Ukraine has opened its first national laboratory to detect asbestos.
The new facility has been equipped with a modern suite of transmission electron microscopy equipment, the Ministry of Economy and Environment reported.
The laboratory was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine with financial support from the Government of Japan and in close co-operation with the Ministry of Health.
Deputy Minister of Economy Olena Kramarenko said the laboratory would help create conditions for the safe use of secondary materials in construction.
- In 2017, the Ministry of Health issued an order banning the production and use of asbestos.
- As an exception, materials and products containing asbestos that are already in use may continue to be used until they are replaced or disposed of. However, asbestos-containing insulation materials and low-density products (1 g/cm-3) are subject to priority replacement and disposal
- According to the World Health Organization, around 100,000 people worldwide die each year from diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. Scientific research shows that the use of asbestos can cause diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer at the WHO has classified asbestos in the first, most dangerous category of compounds on the list of carcinogenic substances.