An international comparative study on the regulation policy of asbestos usage in China

Due to its outstanding physicochemical properties, asbestos is widely used in construction and thermal insulation of buildings. The United States and Japan used to be the largest consumers of asbestos during their period of rapid economic growth. Although many countries have banned the use of asbestos because of its health risks to humans including mesothelioma, China continues to produce and use large amounts of asbestos because of its low price, high performance, and abundance of asbestos mines and related industries in China. We studied the current issues associated with asbestos use in China including resources, usage, regulations and substitutes. In most countries it took a long time to ban asbestos use. In an international comparison, we refer to the experience of the United States and Japan to predict the upcoming problems related to asbestos in China and reach some conclusion on how to persuade the Chinese government to reconsider its policy stance on asbestos.