Propaganda is killing asbestos cement industry

Kolkata, Sept. 21 - The 'negative campaign launched by the steel industry' and apprehension created in the minds of the people that all varieties of asbestos are carcinogenic is threatening the very survival of 'chrysotile asbestos cement' industry, Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers' Association (ACPMA) has said.

"Myths affect and influence the mind. They change notions even when there is not an iota of truth in them. That is exactly what the asbestos cement industry is facing at present," ACPMA Chairman Arun Saraf, told reporters here on Monday.

Saraf claimed that chrysotile asbestos cement products that are used in India do not pose any excess risk to the users as is being claimed and advertised by 'vested interests like the steel industry'.

He said asbestos cement products contain only eight per cent of white asbestos or chrysotile and the remainder of them is made up of flyash (30 per cent), cement (40 per cent), water (20 per cent) and pulp (two per cent).

A combination of false propaganda and ignorance had led to the absurd demand for total ban on asbestos use, Saraf said.

"Even the steel sector acknowledges the fact that ban on asbestos) will help the steel demand to rise by 2.5 million tonnes annually," he said, adding, "I am ready to furnish the findings of a WHO publication which states that 'exclusive use of chrysotile fibre in the manufacture of asbestos cement products is not associated with any excess of lung cancer."