SERDAR VARDAR, PELIN UNKER 

GERMANY: In Hatay, southern Turkey, crews are still demolishing buildings that were heavily damaged in the earthquake that struck on February 6, 2023, and killed tens of thousands of people. Yellow diggers move piles of leftover rubble, kicking up clouds of dust that shroud the city.

Some children walk through the debris to find a spot to play soccer. As they breathe, they’re potentially inhaling a silent killer: asbestos. The toxic building material has contaminated plants, soil and rubble in the key agricultural region, pointing to a serious, unfolding public health crisis, according to an exclusive investigation by DW’s Turkish and Environment desks.

An expert team from the Turkish Chamber of Environmental Engineers collected dust samples in Hatay, which were then analysed by AGT Vonka Engineering and Laboratory Services, an internationally accredited laboratory, for DW.

The investigation shows the presence of asbestos in the region despite official claims to the contrary. Public health experts told DW that people living in the earthquake-hit area, including thousands of children, are at serious risk of asbestos-linked cancers of the lungs and larynx. Mesothelioma, which is a particularly deadly and aggressive cancer, is another danger.

“In the coming years, we may face the deaths of tens of thousands of very young people due to mesothelioma cases,” said Ozkan Kaan Karadag, a medical doctor and expert in public and occupational health, after seeing the initial lab results from DW’s investigation.

Once hailed as a miracle material with a vast range of uses, asbestos is now classified as a “definite carcinogen” by the World Health Organization. But asbestos construction materials are still found in many buildings in Turkey constructed before a 2010 ban on its sale — the exact number is unclear.

When these materials — often found in roofs, sidewalls and insulation — are broken, the asbestos can crumble to microscopic sizes and become airborne, spreading in the wind. The February 6 earthquake destroyed 100,000 buildings in 11 cities, including Hatay.

More than 200,000 others were severely damaged. The UN also estimated the quake, alongside a smaller one two weeks later, left between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble. That’s enough debris to cover an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan.

Workers are still demolishing damaged buildings and removing debris, often without masks or protective gear. In some cases, they are not using suppression methods — like spraying water — that would prevent the spread of dust. The DW team on the ground saw only one case of dust suppression with water during their investigation.

Organisations such as the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects say their warnings about the public health risks posed by haphazard post-earthquake demolition, debris removal and waste disposal practices are being ignored.

In response to these warnings, Mehmet Emin Birpinar, the then-Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change, wrote on social media in June that there was no asbestos in the air. “Our citizens in the earthquake zone can rest assured;

we are working very carefully on asbestos,” he said. But the results of the DW analysis of 45 samples from six different neighbourhoods in Hatay appear to contradict official statements.

Sixteen randomly taken samples, including dust collected from the tops of tents of those made homeless by the earthquakes — as well as from leaves, fruit, soil and rubble — contained asbestos.