Asbestos Found on South Korean Commuter Trains

Last week, investigators with the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and the Korean Railway Workers' Union found traces of the highly toxic carcinogen asbestos throughout the heating and ventilation systems in the Mugunghwa and Saemaeul commuter rail trains. Because the ventilation system in these railway tunnels is often insufficient to meet the needs of the heavy passenger traffic, the possible effects on the human body from prolonged exposure could constitute a grave health crisis, according to the groups' joint report. They went further to question claims by the national rail service, KORAIL, that the level of asbestos found in the tunnels was not great enough to be looked at as a risk to passengers' health.

The report also states that members of the railway workers' union found that, out of the twenty-eight samples gathered from the heating system and another twenty-one from interior material samples from inside passenger cars, more than forty percent contained at least small traces of asbestos of varied concentrations. In some of the samples, however, the asbestos levels measured showed incredibly high concentrations of the dangerous substance. Investigators ascribed the higher concentrations to the rail service's unwillingness to replace some of the materials that had been installed in the passenger cars before anti-asbestos regulations had been put into place.

Lee Tae-Young, a spokesman for the rail workers' union, stated that the passenger cards from which the union took samples were manufactured from 1986 to 1998. The highest concentrations of asbestos were found in cars made in 1986 and 1987, with some samples carrying asbestos concentrations of more than eighty percent.

Mr. Lee also added that the commuter rail lines the union investigated were cheaper and less profitable than the country's KTX bullet train, which started carrying passengers in 2004. Both the Mugunghwa and Saemaeul commuter rail lines have over a thousand cars each and average over two hundred thousand passengers daily.

An official with the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Choi Ye-Yong, stated that they have asked government authorities in Seoul to carry out physical examinations and health follow-ups on passengers who ride the affected lines. He has also called on KORAIL either to remove the asbestos from the current passenger cars or replace the fleets for those lines entirely.

The World Health Organization, the health and medical arm of the United Nations, has considered asbestos a hazardous material for many years. Many Western countries, including the United States and Canada, have placed either partial or full bans on the use of asbestos. While the issue of asbestos has not been in the spotlight in South Korea for a number of years, these recent discoveries have brought it into the forefront once again.

In response to the reports, KORAIL has started its own investigation of more than a thousand rail cars on other lines that were manufactured before 1990. Kang Byeong-su, a KORAIL spokesperson, said that the older cars carried no immediate threat to public safety and that the cars' heaters were sealed to prevent any potential contamination from loose asbestos fibers.

Sources: Joongang Daily, Korea Times

News

Resources

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here

If you would like to receive a FREE information packet or have questions about mesothelioma, call us at:

Toll-Free 1-877-367-6376