Asbestos exposure: the myth of ‘controlled use’
With dwindling markets in developed countries, the global asbestos industry focuses on emerging markets in developing countries. This policy development is similar to that in the tobacco industry, where decreased consumption of tobacco led to the exploitation of markets in developing countries, where asbestos use is increasing at an annual rate of seven percent. Asia in particular has emerged as one of the largest markets for asbestos consumption, with China, India, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea among the world’s top 10 in 2000. The Montreal based Asbestos Institute, which is the vanguard for the promotion of chrysotile (white asbestos), has argued relentlessly about its safe use under ‘controlled conditions’.It is hard to understand how such conditions could be achieved in Asia where, to reduce production costs, even simple safety regulations are flouted regularly.

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