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Call for Benzene Ban after Surat Workers Hospitalized
Albert Robinson
June 26, 2005 - The Surat Diamond Association (SDA), which governs the cutting and polishing city's diamond industry, decided at a hastily called meeting on Saturday to ban the use of benzene in the diamond processing sector.
The ban follows media reports that the chemical was causing bone marrow problem in workers. Four workers from a Surat factory have been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, or bone marrow failure, as a result of using benzene.
The chemical is used to mark and clean diamonds before they are cut by laser machines, and then for cleaning again after cutting. It is also used to dilute the thick coating liquid that is used in the planner machines.
Indian media reports say that diamond machinery maker Sarin Technologies India Private Limited had recommended the use of benzene as the dilutant in the coating liquid it supplies. Benzene is easy available and has been used in diamond units for about five years.
A spokesman for Sarin declined to make an immediate comment and said the firm would be releasing an official statement later in the day.
Meanwhile, the SDA has requested that diamond manufacturers whose employees used benzene to immediately send workers for blood tests. He said factory laws do not permit the use of dangerous substances.
The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the sector's umbrella organization, is calling for the diamond industry to ban the use of benzene.
Sarin Technologies Refutes Link to Hospitalized Indian Workers
Albert Robinson
June 27, 2005 - Israeli diamond machinery maker Sarin Technologies has angrily denied reports in the Indian press which said four diamond polishers had been hospitalized with aplastic anemia, or bone marrow failure, as a result of using benzene on Sarin machines.
Indian reports on Sunday said that diamond machinery maker Sarin Technologies India Private Limited had recommended the use of benzene as the dilutant in the coating liquid it supplies.
In a statement on Monday, Sarin said it could not comment on the accuracy of the reports or on the connection between the alleged use of benzene to such alleged illnesses. The firm said its name was "inappropriately mentioned in some of these articles".
Sarin believes that "incomplete facts as stated in the articles may have been issued with malicious intentions and may be intended to harm our reputation in the market".
Sarin said it "does not nor has it ever recommended using benzene for any use whatsoever. The coating liquid referred to in the articles and used for diamond mapping and marking does not contain benzene".
The firm said its instructions for use on the coating liquid? label clearly read 'Dilute with Medical Benzene' which is an "entirely different substance than Benzene and belongs to the Petroleum Ether family of substances, which are readily available and are commonly approved even for home use, for applications such as cleaning and as a diluting solvent. The use of these substances is subject to various well known and accepted precautionary measures, as are commonly prescribed by their manufacturers and suppliers, and should be implemented by the users thereof.
"Sarin, out of concern for the safety of all those in the diamond industry, will reiterate to its customers the appropriate use of its diamond coating liquid and the dilution thereof."
The Surat Diamond Association (SDA), which governs the cutting and polishing city's diamond industry, called on Saturday for a ban on the use of benzene in the diamond processing sector. The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the sector's umbrella organization, is making a similar call.
The chemical is reportedly used to mark and clean diamonds before they are cut by laser machines, and then for cleaning again after cutting. It is also used to dilute the thick coating liquid that is used in the planner machines.
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