- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
(CNN Spanish) - The Buenos Aires authorities bought Nagoya 5000 trains built in the 80s for the Japan subway. Trains contain asbestos, also known as asbestos, a carcinogenic mineral banned in Japan from 2006 and in Argentina since 2001.
According to a CNN investigation, of the 121 trains in the metro network currently in Buenos Aires, 40 of them contain asbestos.
What is asbestos?
Asbestos, a natural mineral fiber that is resistant to heat and corrosion, is used in the manufacture of building materials such as roof tiles, fire retardant fabrics, cement and some vinyl tiles. In 1989, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final standard that prohibits most asbestos-containing products.
The EPA recommends that intact asbestos-containing materials should be left as they generally do not pose a health risk. But when the material is damaged or altered, it can emit microscopic asbestos fibers. The area would need to be isolated until professionals can assess the situation.
What are the health risks?
Asbestosis is a breathing disorder caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Prolonged accumulation of these fibers in the lungs can cause scarring of lung tissue and difficulty breathing. The symptoms of asbestosis can vary from mild to severe, and usually do not appear until many years after exposure. If you smoke and have asbestosis, the likelihood of developing lung cancer greatly increases. Tobacco smoke and asbestos seem to contribute to the cancer-causing effects of each other, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lung cancer related to asbestos exposure is known to affect people who have been exposed to the substance.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in the membranes of the lungs, chest, abdomen, heart and testicles, and almost all cases are linked to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and deadly form of cancer. There are treatments for mesothelioma, but for many people it is not possible to cure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Despite the danger of asbestos, experts argue that Buenos Aires metro passengers would not be in danger. It is the 'Subway' workers who are really exposed to this carcinogenic material.
“The risk of disease is related to the exposure time and the dose, which would be the amount. That is to say that the workers that we have seen with thickening of pleura, pleural plaques, are those of the workshops, which are the ones that are most exposed, ”Lilian Capone is a medical specialist in Pulmonology and Occupational Medicine. "Asbestos brings inflammation, fibrosis and cancer," he added.
Some diseases caused by asbestos
Asbestosis is a breathing disorder caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Prolonged accumulation of these fibers in the lungs can cause scarring of lung tissue and difficulty breathing. The symptoms of asbestosis can vary from mild to severe, and usually do not appear until many years after exposure. If you smoke and have asbestosis, the likelihood of developing lung cancer greatly increases. Tobacco smoke and asbestos seem to contribute to the cancer-causing effects of each other, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lung cancer related to asbestos exposure is known to affect people who have been exposed to the substance.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in the membranes of the lungs, chest, abdomen, heart and testicles, and almost all cases are linked to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and deadly form of cancer. There are treatments for mesothelioma, but for many people it is not possible to cure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
What do they say in Argentina?
Trains bought from Japan are not the only ones with asbestos. Another CNN investigation found that the Buenos Aires subway sued the Madrid Metro on October 22 for selling CAF 5000 wagons with asbestos, a substance banned since 2001. However, Sbase admitted to CNN that the City did not warn that since 2011 had plans for those vehicles that indicated the presence of asbestos on trains.
In Madrid, they said they believed there was no risk of exposure to asbestos because they had "encapsulated" the material. Before the CNN consultation on the lawsuit, the Spanish public company replied that "it will collaborate with Justice."
It is believed that there would be at least 11 subway workers in Buenos Aires affected by asbestos.
Roberto Pianelli, general secretary of the metro guild, told CNN: “There are more than 4,000 workers who were working in an area contaminated with a carcinogen that, on top of that, the diseases it produces have a latency period of 10, 15 years, then they are going to have to study every year to see when they have the misfortune of being sick. ”
Sbase and Metrovías do not recognize the results of the expert opinion ordered by the union in this case. They maintain that in mid-December they will begin official exams on Nagoya 5000 trains. This has already happened with the CAF 5000 trains and with the Mitsubishi trains. In both cases, the official expertise was carried out months later and finally coincided with the results of the study commissioned by the union.
In mid-November, the union resumed force measures and filed a collective amparo with the local Justice.
- With information from Emilia Delfino of CNN in Spanish in Argentina and Madison Park in Atlanta
Asbestos