Will Mesothelioma risk in shipbreaking decline?

May 21, 2009

We recently reported that international meetings were going on to discuss how to decrease the health and environmental risks associated with shipbreaking. Because of the large quantities of asbestos that were used on many older ships, malignant mesothelioma is a serious risk. See related story.

Sixty-three countries have now adopted a U.N. convention, drafted by the International Maritime Organization, that sets higher standards for shipbreaking yards, primarily located in the developing countries of South Asia, where older ships often are dismantled and recycled.

Critics of the current agreement say that making shipbreaking safer for workers and the environment will require that owners remove asbestos and other dangerous materials from the ships before they are sent to the shipbreaking yards. They also say a ban is needed on breaking down ships along beaches. They say the current convention won’t make things safer or cleaner and actually legitimizes the shipbreaking yards.

In some places, like India and Bangladesh, court intervention is working to clean up the shipbreaking yards or close them down.

For the full story, go to the Philadelphia Inquirer and San Antonio Express-News.

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