Asbestos cement materials: impacts on the use and waste generation in Brazil

Abstract

This article updates data on consumption of chrysotile (white asbestos), in the global and national context, and presents an estimate of the amount of MCA in use in the country; discusses situations of risk to health and the environment, due to the release of chrysotile fibers, and proposes warnings for their use; questions waste disposal routes at the end of life. For the global update, the evolution of the market and ban were researched, by collecting data on domestic consumption of chrysotile, from 1998 (period of permission to use) to 2017 (year of ban), the generation of asbestos-cement waste (RCA) (2012 to 2017), as well as the percentage of fibers per composite and durability factor. There was a significant difference between the average annual production of MCA (1.38 million t) and the generation of RCA (17 thousand t), evidencing a large amount in use and that the installed capacity of class I landfills in the country is below the projected RCA demand. Considering aspects of reuse, maintenance, pollution, and climatic actions, in addition to situations associated with the construction characteristics of low-income housing with asbestos-cement tiles (TCA), hazards were identified for residents due to the possibility of inhaling asbestos fibers. These situations require adequate management of the MCA and RCA, with routes for treatment and recovery, mapping of areas of use, monitoring and preventive actions, such as measuring the concentrations of fibers/cm³ in the environment, and creating technical instructions for training the hands of work for safe removal and disposal with a view to reducing risk to the health of the exposed population.