Alan Tanjusay, Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) advocacy officer, said that just two weeks ago, they found asbestos wire gauzes in the laboratories of 8 schools in Metro Manila.

This is despite DepEd’s “positive response” to the same call by the labor federation in 2011.

In a letter addressed to Education Secretary Armin Luistro, ALU-TUCP president Michael Mendoza pointed out how the department continues to “unknowingly [put] to great risk the health of millions of students, teachers and non-teaching  staffs…to highly cancerous asbestos dust fibers.”

Wire gauze is commonly used in chemistry and biology experiments.

No memo

In November 2011, DepEd released a statement about its plan to phase out the cancerous materials in public high schools nationwide as it lauded ALU-TUCP for bringing the issue to the government’s attention.

Almost 2 years later, Tanjusay said DepEd has yet to issue a memorandum to ban wire gauzes in schools.

However, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which ALU-TUCP also talked to in 2011, issued one. 

“These [wire gauzes] are being used by students in their Chemistry and Biology classes. Once it creates dust, the asbestos may enter the body and cause sickness,” Tanjusay said in Filipino.

He added that the wire gauzes, which contain 3% Chrysotile asbestos, are being sold in laboratory supply stores in Avenida, Manila.

DepEd purchases the supplies and distributes them to schools, Tanjusay said. 

Alternative wire gauzes

He proposed an alternative to the asbestos wire gauzes. He said wire gauze with a ceramic center would be P3 more expensive than the regular wire gauze, but in retrospect is a better choice compared to the health risks posed by the ones schools use today.

Since 1977, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have affirmed that exposure to asbestos causes cancer in the lungs, larynx, and the ovaries.

WHO estimated that 125,000 merchants die every year after exposure to asbestos.  

The ALU-TUCP is in partnership with the Building and Wood Workers International in banning asbestos in the country.  – Rappler.com