Dusts or airborne fibres including glass fibre, synthetic fibre, chrysotile fibre, stone dust, gasoline fume, exhaust fume, all are dangerous, if workers inhale and are exposed to them for a long period of time. However, the processing of chrysotile fibre as a raw material in manufacturing factories is properly controlled and thus, poses no risks to workers. Once the fibres are covered by cementous slurry, they are locked-in permanently and cannot escape.
Safe and responsible use is the only acceptable answer
The safe and responsible use of any product, mix or fibers that carry a certain level of risk for human health is and efficient and respectful answer. However, it also requires a level of rigor that can lead as far as the banishment of products that can’t be efficiently controlled, such as amphiboles, which have rightly been banned for decades. But one should not for that matter yield to the temptation of a blanket banishment, as demanded by some crusaders who refuse to recognize the true findings of contemporary science which dictate that amphiboles must be banned but that serpentine can be used if handled in a controlled and responsible manner.
As the ICA has so often repeated, “[A]mphiboles must be banned, chrysotile must be controlled”. Responsible practices and current knowledge now enable countries to avoid repeating past mistakes and the human tragedy that those generated.
For more information, consult the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and the Bureau of Mineral Resources.
