Ship By: Alain Flores & Matt Wilson Breakin g …in Bangladesh

Ship breaking is… The dismantling of vessels for scrap recycling.

How it All Began… In 1965, a cyclone hit the coastline of Bangladesh, beaching a cargo ship on to the shores. Business men noticed impoverished locals dismantling the ship and saw a great business opportunity. Ships were purchased from other countries to be scrapped in Bangladesh making a great profit from recycled steel.

The Benefits? Contributes to more than 80% of Bangladesh’s steel Creates job opportunities “Green Industry”- 97% of ship is recycled, including oil

Costs… Worker Rights Violations Paid less than minimum wage Less than $1 (US) a day Use of child labor 10.94% of workforce NO job security- no work, no pay NO right to join/form trade union NO clean drinking water, healthy food, hygienic toilets or living conditions

Costs… Hazardous working conditions Lack of safety equipment & knowledge have led to: Serious physical injury/ death Explosions Falling debris Falling off ship Electrical shock Exposure to hazardous materials

A Comparison in Asbestos Removal Bangladesh China Netherlands

Costs… Environmental Consequences Ships not cleansed of hazardous material Contain POP’s Heavy metals (chromium, mercury, lead, arsenic) Oil Asbestos

Why it’s still operating Stabilizes countries economy Without ship breaking Nearly 30,000 jobs will be lost Lose out on majority of steel needs

Hazard Identification

Asbestos - A fibrous material that was used in old ships as a heat insulator - It has the ability to be woven, is resistant to heat and other chemicals, and is strong - Besides ships it can be found in ceiling and floor tiles, textiles, coatings, and roofing shingles

Routes of Exposure Inhalation – The most important route of exposure because it does the most damage Ingestion – A minor pathway of exposure Skin Contact – Fibers can be lodged in the skin, but not common with protective gear

Health Effects Inhalation can cause Asbestosis, Lung cancer, and Mesothelioma Classified as an A1 Confirmed Human Carcinogen Almost all cases of Mesothelioma are linked to asbestos exposure In general, the greater the exposure to asbestos, the greater the chance of developing adverse health effects

Exposure Population Shipyard workers in Bangladesh Males (Health Effects would be the same in females) All ages (children work in these shipyards) > 15,000 pounds of asbestos in every ship

Precautionary Assessment ParameterScore Goal3 Need2 Future Generations3 Democratic Community Based Process3 Alternatives3 Total14/15 Community/Social Issues Very Unsupportive of Health and Community

Precautionary Assessment ParameterScore Exposure3 Multiple Exposures3 Children Exposed5 Consumer Products2 Occupational Exposure3 Food Exposure2 Total18/20 Significant Exposure and High Concern Exposure Issues

Precautionary Assessment ParametersScore Hazard10 Individual Sensitivity3 Ecological Hazard3 Volume5 Persistent2 Bioaccumulate3 Uncertainty3 Total29/30 Hazard/Toxicity Significant Hazards and Serious Concern

Standards and Regulations AgencyLevelComments American Conference of Government al Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) 0.1 fiber/cc For all forms of asbestos TLV-TWA Not enough data for STEL National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 0.1 fiber/cc For fibers > 5 micrometers REL, Based on an 8 to 10 hour work day Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 0.1 fiber/cc For fibers > 5 micrometers PEL, Based on an 8 to 10 hour work day Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fibers/ccCancer Risk level (1 in a million excess lifetime risk)

How we ended up on 0.1 fibers/cc Asbestos known to cause problems since 1907, but this wasn’t firmly established by several studies until 1955 Different types of asbestos Crocidolite known to be the most dangerous to human health, usually causes mesothelioma

1968 proposed standard of 4 fibers/cc Study done by Lane et al. from a population of asbestos textile workers in England Felt that this standard was safe because this amount of exposure caused asbestosis in <1% of the workers Caused conversion from mppcf (dust) to fibers/cc

Gillam et al. disputed 4 fibers/cc Study of 440 hard rock gold miners who were exposed to asbestiform material Findings : 10 respiratory deaths (2.74), 5 non- malignant respiratory deaths (1.85) Ambient air contained a total average of 4.82 fibers/cc, of which fibers >5 um averaged 0.36 fibers/cc

1978 McDonald et al. Study Followed up the Gillam et al. study, but investigated 1321 men with 21 years work experience By the end of the study 657 had died : Pneumoconiosis 39 (0), Respiratory tuberculosis 39 (3.6), Heart disease 264 (232.5), Respiratory cancer 17 (16.5), Abdominal cancer 39 (35.1) Was this a result of asbestos exposure of from the mining work?

1977 Peto et al. Study on Lane et al. Evidence that 4 fibers/cc was not safe Study done 10 years after Lane et al. study on same workers Findings: 31 lung cancer deaths (19.3), non-malignant respiratory disease caused 35 (25), 5 pleural mesothelioma deaths Development of cancer can have a 15 or more year delay after initial exposure, so Lane et al. study was probably done too early to account for this

Uncertainty Factors FactorValue Absence of NOAEL10 Children10 -Only looked at human studies -Most likely no human variability (1995 research paper makes this claim) -No NOAEL available because no evidence for a threshold or “safe” exposure level has been obtained -Start with the 4 fibers/cc standard proposed by Lane et al. Uncertainty: 10 x 10 = 100

RfC (fibers/cc) = Proposed value (fibers/cc) / Uncertainty Lane et al. proposed value = 4 fibers/cc RfC: (4 fibers/cc) / 100 = 0.04 fiber/cc In comparison to 0.1 fiber/cc for the agencies

Conclusions Our value of 0.04 fiber/cc is not far off from the current values of 0.1 fiber/cc We are satisfied with the current standards 0.1 fiber/cc should provide a significant margin of safety in terms of asbestosis prevention, which with previous research shows that prevention of asbestosis should also minimize the risk of lung cancer

Risk Management Monitor the asbestos fibers in the ambient air More studies on the human variability and individual susceptibility This would change the uncertainty factor

Risk Communication Educate workers about exposure to Asbestos Inform the owners of the dangers of their workers handling this material without proper safety equipment Start a program in Bangladesh to monitor the amount of asbestos exposure that the workers are being exposed to

Media Coverage