The International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) classifies asbestos as a proven human
carcinogen. No amount of asbestos exposure is safe for human health. Consequently the use of
all forms of asbestos has been banned in most of the developed countries. Unfortunately India
has failed to impose such a ban. Despite the fact that a ban on mining in India is being placed
for more than 20 years mines in the private sector of India are still in operation and
asbestos continues to be used in large quantities. The official reason given by both industry
and government is that it is a material for the poor as it is cheap and has many good
properties. Generally people in the slum area often cook their food in the open wood fire
under asbestos roofing. This results in cracking of asbestos cement roofs exposing asbestos
making it friable as the height of most rural houses roofed with asbestos cement is too small
to have effective air circulation. In addition on the roofs of Indian slums where it is sawn
and fixed by hand it's difficult to avoid releasing a large number of dangerous fibers. The
inhabitants paint their asbestos roofing with emulsion paint which also deteriorates it
rapidly resulting in discoloration and mould growth. As a result Asbestos related diseases are
more common in the slum area. In this study an asbestos cement sample was randomly scanned at
various magnifications to identify asbestos fibers and determine how asbestos fibers are mixed
with construction materials. Laboratory analyses were performed on the asbestos cement sample
to establish a relationship between: i) morphology (shape of the crystals) ii) the asbestos
cement mineralogical composition using SEM analyses and iii) high magnification structure of
the individual fibers (fibrils) as well as iv) energy dispersive x-ray analysis of the fiber
chemistry by comparison to a standard. Also quantification analysis of fiber length and
thickness was performed due to the reason that fibrogenicity and carcinogenicity of asbestos
fibers are both dependent on several fiber parameters including fiber dimensions. There are
several standards specified under the Factories Act and Mines Act including limits of exposure.
But standards in India are only on paper. All forms of asbestos pose grave to human health. All
are proven human carcinogens. There is no continued justification for the use of asbestos. Ist
production and use should be banned worldwide. A global ban on asbestos is needed.
