MANILA, Philippines — The Associated Labor Union (ALU) commended the Deparment of Education (DepEd) for its positive response to the call to remove from public high schools wire gauzes containing asbestos and to stop the exposure to the substance of millions of students and teachers nationwide.
The call was made upon discovery of wire gauze with three percent Chrysotile asbestos that is being used in schools.
Asbestos is a banned substance in 54 countries for its carcinogenic effect. “Part of our mandate is to ensure that the learning environment does not pose any kind of threat to the well-being of our students and school officials,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said.
ALU asked Luistro to act swiftly on its call to save millions of students, teachers, non-teaching personnel and communities from primary and secondary exposure to the very dangerous asbestos dust that cause cancer and other incurable diseases.
DepEd will issue a memorandum to all schools on the proper handling and disposal of wire gauzes. It is also initiating efforts to explore safer alternatives for the asbestos-laden wire gauze. “We have done the same in the case of mercury and mercury-laden gadgets and equipment in all Philippine schools, including school clinics,” Luistro said.
All schools are also required by the DepEd to report to parent-teacher organizations once a year on the status of the school’s asbestos management plan, including any plans for asbestos removal.
Earlier this year, labor and environmental groups had pushed for total asbestos ban in the country. ALU, along with Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI), the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and the toxic watchdog EcoWaste Coalition have also asked the government to adopt a health-based policy that will ban all uses of asbestos and their replacement with non-toxic alternatives.
A review and revision of the “outdated” Chemical Control Order (CCO) for Asbestos issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in January 2000 was also specifically sought of by the groups saying that “CCO, while banning the use of amosite (brown) and crocidolite (blue) asbestos fibers, allows the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials for asbestos roofing felts, cement roofing, cement flat sheet and several other applications.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), asbestos belongs to the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of “major public health concern” for causing lung cancer, mesothelioma, cancer of the larynx and ovary, and asbestosis.
Exposure to asbestos, based on WHO information, occurs through “inhalation of fibres in air in the working environment, ambient air in the vicinity of point sources such as factories handling asbestos, or indoor air in housing and buildings containing friable (crumbly) asbestos materials.”