Asbestos Ban: Science fig leaf to cover govt-industry nexus

November 21, 2008

*Poisoning the system*Madhumita DuttaOver 40 countries have banned it, the World Health Organisation'sInternational Agency for Research on Cancer, International LabourOrganisation, Collegium Ramazzini have certified it as a human carcinogen,but India says 'we do not have enough evidence, we need more science toconclusively prove that chrysotile asbestos causes cancer or diseases amongworkers in India'. This was India's official position at the UN Conventionon Chemicals in Rome last month.The convention in question is the Rotterdam Convention on Prior InformedConsent, which through consensus enlists chemicals that require exchange ofinformation on health hazards prior to trade, known as the Prior InformedConsent List (PIC list). This means that an exporting

country has to notifythe importing country about any domestic regulatory actions based on publichealth concerns, and possible health and environmental impacts of thechemical prior to trade, which would enable the importing country to make aninformed decision before importation.India and a few other countries blocked the listing of chrysotile asbestos,a fibrous mineral used in making roofs and pipes (commonly referred to asthe 'poor man's construction material') and endosulphan, a crop pesticidewhose toxic effect has crippled villagers in Kerala's Kasaragod district.Hiding behind the smokescreen of discredited science and specious technicalarguments, India put a spanner in the works at the 4th Conference of Partiesof the Convention (COP 4) attended by 126 nations that had ratified theconvention.In the case of chrysotile asbestos, India said it won't take a decisionuntil a health study on the

impact of this substance announces its findings.The study is being done by the Ahmedabad-based National Institute ofOccupational Health (NIOH). However, what India failed to inform theinternational community was that the study was funded in part by theasbestos industry whose representatives provide 'study samples', 'scientificstudies' and 'comments', and have access to all the findings of the studyeven while it's on. Still worse, the study is kept under wraps and is notaccessible to public health specialists or labour groups.The endosulphan story was not any different. The Indian government 'expert'claimed that Indians face lesser risk due to smaller half-life ofendosulphan in tropical climate, the expert lied to the conventionparticipants when he said that an earlier study by NIOH in Kasaragod did notshow any health impact. A lie that was nailed by public interest groups whenthey distributed

copies of the same study from the journal EnvironmentalHealth Perspective. In fact, the study prompted the Kerala government to setup a relief cell for endosulphan victims.We evidently wanted to protect the Rs 3,000 crore asbestos lobby and toshield plants that manufacture endosulphan. In doing so, India succeeded inderailing the consensus of a vast majority of parties, mostly developingnations who had emphasised the need for scientific data to help them make aninformed decision. More importantly, the shenanigans in Rome demonstratedthat science was a mere fig leaf to cover the nexus between a colludinggovernment and an avaricious industry.Hindustan Times

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