Ban asbestos loads - Earthlife
2003-09-24 08:55
Pietermaritzburg - Earthlife Africa has called on the government to ban the transport of asbestos through South Africa.
This follows two accidents in three days last week in which asbestos fibres were released into the environment.
Asbestos is a highly dangerous material, said Nosiphiwo Msithweni, Earthlife Africa's spokesperson in Cape Town.
"South Africans who were exposed many years ago are only now getting compensation after a long legal battle. We don't want the same to happen again.
"Asbestos is still coming in from Zimbabwe and we understand it is en route to Durban.
"It is now apparent that South Africans are at risk from Zimbabwean asbestos. This is not acceptable," Msithweni said.
In 1998, a national asbestos summit was held at which all stakeholders, including the asbestos industry, agreed asbestos should be replaced with safer alternatives.
Asbestosis is caused when people breathe in invisible, needle-sharp asbestos fibres that are suspended in the air.
No cure for asbestosis
The fibres become lodged mainly in the lower parts of the lungs and cause inflammation.
As this inflammation heals, it leaves scar tissue so that delicate lung tissues begin to lose their elasticity.
As scarring continues, the lungs lose their ability to deliver enough oxygen to the blood.
Inhalation of asbestos can also cause lung cancer, and it is known that smokers exposed to asbestos have a much greater chance of developing lung cancer than from smoking alone.
It can take from 10 to 40 years for person to develop an asbestos-related disease and there is no cure or effective treatment for asbestosis.