Headline: Govt needs to stop asbestos coming into NZ
“New Zealand is out of step with jurisdictions such as Australia regarding our importation and safety standards for asbestos,” Mr Hague said.
New Zealand must stop importing goods that contain dangerous substances such as asbestos, Green Party health spokesperson Kevin Hague said today.
Kiwirail has suspended its fleet of 40 DL locomotives after asbestos was found in them. Kevin Hague raised the wider issue of New Zealand continuing to allow products containing asbestos into New Zealand late last year with Minister of Consumer Affairs Craig Foss.
“New Zealand is out of step with jurisdictions such as Australia regarding our importation and safety standards for asbestos,” Mr Hague said.
“Our importation of products containing asbestos is a problem the Government has been aware of for years and yet it has not moved to stop this harmful substance from being imported into New Zealand.
“It is not good enough that we continue to import substances containing asbestos on the understanding these imports are decreasing.
“The National Government appears to have put this important health and safety issue into the too hard basket.
“Exposure to asbestos carries high personal and public health costs and is an issue that the Government needs to devote resources to now,” Mr Hague said.
“Workers and consumers in New Zealand face a health time bomb if the Government does not move on this issue.
“All New Zealanders deserve a good life. National’s hands-off attitude to dealing with this problem is putting consumers’ and workers’ futures at risk.”
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In March 2010, the Collegium Ramazzini, an international academic society specializing in occupational and environmental medicine, issued its second call for asbestos to be banned worldwide. The Collegium’s Asbestos is Still with Us: Repeat Call for a Universal Ban, states:
“All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable…Early suggestions that chrysotile might be less dangerous than other forms of asbestos have not been substantiated
More than 107,000 people die each year from preventable asbestos-caused diseases worldwide that we know of – and mining continues.
The EPA (USA Environmental Protection Agency)has abandoned projects that strive to identify which asbestos fiber types are the most toxic, citing that the overall regulation of asbestos and asbestiform minerals is a more pressing priority.
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