Category Archives: Asbestosis

Project preparation

There are two components to my project in Bangladesh.

1) The major component is determining the prevalence of asbestosis and other lung diseases in migrant shipbreakers from northern Bangladesh.

2) The additional component is to train students and researchers at NIPSOM about bulk asbestos sampling and identification.

This summer has been all about preparing for both of these objectives, and with departure just over two weeks away, there is still much to do.
Asbestosis study in Bogra (in Northern Bangladesh)

• Feasibility trip for two weeks in April 2008
• Making contact with Bangladeshi partners and collaborators:
o Dr. Nurun Nahar, the Civil Surgeon of Bogra District. The Civil Surgeon is the local chief medical health officer.
o Dr. Akhtar, the head of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at NIPSOM, and a member of my thesis committee.
o Zakia Sultana Siddique, MBBS, a bilingual master’s of public health graduate who will accompany me to Bogra and assist me with subject enrolment, interviews and physical examinations.
• Questionnaire development
• Thesis committee meetings (Members: Dr. Hugh Davies, Dr. Paul Demers, Dr. Tim Takaro, Dr. Sk. Akhtar Ahmad)
• Application for approval from UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board

Bulk asbestos identification training

• Courses at the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois
o Microscopical Identification of Asbestos (1608A)
o Asbestos Fiber Counting [NIOSH 582] (1616)
• Volunteered weekly at Golder Associates Ltd., at their Asbestos Environmental Health and Safety Laboratory in Surrey, BC
• Purchased a polarized light microscope along with refractive index dispersion oils to set up at NIPSOM in Bangladesh
• In the process of developing modules for bulk asbestos identification and fibre counting for NIPSOM in Bangladesh, as well as for the School of Environmental Health (SOEH) at UBC

Project Summary – Asbestosis in migrant shipbreakers from Northern Bangladesh

This study will examine the prevalence of asbestosis (and other fibrotic lung disesases) among a migrant shipbreaker population in Bogra District, Bangladesh.

“Shipbreaking” is the dismantling and recycling of obsolete vessels. In Bangladesh, this work is carried out with virtually no heavy equipment on open beaches and the labourers are often migrant workers from the impoverished regions of the north. While 97% of the ship is reusable and the industry has created thousands of jobs, the work is hazardous, putting workers at risk of acute dangers such as asphyxiation, falling debris, fires, explosions and electrocution. Chronic diseases such as lung fibroses and cancer can also occur from exposure to heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and asbestos, which are all recognized carcinogens. Although the ships contain these hazardous substances, most work is done without adequate training or protection, and there is high potential for exposures in the shipyards.

I will undertake a study of asbestosis and general health among a migrant shipbreaker population in Bangladesh that has returned home to northern communities of Bogra District from the Southern port city of Chittagong where shipbreaking occurs. I will collaborate with the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), of the University of Dhaka, and health officials in Bogra District. Chest x-rays and a physical exam will be performed on 100 former and current shipbreakers. All subjects will be interviewed about their knowledge and handling of asbestos. The x-rays will be analyzed by a radiologist in North America. Ethical review will be obtained at the University of British Columbia and the Bangladesh Medical Research Council.

The field work will commence in Bangladesh in August 2008. Field work in Bogra will end in November, 2008, and the results of this study will me made available in the summer of 2009.