If you have the requirement for an Asbestos survey, or Asbestos removal as detailed later in this article don’t hesitate to contact us using the details posted at the bottom of this blog.

There are several criteria which determine the amount of Asbestos used and still remaining within a country, and the factors often vary significantly. Some of the criteria to consider are;

Date (if any) and enforcement of an Asbestos prohibition/Asbestos removal and management legislation;
The level of construction inside the country;
Awareness of the risks of Asbestos and attitudes towards public health;
Proximity to Asbestos producing mines and factories;
The weather (colder climates typically mean heating systems use thermal Asbestos insulation).

These are but a few reasons which explain the differences in consumption and use of Asbestos within many different nations.

The countries that make up the CEEC are often overlooked in terms of their Asbestos usage and consumption. The CEEC is made up of the following nations:

Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Germany (eastern part)
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Croatia
Albania
Montenegro
Serbia
North Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kosovo

In a World Health Organization (WHO) report entitled “The Human and Financial Burden of Asbestos in the WHO European Region” some alarming statistics are provided relating to the use and health effects of Asbestos in the CEEC. According to the WHO, Europe will bear the majority of what they call the “disease burden”, in comparison to the rest of the world. So why would Europe, and especially the CEEC be more affected by the legacy of Asbestos, and the economic and human costs that come with Asbestos use and exposure?

Many of the countries listed above did not ban the use of Asbestos within their country until 2004/2005 and even 2006. This coincides with the requirement from the EU that mandated all member states ban the use of the deadly mineral as part of their membership to the European single market.

Secondly, Asbestos use in the aforementioned countries for the majority of the 20th century was rampant. According to the USGS Circular 1298, entitled “Worldwide Asbestos Supply and Consumption Trends from 1900 through 2003”, the continent of Europe (including the Soviet Union countries) was the second region, after the United States, to develop a major Asbestos manufacturing industry.

Asbestos usage in the region was hugely increased in the late 1940’s and 1950’s due to the massive reconstruction efforts following World War II. Even when the health effects of Asbestos fibre exposure became to be known in Western Europe, the Soviet Union (of which a number of the CEEC countries used to belong to) continued to use vast amount of the Asbestos mineral. The USGS report clearly shows that by some margin, the biggest consumer of Asbestos from the 1960’s to the early 2000’s was Europe (including the Soviet Union).

Thirdly, between 1900 and 2003 the biggest supplier of Asbestos in Europe was Russia, and its proximity to the CEEC meant that a ready supply of Asbestos was close to hand. Production started in Russia in the early 1800’s and was bolstered significantly when another (now former) USSR territory, Kazakhstan, began mining huge amounts of the raw material in the 1960’s. Huge amounts of Asbestos were found in the Ural mountains and the company that still mines and produces Asbestos mineral to this day is called ‘Uralasbest’. The bulk of the exports for this time period went to Eastern, Central and Western Europe.

Finally, due to the fact that Asbestos is an insulator, and extremely effective at providing heat resistance, it has been used as a lagging material on pipework and boilers. Unlike in the Middle East and parts of Asia, in colder countries heating systems and particularly central heating (especially in the winter months) has become a must have in residential and commercial properties. Asbestos use for this purpose has been significant within the CEEC over the last 100 years.

So what can be done to manage the Asbestos problem?

Thankfully Asbestos is now banned in the majority of the CEEC countries and nationwide prohibitions are in place and enforced (to differing degrees). National Asbestos Profiles (NAPs) need to be developed for each individual country to establish the true extent of the Asbestos issue within a state.

Asbestos surveys will need to be carried out to establish where the Asbestos is, and how it can be safely managed. Following the model that has been put in place in place in the UK where every non-domestic property has to be surveyed for Asbestos would be akin to international best practice, and the Asbestos materials should be managed through site specific Asbestos Management Plans (AMPs). High risk Asbestos materials should be removed through specialist Asbestos abatement and Asbestos contractors and the Asbestos waste should be disposed of at hazardous landfills capable of receiving the waste. The facilities should be located in the same country that the waste has been produced in, to ensure the requirements of the Basel Convention (May 1992) are met. Health surveillance of the population and exposure records should also be implemented at a government level.

If you have any Asbestos related concerns, contact us to see how Anthesis Consulting Middle East can help you:

Charles Faulkner (Head of Environment, Health and Safety and Asbestos Team Leader)

Phone: +971 (0) 50 5541 320
Email: asbestos@anthesisgroup.com