Transnational Environmental Injustices and the Bloody Loaf Argument (BLA)

Abstract

Can developed nations justifiably export hazardous technologies prohibited for domestic use to developing nations? The Bloody Loaf Argument (BLA) is one of the most significant attempts to answer this question; it asserts that such exports are justified based on a utilitarian cost-benefit analysis. Overall, the BLA states that the export of hazardous industries enables impoverished communities of emerging nations to secure their right to subsistence, thereby justifying the export. Take, for example, From the latest source of 2021, there is no ban on asbestos in Bangladesh (Anthesis2021). In 2014, the World Asbestos Report stated that 98% of Bangladeshi workers in ship-breaking activities were unknowingly at risk of the asbestos hazard. Bangladesh has a large ship recycling business, and according to statistics, 84% of all European ships will be broken up on the shores of Bangladesh (Anthesis2021).Ships constructed in the 1980s and 1990s are exported to Bangladesh for recycling from various European nations. Most vessels contain hazardous compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), radioactive materials, heavy materials, and asbestos. Workers employed by these ship-breaking enterprises face a high risk of asbestos exposure. In the shipbreaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh, asbestos is handled without safety precautions. Workers in Bangladesh are in increased danger of inhaling asbestos fibre, which poses a significant threat to lung ailments. With this carcinogenic material prohibited in the developed countries, the question arises what role the government agencies, local communities, and NGOs can play to safeguard the workers in Bangladesh.