common purposes. At that time, there was little awareness regarding the severe harmful effects of asbestos10. The harmful effects of asbestos were first identified when several people were dead after having exposure to ship building. The occurrence of mesothelioma was recorded seven times higher among the people living in shipbuilding centre as compared with the national rate. The first death caused by asbestos was documented in 1906 and since then, the researchers started taking notice of problems caused by asbestos exposure. In United Kingdom, the first asbestos caused disease was diagnosed in 1924. In 1940, the term Mesothelioma was first used in United States to refer the asbestos caused disease and certain extensive studies were carried out to find out the effects of asbestos upon the health of people11. The research studies affirm that the exposure of asbestos fibres is very dangerous for the health of people. After the series of public health investigation, the regulations for asbestos containing product manufacturing were revised and improved. The government took the initiative of including the asbestos industry in to the British Workers Compensation Act. It was also made necessary for the companies that all the products containing asbestos must contain warning labels to clearly inform people about the presence of asbestos in the product. Along with passage of time, the awareness regarding the harmful effects of asbestos increased and different countries of the world adopted the policies to preserve human health against the effects of asbestos12. Implementation of Asbestos Public Policy – The Current State At present, there is great level of awareness regarding the destructive effects of asbestos upon the human health. Due to this awareness, the workers of construction, mining and milling industries of present day are exposed to much lesser risks than faced by the workers of these industries in past. The implementation of asbestos public policy has result in the ban of friable or amphibole asbestos due to which the health risks attached with asbestos have significantly reduced. Furthermore, the companies operating in construction and other related industries are strictly bound to formulate and implement adequate policies to limit the exposure of the workers to asbestos13. There are lot of awareness and information programs introduced by the environmental agencies and public healthcare authorities to make people well informed and aware regarding the effects of asbestos upon their health. The environmental and public health safety experts recommend that the people engaged in the construction and maintenance work should take certain precautions to avoid the bad effects of asbestos or at least to keep their harmful effects at minimum level. It is suggested that the people working at construction sites must prevent the creation of the asbestos dust. The scraping, brushing and cutting the damages insulation should be avoided because this dust can cause severe damage to their breathing system and lungs. The administration of the public as well as the commercial buildings are required to keep the record of all the asbestos containing material within their building so that they could keep the people, workers, contractor and related authorities about the concentration of present asbestos in the building14. After the implementation of first legislation regarding the use of asbestos in 1927, there have been many rules, regulations and policies developed to minimize the harmful consequence of exposure of asbestos. There are strict regulations and policies developed in different countries of the world to mitigate the effects of asbestos upon the health of living beings. European Union banned the usage of asbestos for any type of purpose in 2005. EU also prohibited the extraction, manufacturing and processing of all the products that contain asbestos in considerable quantities. At present, there are over 60 countries of the world including the members of EU that have enacted ban upon the use of asbestos either in whole or part. In Australia, the government implemented the rule to ban nationwide import and usage of all forms of asbestos15. In 1997, France decided to ban the use of asbestos and this decision was also supported by WTO. After that, France raised the voice for worldwide ban on the import and usage of asbestos containing products. In 1984, New Zealand decided to ban the import of blue and brown asbestos and later in 2002, the import of white asbestos was also banned in the country. Moreover, the use of asbestos is also legally prohibited in Brazil since 2007. These examples show that there is great awareness and concerns regarding coping up with the hazards of asbestos all around the world and different policies have been formulated to prohibit its usage16. The British government has especially shown its intense concern regarding the issue. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also supported the enacting of Austere Regulations and Controls to monitor the handling of asbestos. In order to provide the organizations, manufacturers and constructors with adequate guidelines and legislative support regarding the handling of asbestos, there were three major regulations developed and implemented by UK government; Asbestos Prohibition, Asbestos Licensing and Control of Asbestos at work Regulation. Later in November, 2006 the government introduced the Control of Asbestos Regulations that merged all these three regulations and provide clear stance related with asbestos containing products usage within the British working environment. The import and export of asbestos was also banned by this regulation17 In United States also, there were different policies developed and implemented to control the utilization of asbestos for varied purposes. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced two major policies in 1989, including Asbestos Ban and Phase out rule. Soon after their implementation it was realized that there are certain asbestos containing products that are not covered by this regulation and different lawsuits were also filed to challenge the regulation. Later Congress considered the legislation “Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act” in 2005. According to this act, a trust fund was created to provide compensatory damage charges to the victims of asbestos. Asbestos has also been regarded as important hazardous air pollution material by EPA18. It is revealed from the above discussion that asbestos pose some very serious threats to the health of the human beings and there are many severe diseases and health problems that could be caused due to regular exposure to asbestos. The use of asbestos became popular due to its construction supporting attributes; however, later the identification of its harmful effects resulted in generation of awareness among people regarding its negative effects. The medical research studies have identified the potential dangers associated with this material after which the use of asbestos has been prohibited in different countries of the world. It is also revealed that there are some serious actions taken by the governments of different countries to monitor the utilization of asbestos and at present the import, export and use of asbestos containing products is banned in many countries of the world. The entire discussion could be sum up with the conclusion that it took a long time in the discovery and promulgation of detrimental effects of asbestos but at present, there is adequate awareness at government and public level regarding the effects of asbestos exposure and there are very strict policies developed and implemented to assure the safety and preservation of public health from the rigorous consequence of asbestos. References Gevenois, PA; de Maertelaer V, Madani A et al. (1998). "Asbestosis, pleural plaques and diffuse pleural thickening: three distinct benign responses to asbestos exposure". European Respiratory Journal 11 (5): pp 1021–1027 Lamm, S. H., M. Levine, J. Starr, J. Tirey (1998) Analysis of Excess Lung Cancer Risk in Short-Term Employees, American Journal of Epidemiology, 127 (6) pp. 1202-1209 Muscat JE, Wynder, E. (1991). Cigarette smoking, asbestos exposure, and malignant mesothelioma. Cancer Research 51 (9): pp2263–7. Maule, Magnani, Dalmasso, Mirabelli, Merletti & Biggeri (2007), Modelling Mesothelioma Risk Associated with Environmental Asbestos Exposure, Environmental Health Perspectives, 115, No 7, July 2007, p 1066 Read More