Fibro cement roofing industry and 20 years of concern of businesses

Production of Fro-cement roofing sheets.

On August 2, 2019, implementing the direction of the National Assembly Chairwoman - Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment issued Official Dispatch No. 1441/UBKHCNMT14 recommending relevant ministries and agencies to continue research to prove whether or not white asbestos is harmful in causing cancer in humans. The Committee also requested clarification of the reasons why most countries still use white asbestos, including developed countries and neighboring countries of Vietnam.

It may take some more time for the authorities to make a final decision. And all the companies that produce fiber cement roofing sheets are looking forward to the results soon because they have been waiting in difficulty for the past 20 years.

MNo studies have found any cases of patients with cancer.

According to the Vietnam Roofing Association, the impact of fiber cement roofing sheets on human health is a topic that has received much attention from health officials. Previously, when studying areas with many fiber cement roofing sheets in Australia, Germany, and Austria, international experts recorded that the asbestos concentration in these areas was no different from the concentration of asbestos inherent in nature (0.001 fiber/cc) - a level that was assessed by WHO, the Royal Asbestos Commission of Ontario, and the Royal Society of London as "acceptable", "insignificant" and "... no basis for further control", respectively.

Over 130 years of exploitation and use of white asbestos, the Russian Government has carried out many research projects on the effects of natural white asbestos fibers. To date, all results confirm that this mineral fiber does not affect human health if used in a controlled manner.

In our country, scientific studies by the Department of Health Environment Management - Ministry of Health, Construction Hospital - Ministry of Construction or the National Profile on asbestos built by the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Labor Protection Science and Technology - Vietnam General Confederation of Labor conducted on subjects such as workers and long-term users of fiber cement roofing sheets have not found any cases of cancer due to exposure to white asbestos in roofing sheets.

Studies have not found any cases of cancer due to exposure to white asbestos in roofing.

Productresearch toreplacements have all failed.

To date, white asbestos fiber is still an important input material that cannot be replaced in the fiber cement roofing sheet manufacturing industry. Experimental projects revolving around plant fibers such as jute fiber, sugarcane fiber, coconut fiber have all failed to produce roofing sheet products with insulating and heat-insulating properties like natural white asbestos fiber.

Sharing the same fate with the group of vegetable fibers is PVA - a synthetic organic fiber that is promoted as a good substitute for white asbestos. Both Navifico and Tan Thuan Cuong, which were part of a Japanese pilot project to produce asbestos-free fiberboard, concluded that PVA fiberboard was expensive, of poor quality, and easily broken. The product did not meet consumer demand, forcing Navifico to close down two years ago, while Tan Thuan Cuong switched to producing cement asbestos panels to continue operating.

With experience in producing white asbestos-free sheets in 2001 and 2014, Mr. Le Van Nghia - General Director of Dong Anh Construction Investment and Construction Materials JSC said that this product still revealed many shortcomings because PVA fiber sheets consumed a lot of electricity during the production process. Moreover, paper pulp and PVA are difficult to adhere to cement, causing a lot of cement waste, the product's strength is only 50% of asbestos-containing roofing sheets and the density is reduced by 20%. According to Mr. Nghia, this sheet is not suitable for Vietnam's climate because it will be soaked in rain, and when hot, it will lead to warping.

Awhite ashusedin many other industries, not just roofing

In Vietnam, white asbestos is used in many other products such as brake pads for airplanes, cars, motorbikes, elevator brake pads, fireproof clothing, insulation equipment in air conditioners, gaskets in heat-resistant pipes, machine parts, insulation, heat insulation of the mechanical industry, cement production, thermal power, oil refining, water plants, etc.

However, the proposed ban on white asbestos only applies to the fiber cement roofing industry. Meanwhile, to completely eliminate this fiber (if any), the Government may have to ban all products manufactured and imported containing white asbestos. However, this is something that not only Vietnam but also many large countries have not been able to do.

Fire-resistant clothing, thermal insulation equipment and electrical and thermal insulation equipment are also made from white asbestos.

Along with banning white asbestos in other manufacturing sectors, the Government will also have to face the problem: How to prevent cheap fibro-cement roofing sheets from China and Thailand from flooding into Vietnam?

This is a completely possible scenario as China and Thailand not only possess favorable geographical locations but also have a huge market and production of cheap fiber cement panels. Once the production ban is issued, import activities from neighboring countries will be boosted, dominating the cheap roofing segment in our country. While international import and export activities are related to global trade cooperation agreements, it will be difficult for the Government to issue a ban on products from these countries.

"Killing" the fiber cement roofing sheet industry requires thousands of billions of dong

According to the research report on the Economic Impact Assessment of the Ban on White Asbestos in Vietnam - The Case of Fibro-cement Roofing Sheets (2015) by the Central Institute for Management Research - Ministry of Planning and Investment, the economic burden of issuing a ban on the use of white asbestos in roofing sheet production is very large. Accordingly, 454.5 trillion VND is the economic cost that the Government must pay if replacing 80 million m²Fibro-cement roofing sheets. 183.5 trillion is the total cost that consumers have to pay if they replace them with PVA roofing sheets. Finally, 395.2 billion is the economic cost for the fibro-cement roofing sheet manufacturing industry when changing technology, installing equipment and training workers.

However, the question is whether it is necessary to create an economic burden for the country while the impact of chrysotile asbestos has not been clearly proven and many countries are still allowing the controlled use of this mineral fiber?

As a country with the most developed economy in the world, in April, the US announced a document on the New Application Rule (SNUR), creating favorable conditions for businesses trading in products made from white asbestos. Accordingly, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to remove asbestos cement products such as water pipes and asbestos cement sheets from the list of products "requiring additional risk assessment activities". From now on, US businesses only need the EPA's permission to start manufacturing and importing products originating from white asbestos./.