Current Situation of Asb estos in Thailand

Dr. Somkiat Siriruttanapruk Bureau of Occupational and

Environmental Diseases, Ministry of Public Health, Th

ailand

Asbestos It has been imported for more t

han 3 0 years - Itisusedinseveral i ndustri es: roof t

ile,cementpipe,etc. Asbestosisi s one of the occupati onal d

iseases under national disease surveillance scheme.

Introduction

No asbestos mine in the country Only import for manufacturing Only chrysotile is allowed to use (crocidolite was banned in 1992

and amosite was banned recently)

Production and use

90% cement manufacture, r ttttt tttttt tttt,

8 % brake and crutch

2 % , ,vinyl floor tile gasket heattttttttttt tttttttt

The proportion of asb estos use in manufact

uring industry

Amount of imported asbestos -in Thailand (1 9 8 8 2 0

02)

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

1988198919901991199219961997199819992000200120022003200420052006

Tons

Top 1 0 countries of imported asbestos

in Thai l and, 2002 1. Russian Federation 46132, tttt 2. Canada 42091 Tons 3. Brazil 33740 Tons 4. Kazakhstan 28500, Tons

tttttttt5. 22759, Tons ttttt tttttttt6 1914, Tons 7. Belize 1656, Tons 8. Swaziland 1638, Tons 9. South Africa 1476, Tons

10. Botswana 1080, Tons

Top 5 countries of imported asbestos in tt

-ailand during 1997 2002

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Canada

Russia

Greece

Zimbabwe

Brazil

Tons

Number of asbestos factori es andworkers

by type in each region of the 2004countryin Central South North North-

east No. of workers

Roof tile 4 1 1 1 1297

Pipe 2 - - - 138

Construction 5 - - - 240

Brake &Crutch

2 - - - 109

Total 13 1 1 1 1784

Asbestos concentration in working environment investigated by NICE in 2000 and by Department of Industrial works in 2001.

Year 2000 Year 2001

Factory type numbers Asbestos conc. (fiber/cc.)

numbers Asbestos conc.(fiber/cc.)

1. Roof tile

& pipe

4 0.01-2.2* (0.81+0.72)

4 0.01-0.77 (0.09+0.21)

2. Brake 5 0.24-43.31* (6.93+8.19)

3. Clutch 2 0.62-2.41*

(1.45+0.65)

25 0.01-25.71* (1.07+3.11)

Note: * means over than ACGIH TLVs for chrysotile which was 2 fibers/cc. (Even though it was adjusted to be 0.1 fiber/cc. in 2001)

tttttt tttttt tt tttttttt() i nsome Asi ancountri es

Fiber/cc

Malaysia, Singapore 0.1

Vietnam 1.0

Philippines 2.0

Japan, Korea 2.0

Thailand 5.0

2003Takahashi et al. ( )

Never been reported to the sur veillance scheme or the Workm

en’s Compensation Fund

Asbestos related diseases

?

1. This maybe the real situation, or - 2. :Under report of cases

tttt ttttttt tttttt tt ttt ttttttt tttt tttt-tttt tttt ttttt ttttttt Lack of awareness and knowledge i

t tttttttttt ttt ttttttt tt ttt tttttttttt

tt tttttt-tt tt tttttttttttt tttttt

Estimation of cases of asbestos-related diseases in

Thailand Tossavainen indicated a significant linear

correlation between consumption of asbestos and the number of mesothelioma cases.

Calculating as follows:Y= 6.82x amount of consumption (25-30 years

ago)+0.43Y= No. of cases/million/yearAmount of consumption= No. of Kg/capita/year

(2.5 Kg/cap/y)Y=(6.82x2.5)+0.43=17.5 cases/million/yearTotal new cases/year=17.5x63= 1,103 cases

Results of the survey

Year No. of

Factories

No. of

workers

No. of

abnormal CXR

No. of

pleural

thickenin

g

No. of

suspected asbestosi

s

1987 24 701 13 13 -

2000 6 669 ? - -

2003 6 140 41 5 -

2004 8 106 31 9 1

Do we need to prevent a nd control

- asbestos related disease?

Ifwedon’t doanythi ng, what will happen?

Health status of exposed workers

Cost of medical service and compensation

Public alarming Economic problem Company and country reputation

Can we prevent and con - trol asbestos related di

seases in Thailand?

SWOT Anal ysi s

: - wel l establ i shedresponsi bl e organi

zati ons Exi sti ngrel evant l egi sl ati onsyste

m Goodheal thservi ce system

SWOT Anal ysi sWeakness: No data for convincing policy makers and p

ublic Lack of awareness among government offic

ers, employers, employees, and occupatio nal health professionals

Poor agreement among relevant governme nt agencies

Lack of knowledge for health screening an d diagnosis of the disease among physician

s No effective surveillance system

SWOT Anal ysi s

Opportunity: Global concern Strong supportive network Low number of target population Alternative materials and other technical

preventive measures are available

SWOT Anal ysi s

: Lack of policy support? - Being againstby pro asbestos local and i

nternational industries Economic burden No public awareness

Conclusions

Consumption of asbestos in Thailand is very high and the trend shows its in

creasing - Asbestos related diseases will becom

e more important public health issue Several measures need to be implem

ented urgently Strategy of asbestos ban is the best p

olicy but an achievement of this goal i s still a long way

Thank you very much!