Total ban on asbestos
27/03/2008 16:02  - (SA)  

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Cape Town - Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the minister for environmental affairs and tourism, has announced a total ban on the use, processing or manufacture of products containing asbestos.

The announcement, which will be published in the government gazette on Friday, will prohibit any asbestos or asbestos-containing product unless it can be proven that no suitable alternative exists, in which case a phase-out plan may be approved.

The regulations will prohibit the import or export of any asbestos or asbestos-containing product unless the importation is purely for transit through the country. Any person transporting asbestos or asbestos-containing material through the country will be required to register with the department and provide certain information on an annual basis.

The rules will also prohibit the import of any asbestos or asbestos- containing waste material other than from a member of the Southern African Development Community for the sole purpose of safe disposal locally, subject to the submission of certain information annually.

The use of asbestos or asbestos-containing material for research purposes will be allowed if the research is not being undertaken to produce another asbestos-containing product. The researcher will need to notify the department of their research and will have to provide a report on the amount of asbestos used and the outcome of the research on an annual basis. The minister may review the permission on an annual basis.

A grace period of 120 days will be allowed to allow any person or merchant who is currently dealing in asbestos or asbestos-containing materials to clear their stocks.

Putting health first

Should a manufacturer or merchant who currently sells one of a limited range of identified products, which are asbestos-containing products for which there is no immediate alternative, wish to continue making or selling the product beyond the grace period, they will be required to register with the department within 120 days.

They will then be required to submit a phase-out plan for approval by the minister within one year of the promulgation of the regulations. This plan must identify the reason for continuing to use the product and must identify a timeframe and activities for the phase-out of the identified products.

Van Schalkwyk explained on Thursday that the regulations will not prohibit the continued use of asbestos containing materials (such as asbestos-cement roof sheets or ceilings) that are already in place as the department is satisfied that there is no undue risk to the occupants of houses that are fitted with these materials. "Over time, however, they should be replaced with asbestos-free materials," he said.

The minister pointed out that exposure to asbestos in the workplace (including, mining, industrial, commercial, retail and public workplaces, including maintenance of building materials) is still controlled by the Asbestos Regulations 2001 published by the labour department.

These require employers to draw up a register of all asbestos-containing materials, conducts a risk assessment, educate and inform employees, protect employees from exposure to asbestos and conduct regular dust and health surveillance.

"In publishing these regulations, South Africa joins more than 50 other countries that have put the health of its people first," Van Schalkwyk said.

South Africa mined crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile asbestos extensively from the late 1800s until 2001. As a major supplier of asbestos to the world, the country produced 97% of the world's crocidolite, 100% of the amosite and was the fifth-largest producer of chrysotile.

Beneficial to the country

At its peak asbestos accounted for 3% of the value of South Africa's mineral exports.

The mines were in the Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The health implications of exposure to airborne asbestos fibres were highlighted in the 1930s and specific links to certain cancers were first made in South Africa in the early 1960s.

Due to the extent and severity of asbestos-related problems affecting the communities in these provinces, a multi-stakeholder national asbestos summit was convened by the environmental portfolio committee in 1998.

The recommendations from the summit brought about the development of a national strategy to address asbestos pollution in the country. The objective was to phase out the remaining mining activities and to prevent new uses of asbestos-containing products.

A socioeconomic impact study was undertaken to understand the possible implications of this objective. The conclusion of the study was that the phasing out of asbestos and asbestos containing products would be beneficial to the country. Based on these findings, department received a mandate from cabinet to draft regulations to enforce this objective.

"The first draft of these regulations was published for comment in November 2005," the minister said. "Extensive comments were received from many parties. Having considered all the inputs made, significant amendments were made to the regulations and the regulations were re-gazetted in September 2007 for further comment."

The term "asbestos" is applied to a group of naturally occurring fibrous metal silicate materials. In general the term applies to six minerals specifically: crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite.