Denim sandblasters contract fatal silicosis in illegal workshops

Hundreds of workers in Turkey are exposed to the deadly disease silicosis simply because they were hired to manually sandblast denim in makeshift illegal workshops where the health and well-being of laborers were disregarded and safety gear ignored, activists say.

As manual sandblasted jeans and denim became popular among youth, illegal and unregistered workshops popped up all over to exploit the increasing demand. Zeki K?l?çaslan, a medical doctor, estimates that at least 3,000 to 5,000 people have contracted silicosis, though only a little over 500 patients have been diagnosed with the disease so far. Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, K?l?çaslan said many workers who went through these workshops have no insurance and shied away from going to doctors. That might explain why the registered number of patients we have is small compared to our estimates, he added.

Industry analysts put the number of people who work or had worked in the past in sandblasting jobs at around 10,000 to 15,000. Most workers who landed in denim workshops came to big cities in search of jobs and were forced to work in hazardous conditions. Aged between 15 and 25, they primarily came from Turkey’s central, eastern and southeastern cities of Bingöl, Ad?yaman, Diyarbak?r and Sivas.

The issue was recently brought to the attention of the public when the story of Abdülhalim Demir, a former sandblasting worker, appeared in the media.

Diagnosed with silicosis, Demir wrote heartfelt letters explaining how he felt about his diagnosis. It sparked public outcry and pushed government agencies to raid and crack down on the workshops. He wrote two letters, titled “Abandoned Children of the Stork” and “A Letter to the Ill-Timed Death.”

Speaking with Sunday’s Zaman, Demir talked about the real-life drama he has been through. “After I stopped working in the denim workshop in 2003, I was drafted into the army. On the morning runs, I could not run and military doctors failed to diagnose my sickness,” he said. Demir saw news reports about diseases contracted by workers who had worked in sandblasting denim after he was discharged. “I went to Erzurum to get another opinion on my sickness,” he noted, adding, “And a month later I got a call from the hospital and was told I had the deadly disease called silicosis.”

In his first letter, Demir wrote that 300 people from the village of Ta?l?cay in Bingöl province had migrated to ?stanbul in the hopes of making money, but instead returned to their village with silicosis. “Now all of us are ill and this is a sickness that has no treatment. In our village alone, 187 people have been diagnosed with this disease. Taking into consideration those who have yet to see a doctor, we number 300 and await our death helplessly,” he said.

Some of the questions he included in his letters were very emotional. “Do you know how it feels to be waiting for death?” he asks. He then asks: “Did your doctors ever tell you that you would die in a few years since treatment for the disease does not exist? Have you ever thought you wouldn’t be able to see your children grow up?”

Silicosis, a disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of crystalline silica, is a classic miner’s disease seen in employees who work in tunnel and road construction as well as the foundry business. The disease is well known in medical science literature and preventable, provided there is an early diagnosis. It easily develops under unsafe and unhealthy conditions such as small and unventilated workplaces and from exposure to tiny sand particles for extended periods of time.

In sandblasting workshops, workers are forced to sandblast in a very small and confined area. As these shops operate illegally, they are mostly located in remote areas or in basements of buildings away from watchdog agencies. While denim is being blasted, a great amount of dust mixes with the air and enters workers’ lungs. The main symptoms include coughing, bloody mucus and difficulty in breathing. As the disease progresses, the lungs begin to lose their flexibility and this results in serious difficulty in breathing. Silicosis eventually leads to death.

Because of the risks associated with sandblasting, industry observers say it should be done in a controlled environment using ventilation, protective clothing and an air supply of oxygen. Furthermore, automated sandblasting machines are widely available on the market. However, illegal shop owners choose to take advantage of young and inexpensive labor coming from the countryside.

“When I first arrived in ?stanbul, I had to sleep on park benches for three days,” he said. “Then I found the job at a sandblasting factory that saved me from the street and offered me a shelter and money,” Demir noted. He recalls, “I knew it was not a dream job for me, but I had no choice.” He even called his two brothers back home and had them start working in the same factory. “Now all of us are sick,” he laments.