Worldwide Asbestos Supply And Consumption Trends From 1900 .
Worldwide Asbestos Supply andConsumption Trends from1900 through 2003Circular 1298U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey
Worldwide Asbestos Supply andConsumption Trends from1900 through 2003By Robert L. VirtaThis Circular supersedes USGS Open-File Report 03–083Circular 1298U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the InteriorDIRK KEMPTHORNE, SecretaryU.S. Geological SurveyMark D. Myers, DirectorU.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2006For product and ordering information:World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTelephone: 1–888–ASK–USGSFor more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources,natural hazards, and the environment:World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.govTelephone: 1–888–ASK–USGSAny use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by theU.S. Government.Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners toreproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.Suggested citation:Virta, R.L., 2006, Worldwide asbestos supply and consumption trends from 1900 through 2003: U.S. Geological SurveyCircular 1298, 80 p., available only online.ISBN 1-411-31167-1
iiiContentsAbstract.1Introduction.1Purpose and Scope of Circular.2Definitions.2History of Asbestos Use.2Data Sources.4World Supply, Demand, and Trade.4United States.5Canada.6Other Market-Economy Countries.7Brazil.7Cyprus.7Greece.8Italy.8South Africa.8Swaziland.9Zimbabwe.10Countries Currently or Formerly Having Centrally Planned Economies.10China.10Kazakhstan and Russia.11Other Producing Countries.12World Consumption.12Introduction.12United States.13Other Countries in Central and North America.13Europe.13Asia and the Middle East.14Africa.14South America.15Oceania.15General s.17References Cited.17Appendix. World Asbestos Production, Trade, and Consumption from 1920 through 2003.35
ivFigures[Figures follow References Cited]1. Bar graph of calculated apparent consumption of asbestos by region, 1920–2003.242–3. Line graphs of calculated apparent consumption of asbestos by major asbestosconsuming ables follow figures]1.2.3.4.A1–A19.Early developments of the asbestos industry.27Salient U.S. statistics for asbestos, 1900 through 2003.28U.S. end uses for asbestos, 1965 through 2003.31World production of all types of asbestos, 1900 through 2003.32Asbestos production, trade, and consumption in—A1. 1920.36A2. 1930.37A3. 1940.39A4. 1950.41A5. 1960.43A6. 1970.45A7. 1975.47A8. 1980.50A9. 1985.53A10. 1990.55A11. 1995.57A12. 1996.59A13. 1997.61A14. 1998.63A15. 1999.66A16. 2000.69A17. 2001.72A18. 2002.75A19. 2003.78Conversion FactorsMultiplysquare metersquare metermetric ton (t, 1,000 kilograms)By10.761.1961.102To obtainsquare footsquare yardshort ton (2,000 pounds)
Worldwide Asbestos Supply andConsumption Trends from1900 through 2003By Robert L. VirtaAbstractThis Circular updates and supersedes U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) Open-File Report 03–083, “Worldwide Asbestos Supply and Consumption Trends from 1900 to 2000,” withthe addition of supply and consumption estimates and analysisfrom 2001 through 2003 and revisions to the consumption estimates for 1998 through 2000. The text from Open-File Report03–083 also has been updated in this Circular to include revisions to and expansion of the time-series coverage.The use of asbestos is one of the most controversialissues surrounding the industrial minerals industry. Its carcinogenic nature, an overall lack of knowledge of minimum safeexposure levels, its widespread use for more than 100 years,and the long latency for the development of lung cancer andmesothelioma are the main contributing factors to these controversies. Another factor is that, despite decades of research,the mechanisms responsible for its carcinogenic properties arestill largely unknown.The United States produced about 3.29 million metric tons (Mt) of asbestos and used approximately 31.5 Mtbetween 1900 and 2003. About half of this amount was usedafter 1960. In 2002, the last asbestos mine in the UnitedStates closed, marking the end of more than 110 years of U.S.asbestos production. Cumulative world production from 1900through 2003 was about 181 Mt. If one assumes that unusuallylarge stocks were not maintained and that world consumptionroughly equaled production, then about half of the world production and consumption occurred between the end of 1976and the end of 2003.The United States and Western European nations werethe largest consumers of asbestos during the first two-thirdsof the 20th century. They were surpassed by the collectiveproduction and consumption of Kazakhstan and Russia by the1970s. After the onset of the health issues concerning asbestosin the late 1960s and early 1970s, the decline in world production and consumption began to be evident in the late 1970s andearly 1980s. The 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, a majoruser of asbestos, resulted in a significant decline in asbestosconsumption and production in former Soviet-bloc countries. Consumption and production in Kazakhstan and Russiaincreased through 2003 from 2001, albeit to a much lowerlevel than in the 1980s.In 2003, world consumption was estimated to be 2.11Mt, about 45 percent that of 1980. Relatively few countries inAsia, the Middle East, South America, and the former SovietUnion remained as the leading users of asbestos. China was theleading consuming nation, using an estimated 492,000 metrictons (t) in 2003. China was followed, in decreasing order ofconsumption, by Russia (429,000 t), India (192,000 t), Kazakhstan (174,000 t), Ukraine (156,000 t), Thailand (133,000 t),Brazil (78,400 t), and Iran (75,800 t). These eight countriesaccounted for 82 percent of the world’s apparent consumptionin 2003. Following Iran, in decreasing order of consumption bytonnage, were Uzbekistan (42,400 t), Vietnam (39,400 t), Indonesia (32,300 t), the Republic of Korea (23,800 t), Kyrgyzstan(23,700 t), Japan (23,400 t), and Mexico (20,100 t). Consumption in all other countries was estimated to be less than 15,000 teach in 2003. Sizable consumption increases occurred in Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Ukrainebetween 2000 and the end of 2003. Consumption patterns incountries using less than 5,000 t per year were too erratic toascertain any trends in their use of asbestos.IntroductionThe use of asbestos is one of the most controversialissues surrounding the industrial minerals industry. Its carcinogenic nature, an overall lack of knowledge of minimum safeexposure levels, its widespread use for more than 100 years,and the long latency for the development of lung cancer andmesothelioma are the main contributing factors to these controversies. Another factor is that, despite decades of research,the mechanisms responsible for its carcinogenic properties arestill largely unknown.The United States produced about 3.29 million metrictons (Mt) of asbestos and used approximately 31.5 Mt between
