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Deadly denim: sandblasting-induced silicosis in the jeans industry
Spotlight
Denim jeans have been an indispensable item in the fashion industry for a considerable time. However, consumer preferences have shifted towards a faded appearance and to meet this growing demand, denim is treated using various techniques, such as sandblasting, to create the so-called distressed denim effect. The sandblasting process, which involves the removal of the dark indigo pigment by blasting small particles of sand at high pressures against the fabric to soften and lighten the garment, holds health hazards to workers within the industry, with inhaled silica dust particles causing silicosis. “Sandblasting is so fatal; it’s a totally unnecessary process”, states Sam Maher, who works at the international office of Clean Clothes Campaign, an organisation that aims to improve the working conditions of people within the garment industry. In 2010, the organisation was involved in the Killer Jeans campaign calling for a global ban on the sandblasting of denim after the successful implementation of the ban in Turkey in 2009. However, companies have since outsourced sandblasting to other countries, such as China and Bangladesh. There are alternative methods of fading denim, such as the use of chemical processes, explains Asim Sarkar the manager of a small factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sarkar, a chemical engineer, uses compounds such as potassium permanganate and phosphoric acid for the fading process and considers his methods to be more cost-effective and ”safer than sandblasting”, which he suspects some of the larger companies in Bangladesh might still use. Sarkar explains that the combination of the “hose pipe, mixed with sand and other chemicals, blasted at high pressure, creates many fumes which are inhaled by the workers”. Respiratory physician Barkat Ullah, an assistant professor at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, states that there is silicosis in Dhaka, but these cases are infrequent for an illness traditionally associated with stone cutters. Ullah adds that often “silicosis is misdiagnosed as tuberculosis as the condition presents in a similar way”. Misdiagnosis is substantial, explains Maher, who hopes to raise awareness and educate doctors in Bangladesh about silicosis in garment factory workers; “silicosis is 100% an occupational disease, so unless you are a miner, it wouldn’t even occur to doctors that it’s silicosis”. In fact, Turkey was the first country to point out the negative effects of silicosis in sandblasting garment workers and have taken great strides in its prevention.
Yesim Yasin, public health physician and Assistant Professor at Acibadem University, Istanbul, Turkey. explains that “at the outset, pulmonary specialists had difficulty in imagining an association between pulmonary symptoms and the garment industry”. Most of the first cases were either misdiagnosed or seen as sporadic, but in 2005, Turkish colleagues published a causal link with sandblasting in the textile industry and silicosis. There have been 78 registered deaths so far, according to Yasin, although she fears many more people “have died in silence at their hometowns”. Subsequently in 2008, a civil initiative called The Solidarity Committee for Jeans Sandblasting Laborers was created, consisting of former denim sandblasters, physicians, lawyers, and activists to raise public awareness and carry out a campaign. “We took every single opportunity seriously to raise our voice”, says Yasin, who is also a committee member. The combined effort came to fruition in March 2009 when the Turkish Ministry of Health issued a ban, which specifically prohibited the use of any material containing sand (silica dust) or crystalline silica in abrasive blasting applied on jeans or other types of cloth. This was an important ruling that “led to the elimination of silicosis in Turkey through national legislation”, says Maher. However, Yasin believes that both WHO and the International Labour Organization should work on a “global ban of sandblasting, at least, in the garment industry”. In 1995, combined with WHO, International Labour Organization launched a global programme to prevent silicosis, explains Francisco Santos-O’Connor, a specialist in occupational safety and health at International Labour Organization, Geneva. According to Santos-O’Connor, International Labour Organization’s tripartite structure, which deals with government, employers, and workers, considers legislation as well as health surveillance and improvement of technical standards as necessary to prevent silicosis. Santos-O’Connor holds the firm view that a global, multilevel approach is required in which “every actor has a responsibility”. Such an argument is difficult to refute, given that production of these garments takes place in developing countries with emerging economies. Input from governments, physicians, labour organisations, and people within the supply chain is necessary to ensure that the health of garment workers is not sacrificed for the pursuit of, in Maher’s words, ”deadly denim”.
Sima Barmania
Feature Deadly denim: sandblasting-induced silicosis in the jeans industry
Lancet Respir Med 2016 Published Online May 4, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-2600(16)30102-3 For more on sandblasting in the textile industry and silicosis in Turkey see J Occup Health 2005; 47: 346–49.
