TUCP Party List representative files bill in Congress banning asbestos

CEBU, Philippines – A bill that prohibits the importation, manufacture, processing, use or distribution of asbestos, which is commonly used in shipping and construction industries, has been filed in Congress last week.

House Bill 6544, or the Ban Asbestos Act of 2009, also seeks the demolition of buildings containing asbestos, conduct of public education, institutionalization of health and safety program, and creation of an inter-agency technical advisory council.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Representative Raymond C. Mendoza, the author of the bill, wants the Department of Health to conduct a study on asbestos.

Asbestos poses high risk of contaminating exposed workers because the fibers deeply penetrated into the lungs when inhaled. Even their families are at risk.

The International Association for Research on Cancer classified asbestos as the highest cancer-hazard substance. Diseases associated with asbestos include lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis with a latency period of 10 to 40 years.

Most exposed workers are those in shipping (shipbuilding, ship repair, ship breaking, and boiler work) and those in building and construction (plumbers, insulators, carpenters, pipe fitters, electricians, autoworkers, insulators, sheet metal workers, and other construction workers).

The public is also at risk because of exposure to houses, buildings and workplaces built with asbestos-containing materials. — Johanna T. Natavio/LPM (THE FREEMAN)