Ship-breaking workers suffer lifelong illness due to asbestos exposure
Mohammad Nurul Abser, 60, who worked in the ship-breaking yards at the coast in Sitakunda upazila in Chattogram for 35 years, has been suffering from severe breathing problems for the last ten years due to exposure – a carcinogenic substance used in ships.
As Nurul Abser put it, "I have to take medicine worth around Tk5,000 every month. For the last few years I have not been able to work. I have to depend on the earnings of my sons, who also live hand to mouth.
"When I used to work in the ship-breaking yards there were hardly any safety measures. No one used masks in those yards. I do not know when asbestos got into my lungs and poisoned me."
Many workers of the ship-breaking industry become victims of asbestos unknowingly, as the symptoms of asbestosis – a chronic lung disease – usually do not appear until many years after the initial exposure, according to doctors and industry insiders.
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A study by the non-government organisation Oishi Foundation has found 33 such victims who worked in the ship-breaking yards for over 10 years.
Oishi Foundation Executive Director Ripon Chowdhury told The Business Standard, "We conducted the study on 110 ship-breaking workers by following the International Labour Organisation protocol under supervision of a registered physician, who found and certified 33 of them as victims of asbestos poisoning in 2017.
"All the 33 workers suffered 30% to 60% lung damage and had severe breathing problems along with other symptoms. Of the certified victims, three have already died while the others are living miserable lives."
According to a report of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, ship-breaking workers raised concerns regarding asbestos first in 2019. Primarily, 33 workers were identified as victims of asbestos poisoning. After a series of tests under the supervision of Dr Kazi Saifuddin Bennor, assistant professor of National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital, 25 of those workers were diagnosed with asbestos in their lungs.
The 25 workers were later provided with treatment on the advice of Dr Rajat Shankar Roy Biswas, a medicine specialist of Chittagong Maa O Shishu Hospital.
"As a result of suffering from asbestosis for a long time, the workers start losing their working capacity and keep suffering from many other symptoms, like chest pain, high blood pressure, and back pain. Long term asbestosis can also result in lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is almost irreversible", said Dr Rajat Shankar Roy Biswas.
"There is no way to remove the asbestos particles from the lungs once it is inhaled and the treatment of the diseases caused by it is very expensive, which the poor workers cannot afford. So protective measures to prevent workers from inhaling asbestos in the ship-breaking yards is a better solution," Dr Rajat suggested.
Ship-breaking industry expert Mohammad Ali Shahin said there is an international guideline to remove asbestos from the ships. "Asbestos poisoning can be curbed by dismantling ships in green and environment-friendly shipyards that follow the guideline," he said.
"We have already trained 500 workers in the industry in handling asbestos safely", he added.
'Ship-breaking yards do not follow guidelines'
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, president of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, told TBS, "The ships that are older than 20 years contain asbestos in the engine room, boiler, and many other places where it requires heat and fire resistance. As per international guidelines, experts should remove asbestos and bury it underground. But in our country the guidelines are not followed and asbestos is removed by the general workers who do not take any precautions. Not only that, the asbestos is later sold in the open market and to the cement factories.
"We have provided support to only 25 workers who contacted us, but the number of asbestos victims in the ship-breaking industry far exceeds that, because almost all the workers are exposed to asbestos in those yards."
Brushing aside the allegation of large-scale asbestos poisoning among ship-breaking workers, Abu Taher, president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association, told TBS that there is no asbestos victim in the industry, as the ships built after 2000 do not carry any asbestos.
"It has been a conspiracy to shut down the prospective ship-breaking industry in Bangladesh," he alleged.
However, Nazmul Hosen, office secretary of the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association, said that usually a ship carries about 5-6 kg of asbestos.
What is asbestos and how does it affect human health?
According to the American Cancer Institute, asbestos is the name given to six minerals that occur naturally in the environment as bundles of fibres that can be separated into thin, durable threads for use in commercial and industrial applications. The shipbuilding industry uses asbestos to insulate boilers, steam pipes and hot water pipes.
Tiny asbestos fibres are released into the air when ships are dismantled. When asbestos fibres are breathed in, they may get trapped in the lungs and remain there for a long time. Over time, these fibres can accumulate and cause scars and inflammation, which can affect breathing and lead to serious health problems, including mesothelioma (a relatively rare cancer of the thin membranes that line the chest and abdomen), and cancers of the lung, larynx, and ovary, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
According to the World Health Organisation, currently about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. WHO estimates that more than 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures. One in every three deaths from occupational cancer is estimated to be caused by asbestos. ***
