Fibro cement roofing sheet manufacturing enterprises: Need an official decision soon

Therefore, the State needs to soon make an official decision on the issue of fiber cement roofing sheets.

Roofing sheet manufacturing enterprises 'gasping' waiting for policy decisions

(Baonghean.vn) - After the prolonged controversy over white asbestos, while there has not been a final decision from the authorities, many businesses are facing difficulties, thousands of workers have lost their jobs.

Modern equipment is invested with capital of tens of billions of dong in factories.

Fear of bankruptcy, loss of tens of billions of dong

Anyone living in the 1960s knew about fiber cement roofing sheets - a simple gray corrugated sheet that appeared on every Vietnamese roof. At its peak, there were more than 40 fiber cement roofing sheet factories established but still could not meet the people's demand for sheets, especially after each storm, tornado or flood. Although the early factories applied "wet-rolling" technology with the technical name Hatschek (Hatschek Process) invented in Austria, all production stages were still rudimentary and backward. Most workers tore asbestos bags, weighed, and loaded asbestos into mixing tanks by hand. Today, closed automated lines have helped to minimize workers' exposure to white asbestos fibers - fibers that, if not used properly, can cause risks of pneumoconiosis.

Mr. Pham Van Mien - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bach Dang Joint Stock Company shared: "Now workers only need to sit in the inspection room, monitor and operate the process of lifting bags, tearing bags and weighing white asbestos fibers automatically through the camera system installed at all important stages."

Located in Long An province, where most people in the river delta still choose fiber cement roofing sheets for their housing projects, Ha Long Construction Materials Company Limited has also completed a fully automated, closed-loop roofing production line with an investment capital of more than ten billion VND.

However, the instability in the management policy of fibro-cement roofing products containing white asbestos is pushing many businesses into the fear of losing everything. Currently, although the Investment Law No. 67/2014/QH13 has stipulated that white asbestos products are a conditional business line, but in the face of controversy about whether they are toxic or not, a number of ministries and branches have proposed to stop using this type of fiber in roofing production to protect human health. The problem is that with many outstanding advantages such as high durability, good elasticity, fire resistance, insulation, white asbestos is an input material that cannot be replaced by any other natural or artificial fiber. If the ban is issued, the market will face the risk of losing a low-cost, high-quality product that meets the needs of the majority of poor households, poultry and livestock farmers, and low-income earners. That also means requiring the business to stop production and dissolve the company.

Mr. Le Than - General Director of Dong Nai Construction Materials Roofing Sheet Joint Stock Company emphasized: "The State has conducted research confirming that no cases of cancer have been found due to exposure to white asbestos in fibro-cement roofing sheets. So why is it forbidden for us to use this fiber for production? If it is really for human health, then tobacco and alcohol should be banned first."

What does scientific research say about white asbestos roofing?

Like many other factors such as coffee, tobacco or salted meat... classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group I carcinogens, white asbestos can also affect human health if not used in a controlled manner. Once the exposure dose exceeds the allowable limit, it becomes toxic as the Swiss physicist and chemist Paracelsus once stated: "Everything is toxic and nothing is non-toxic; only the dose determines whether something is toxic or not." The risk of disease-causing effects on humans depends on three factors: fiber size, exposure dose, and stability in the respiratory environment (also known as biopersistence).

Many scientific studies have been carried out in Vietnam, but so far, no cases of cancer due to exposure to white asbestos fibers have been found. In 2009 - 2011, the Department of Health Environment Management - Ministry of Health carried out a research project on finding cases of mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos. The study, funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, concluded that no cases of mesothelioma related to white asbestos were found. In 2014 - 2017, the Construction Hospital - Ministry of Construction coordinated with leading research agencies to carry out the "Research on the impact of white asbestos on the health of workers at production units and users of asbestos-cement roofing sheets" and also confirmed that there were no cases of asbestosis or pleural lesions related to white asbestos.

Prof. Hoang Duc Kiet - Head of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hanoi Friendship Hospital, is consulting and reading films for workers in the fiber cement roofing sheet manufacturing industry.

Recommend the State to soon make a final decision

Many businesses urgently request the Government not to ban the use of this mineral fiber because there is no scientific evidence of the disease-causing effects of white asbestos while the market demand for fiber cement roofing sheets is still very large. Businesses hope to soon invest in technology development, diversify designs and products as Russia, Thailand, China, and India are implementing to meet the consumer needs of the people.

New fibro cement roofing sheets of the Russian Federation.

In fact, fiber cement roofing sheets have been produced and used in Vietnam for nearly 60 years and its benefits to millions of households in Vietnam, especially the poor and ethnic minorities in remote areas, cannot be denied. Therefore, the proposal to stop or not stop using this material needs to have the most accurate scientific and practical basis as requested by the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology & Environment in document No. 1441 - "Ministries and branches continue to research to prove whether or not there is a danger of white asbestos", at the same time, the Committee requires that if this fiber is banned, it is necessary to consider the factors thoroughly, not because of unfair competition or for any other reason other than people's health, economic development and stability of the country.

More importantly, relevant agencies need to sit down together soon to make a final decision, helping businesses in the fiber cement roofing sheet manufacturing industry have specific strategies and business plans.