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Ekspertai pabrėžia #MineralWool keliamą pavojų sveikatai

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Safety issues at work took centre stage this week as part of annual EU campaign, rašo Martinas Bankai.

The Health and Safety at Work Week from 22-26 October is the annual stocktake on what needs to be done to improve working conditions for Europe’s workforce.

But one issue which has passed largely under the radar last week is the relatively little-known risk posed to workers’ healthy by a material called mineral wool.

Construction workers are among those particularly at risk: they install, remove and dispose of mineral wool on a regular basis.

Many will be blissfully unaware of the serious health concerns surrounding mineral wool, or Man-Made Vitreous Fibres (MMVF) as it is also known.

These include carcinogenicity and lung disease, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The threat is real, says the US National Library of Medicine which, in a report, said, “MMVF insulation products do still cause skin discomfort. Updated knowledge about people’s experiences of work with such products should influence legislation.”

A source at the European commission, agrees, saying, “We should consider the health and safety of those who have to work with dangerous substances as a routine part of their employment.

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After the asbestos industry collapsed due to the danger asbestos posed to human health, mineral wool (MMVF) emerged as a replacement. Mineral wool was classified as a carcinogen until 2002, when a newer version of it was declassified. But it is now widely accepted that tests that led to the declassification were flawed.

Experts now say that the tests, in 1996 and 2000-2002, were not conducted with mineral wool in the form that it is sold or used by consumers or commercially.

The tests were carried out with the binder or oil removed, giving misleading results regarding carcinogenicity.

Some now say that mineral wool should be re-tested, this time in the form that it is actually sold and used.

The commission source said: “Construction workers are owed that care and respect for their health.”

There is a strong argument that health and safety legislation and product safety labelling is needed for mineral wool.  Construction workers, it is argued, need to fully understand what they are handling and their employers need to understand the health risks to their employees so that they can take action to protect them.

Henk Batema is a former construction worker and pulmonary fibrosis sufferer which means his lung capacity reduced by 75%.

He said: “I hope I can go on like this for years, that it is stable and I can delay it as long as possible. Then I can just procrastinate. Otherwise the only option is a lung transplant in order to move forward. But after that your years are numbered of course.”

Further comment comes from Dr. Marjolein Drent, professor of interstitial lung diseases at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) at Maastricht University.

Dr Drent said: “The effects of the fibres of glass wool and stone wool can be compared to those of asbestos. In the past we did not know asbestos was very dangerous. The results of the effects of fibres in glass wool and mineral wool are only being seen right now, so we must deal with it carefully.”

The Mineral Wood Association, it should be stressed, insists that there is no direct link between these disorders and mineral wool.

But Dr Drent’s sentiments are echoed by Paul Brom, a leading toxicologist, who said: “I think it’s time to take a good look back at what dust and fibres can cause, in addition to the fact that they cause cancer.This data is available, but in our race to find a good substitute for Asbestos, we apparently forgot this somewhere.”

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