Sima Barmania
www.thelancet.com/respiratory Published online May 4, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(16)30102-3
1
Denim jeans have been an indispensable item in the fashion industry for a considerable time. However, consumer preferences have shifted towards a faded appearance and to meet this growing demand, denim is treated using various techniques, such as sandblasting, to create the so-called distressed denim effect. The sandblasting process, which involves the removal of the dark indigo pigment by blasting small particles of sand at high pressures against the fabric to soften and lighten the garment, holds health hazards to workers within the industry, with inhaled silica dust particles causing silicosis. “Sandblasting is so fatal; it’s a totally unnecessary process”, states Sam Maher, who works at the international office of Clean Clothes Campaign, an organisation that aims to improve the working conditions of people within the garment industry. In 2010, the organisation was involved in the Killer Jeans campaign calling for a global ban on the sandblasting of denim after the successful implementation of the ban in Turkey in 2009. However, companies have since outsourced sandblasting to other countries, such as China and Bangladesh. There are alternative methods of fading denim, such as the use of chemical processes, explains Asim Sarkar the manager of a small factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sarkar, a chemical engineer, uses compounds such as potassium permanganate and phosphoric acid for the fading process and considers his methods to be more cost-effective and ”safer than sandblasting”, which he suspects some of the larger companies in Bangladesh might still use. Sarkar explains that the combination of the “hose pipe, mixed with sand and other chemicals, blasted at high pressure, creates many fumes which are inhaled by the workers”. Respiratory physician Barkat Ullah, an assistant professor at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, states that there is silicosis in Dhaka, but these cases are infrequent for an illness traditionally associated with stone cutters. Ullah adds that often “silicosis is misdiagnosed as tuberculosis as the condition presents in a similar way”. Misdiagnosis is substantial, explains Maher, who hopes to raise awareness and educate doctors in Bangladesh about silicosis in garment factory workers; “silicosis is 100% an occupational disease, so unless you are a miner, it wouldn’t even occur to doctors that it’s silicosis”. In fact, Turkey was the first country to point out the negative effects of silicosis in sandblasting garment workers and have taken great strides in its prevention.
Yesim Yasin, public health physician and Assistant Professor at Acibadem University, Istanbul, Turkey. explains that “at the outset, pulmonary specialists had difficulty in imagining an association between pulmonary symptoms and the garment industry”. Most of the first cases were either misdiagnosed or seen as sporadic, but in 2005, Turkish colleagues published a causal link with sandblasting in the textile industry and silicosis. There have been 78 registered deaths so far, according to Yasin, although she fears many more people “have died in silence at their hometowns”. Subsequently in 2008, a civil initiative called The Solidarity Committee for Jeans Sandblasting Laborers was created, consisting of former denim sandblasters, physicians, lawyers, and activists to raise public awareness and carry out a campaign. “We took every single opportunity seriously to raise our voice”, says Yasin, who is also a committee member. The combined effort came to fruition in March 2009 when the Turkish Ministry of Health issued a ban, which specifically prohibited the use of any material containing sand (silica dust) or crystalline silica in abrasive blasting applied on jeans or other types of cloth. This was an important ruling that “led to the elimination of silicosis in Turkey through national legislation”, says Maher. However, Yasin believes that both WHO and the International Labour Organization should work on a “global ban of sandblasting, at least, in the garment industry”. In 1995, combined with WHO, International Labour Organization launched a global programme to prevent silicosis, explains Francisco Santos-O’Connor, a specialist in occupational safety and health at International Labour Organization, Geneva. According to Santos-O’Connor, International Labour Organization’s tripartite structure, which deals with government, employers, and workers, considers legislation as well as health surveillance and improvement of technical standards as necessary to prevent silicosis. Santos-O’Connor holds the firm view that a global, multilevel approach is required in which “every actor has a responsibility”. Such an argument is difficult to refute, given that production of these garments takes place in developing countries with emerging economies. Input from governments, physicians, labour organisations, and people within the supply chain is necessary to ensure that the health of garment workers is not sacrificed for the pursuit of, in Maher’s words, ”deadly denim”.
Sima Barmania
Feature Deadly denim: sandblasting-induced silicosis in the jeans industry
Lancet Respir Med 2016 Published Online May 4, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-2600(16)30102-3 For more on sandblasting in the textile industry and silicosis in Turkey see J Occup Health 2005; 47: 346–49.
Sima Barmania
www.thelancet.com/respiratory Published online May 4, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(16)30102-3
1