Worldwide Asbestos Supply and Consumption Trends from 1900 through 20031900 and 2003. In 2002, the last asbestos mine in the UnitedStates closed, marking the end of more than 110 years of U.S.asbestos production. Cumulative world production from 1900through 2003 was about 181 Mt. If one assumes that unsuallylarge stocks were not maintained and that world consumptionroughly equaled production, then about half of the world production and consumption occurred between the end of 1976and the end of 2003.Purpose and Scope of CircularOf interest, from a historical and exposure standpoint, ishow much asbestos was used in each country over time. Thisinformation provides a means by which to determine past,current, and future markets for asbestos and some insightinto the potential for past occupational asbestos exposures invarious countries. Total and market-specific usage data forasbestos generally are lacking because most countries did nothave the resources or feel the need to gather and evaluate thatkind of information. Even in the United States, only asbestosproduction (sales) data have been tracked for more than 100years; import data were not gathered until 1931, and asbestosconsumption by market was not documented until about 1972,with only estimates extending back to 1965. This Circularreviews production and market changes throughout the worldand provides some insight into the levels of asbestos use inindividual countries over time.This Circular updates and supersedes U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) Open-File Report 03–083, “Worldwide Asbestos Supply and Consumption Trends from 1900 to 2000,” withthe addition of supply and consumption estimates and analysisfrom 2001 through 2003 and revisions to the consumption estimates for 1998 through 2000. The text from Open-File Report03–083 also has been updated in this Circular to include revisions to and expansion of the time-series coverage.After the introduction and identification of data sources,this Circular provides information on asbestos trends in twomain sections: “World Supply, Demand, and Trade” and“World Consumption.” Table 1 summarizes early developments in the asbestos industry; table 2 has salient U.S.statistics for asbestos, table 3 has U.S. end uses for asbestos,and table 4 has world production data for asbestos. Figures 1,2, and 3 are graphs of apparent consumption of asbestos byregion and country; figures and tables follow the “ReferencesCited.” The text is supplemented by the appendix, in whichtables A1–A19 provide snapshots of world production, trade,and consumption of asbestos at specific times: for 1920–1970,at 10-year intervals; for 1970 through 1995, at 5-year intervals; and for 1996 through 2003, annually.Data in the appendix tables are presented for individualcountries and regions. To form the regions, countries aregrouped by continent with a few exceptions. Middle Easterncountries are grouped with Asia. Eastern countries of theformer Soviet Union, despite being in Asia, are included inEurope so as to be grouped with Russia and other westerncountries of the former Soviet Union and to facilitate comparisons of data for the same region at different times.DefinitionsAsbestos is a generic name given to the fibrous variety ofsix naturally occuring minerals that have been used in commercial products (Virta, 2001). The term “asbestos” is not amineralogical definition. It is a commercial designation formineral products that possess high tensile strength, flexibility, resistance to chemical and thermal degradation, and highelectrical resistance and that can be woven.Minerals that can crystallize as asbestos belong to twogroups: serpentine and amphibole. The asbestos variety of serpentine is chrysotile. Most of the asbestos used after the late1800s was chrysotile. The commercial asbestos varieties ofamphibole include the following: crocidolite (riebeckite asbestos), amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite asbestos), anthophyllite asbestos, tremolite asbestos, and actinolite asbestos. Thesetypes were mined over the long history of asbestos use.History of Asbestos UseAsbestos use began about 4,500 years ago. Early evidence of its use to strengthen clay pottery as long ago as 2500B.C. has been found in Finland (Selikoff and Lee, 1978, p.6–7; Gross and Braun, 1984, p. 9). Anecdotes about its usehave been reported by many, including Pliny the Elder (about79 B.C.) and Marco Polo (about A.D. 1250) (Bowles, 1946, p.13–14). Some of the earlier uses were in crematory shrouds,lamp wicks, and incombustible napkins and tablecloths. Thetablecloths could be tossed in the fire to be cleaned withoutfear of damage (Becker & Haag, 1928, p. 14–16; Bowles,1937, p. 5–7; Sinclair, 1959, p. 1–3; Natural Resources Boardof Southern Rhodesia, 1963). Ben Franklin reportedly used anasbestos purse, not to protect his money, but to prevent it fromburning the proverbial hole in his pocket (Alleman and Mossman, 1997).The modern asbestos industry began in the early 1800swhen a textile manufacturing industry was established inItaly to produce such items as fabrics, string, and bookcovers (Bowles, 1946, p. 14; Sinclair, 1959, p. 3, 277; Alleman and Mossman, 1997). Consumption at that stage stillwas extremely low compared with 20th century usage. Withincreased industrialization, new uses were developed to takeadvantage of the strength, hea
Consumption Trends from 1900 through 2003 By Robert L. Virta consumption and production in former Soviet-bloc coun-tries. Consumption and production in Kazakhstan and Russia increased through 2003 from 2001, albeit to a much lower level than in the 1980s. In 2003, world consumption was estimated to be 2.11 Mt, about 45 percent that of 1980.
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