EU campaign to raise awareness of dangers of asbestos

Asbestos-contaminated products and buildings continue to represent a dangerous hazard to EU citizens, costing the lives of many people. In addition to passing legislation banning the use and handling of this deadly fibre, the EU is running a campaign to remind people of the risks associated with exposure to asbestos. The campaign forms part of a concerted effort to identify and safely dispose of asbestos.

Dangers of asbestos

In the final year of the European Union’s 2000–2006 strategy on occupational safety and health, various measures were undertaken to address the continued problem of asbestos. These include the passing of legislation and an EU campaign to make citizens aware of the danger posed by exposure to asbestos.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), around 100,000 people worldwide continue to die from exposure to asbestos each year. A fibrous form of six minerals, asbestos was widely used in Europe between the 1940s and 1980s, with three forms of asbestos acting as a key component of various products. Chrysotile, Crocidolite and Gruenerite asbestoses have been used in thermal insulation, fire protection and a whole array of building materials.

All six forms of asbestos are classified as class 1 carcinogens, namely substances that can lead to cancer. Inhaling asbestos fibres can result in asbestosis, which is scarring of the lung tissue, lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is cancer of both the membrane sacs housing the lungs and the membrane lining inside the abdominal cavity. In the case of lung cancer, 95% of patients fail to be cured, while no treatment exists for mesothelioma.

Current scientific knowledge indicates that there is no way of properly judging what counts as a dangerous level of exposure. Furthermore, the immediate inhalation of dangerous levels of such microscopic fibres does not automatically lead to cancer. Medical evidence suggests that the fatal consequences of too high exposure can take between 20 and 40 years to develop. As the decline in use of asbestos first began in the 1980s, the number of asbestos-related deaths is not likely to fall in the forthcoming years.

Legislation on asbestos

The actual risk of exposure is determined by both the concentration of fibres in a product as well as how ‘tightly bound’ the material is. An old product, for example, is likely to be in a degenerative state and hence more likely to release deadly fibres. For these reasons, the EU has passed several pieces of legislation focusing on the issue of exposure to asbestos. Directive 83/477/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work – passed in September 1983 – stated that the ‘limit values pertaining to in-air concentrates are: for Chrysotile: 0.60 fibres per cm3 for an eight-hour reference period; for all other forms of asbestos: 0.30 fibres per cm3 for an eight-hour reference period’. In 1991, Directive 91/382/EEC amended the earlier directive to make the limit values more stringent and, in 2003, Directive 2003/18/EC prohibited the extraction of asbestos as well as its manufacture and processing. A general ban on the production and marketing of asbestos materials is in place since 2005 and, since 2006, it is illegal to handle asbestos.

EU asbestos campaign

Although asbestos has been banned, the EU remains conscious of the grave danger posed by exposure to it. In addition to buildings continuing to be contaminated by asbestos, the problem also arises of non-EU contaminated products entering the EU irrespective of efforts in Brussels.

Designed as a cleaning-up exercise required after years of using asbestos building materials, the ‘Asbestos is deadly serious – Prevent exposure’ campaign focuses mainly on demolition, maintenance and removal work. Organised in conjunction with the European Senior Labour Inspectors Committee (SLIC), the body responsible for coordinating Member States’ Labour Inspectorates, the campaign also has the task of monitoring implementation of the 2003 directive as well as running various training and information events to raise peoples’ awareness of the continued danger of asbestos. In addition, a set of practical guidelines has been drawn up for employers, employees and inspectors on how best to reduce the risk of asbestos contamination. The guide includes information on:

• identifying asbestos when using, servicing and maintaining a plant, equipment and buildings;

• safe means of removing contaminated artefacts, outlining the procedures to be adhered to when handling asbestos products;

• use of protective equipment and clothing suited to the particular needs of individuals.

Commentary

The launch of the EU’s recent campaign is another essential step in reducing the risks posed by asbestos. Already SLIC’s endeavours are having an impact, with Member States offering training courses for health and safety inspectors as well as being committed to inspecting various potentially contaminated sites. Unfortunately, such measures appear to be limited in some EU countries, with Greece and the Czech Republic, for example, thus far inspecting only up to 50 and 30 sites, respectively.

Michael Whittall, Technical University Munich