CEA to curtail use of asbestos, officials meeting held

Sri Lanka is seeing more asbestos used for root0ting of houses and other contraptions more than traditional rooting material, over the last few years.

Asbestos posses a severe health threat and has also been banned in many countries owing to the negatives effects of the material.

The Central Environmental Authority in Sri Lanka notes that with the open economy in the country asbestos roofing sheets have becomes very famous within the construction industry.

Previously Sri Lankans used environmentally friendly materials for roofing their houses such as Pol Athu, galvanised roofing sheets, Sinhalese roofing tiles and modern roofing tiles. However for efficiency and cost effectiveness people are increasingly using Asbestos roofing sheets over traditional methods.

The CEA notes that after several decades, the negative impacts of asbestos were being reported from all over the world and various sectors of society and with the emerging health trend, officers and social leaders began to pay attention towards this new product and its impact on the health and environment.

The special assembly on controlling the usage of hazardous chemical held at Rotterdam Netherlands in 1998 pays attention to controlling usage of asbestos too. After several discussions on it, this was accepted as a treaty in 2004 which is now known as the Rotterdam convention. Sri Lanka is also a partner of this convention with about 150 other countries and among them 44 countries have totally stopped production and usage of asbestos within their countries.

By considering world trends and the negative impacts emerging within the country the CEA is working on taking necessary action on the usage of asbestos.

CEA Chairman Charith Herath stated that a special investigation by a specialised team on this subject has to be done before any action on the usage of asbestos is taken.

But if the investigation revealed that there are negative impacts on the environment and health by using asbestos the CEA will take necessary action on this matter.

A special meeting was also held on the usage of asbestos at the CEA with the participation of the CEA, Ministry of Environment, Department of Import and Export, Ministry of Health, Department of Customs, Board of Investments, National Institute of Occupational safety and health, Industrial Technology Institute, Industrial Development Board, Registrar of Pesticides, Chemical and processing engineering department of the Peradeniya University, forensic medicine and toxicology department of the University of Colombo and several other organisations.