Ship

1. Ship …in Bangladesh Breaking By: Alain Flores & Matt Wilson

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

3. 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.

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. A Comparison in Asbestos Removal Bangladesh Netherlands China

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

11. 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

12. Hazard Identification

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Precautionary Assessment Community/Social Issues Very Unsupportive of Health and Community

18. Precautionary Assessment Exposure Issues Significant Exposure and High Concern

19. Precautionary Assessment Hazard/Toxicity Significant Hazards and Serious Concern

20. Standards and Regulations

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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?

25. 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

26. Uncertainty Factors • 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. Media Coverage