Modern Day Asbestos in a War Zone: The Ultimate Exposure
With the fighting in both Gaza and the Ukraine, the microscopic and invisible asbestos-containing dust particles released by the bombing likely will be catastrophic to those locations in the coming years. After all, you can count the dead and injured bodies, you can check out bombed buildings and start to remove rubble and then build anew, but you cannot effectively eliminate the asbestos exposure to those people in the area. Nor does the current technology and science make it easy to track the disease to match up with the exposures. This is especially true when the exposure site is a major population area, and the fibers include white, brown, and bIue asbestos. I saw a couple of good articles on the hazard arising from asbestos-fiber released by explosions and bombing as follows:
and
https://www.preventionweb.net/blog/rebuilding-ukraine-imminent-risks-asbestos
Clearly, the danger to children living in the warzone carries most of the risk, for the same reasons discussed in my recent thesis. This arises from extended life time exposure and the way their lungs work in comparison to adults as discussed in my research thesis titled South African Blue Asbestos Fibers at the Illinois Beach State Park: Mistakes of our Past, Concerns for the Future, https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IBSP-5-52024.pdf
However, many others also are at risk from the asbestos. The Ukrainian population as a whole, invading Russia soldiers, relief organization volunteers, those people living or working downstream as the fibers blow in the wind, and others. Also, sadly, Russia is the largest exporter of asbestos in the world, so I suspect that a victory by Russia will lead to additional asbestos fibers shipped to the Ukraine to use in re-building the society. Given the extended time frame between exposure and disease development, the world could be suffering from such an order by Russia to the Ukraine into the 2070s. The Middle East could well be the same. When you see on the T.V. children covered in building destruction material and then having lived for an extended period in that environment. it is like looking at the walking dead; they just do not know it yet.
Asbestos is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, a global issue. Let’s use a world-systems global approach to minimize its harm and its legacy. International governmental meetings involving decision makers in both the Global North and Global South would be a good start.
This column is not about politics; only asbestos. If you want to comment on politics, please do it at your own website and not here. If you want to comment related to asbestos, either leave a message or email me at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thank you, Marty