Turkey has finally banned the use of asbestos, a dangerous mineral that poses serious health threats, under pressure by the EU. The move has been welcomed by environmentalists but they claim that the ban is not enough and that certain steps still need to be taken.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests recently issued a decree stating that the use of asbestos is now strictly forbidden and that efforts for harmonization with the EU will continue.
A circular from the ministry stated that the production and sales of any materials that include asbestos is now prohibited. The circular notes that asbestos was considered in the past to be a very effective insulation material in water pipelines, ship building and in the construction sector; however, when it enters to body via respiration or is ingested in drinking water, it can cause many fatal diseases, including cancer. It is possible to find asbestos occurring nature and in Turkey it is found in high concentrations in some villages around Sivas, Kütahya and also in Diyarbakır.
According to a recent parliamentary report on cancer in Turkey, it was pointed out that asbestos-related cancers in Turkey were 700 times greater than the world average. As asbestos is able to resist temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Celsius and is easy to form, it was widely used around the world in many fields. It was later discovered to be dangerous to health and was prohibited in many countries. Environmentalists have been campaigning for asbestos to be banned in Turkey since the early 2000s.
There have been some heated discussions in Turkey, especially concerning the ship dismantling center in İzmir Aliağa. Old ships, almost all of which contain asbestos, come from all over the world to be dismantled at İzmir Aliağa.
In a written statement the environmental engineers pointed out that ship dismantling also needs to be prohibited, and in this respect the Ministry of Labor and Social Security also has to take some responsibility.
Erdem Vardar, chairperson of the Yuva Society, which organized campaigns in the mid 2000s to ban ship dismantling, said that this asbestos ban is positive but not enough. Speaking to Today’s Zaman he said that old ships that contain asbestos are not coming to Turkey under the title of “asbestos importing” but as “old ships for dismantling.” He pointed out that improved conditions the situation still contradicts the international Basel Convention signed in 1989 which was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations and specifically to prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries.