Asbestos Continues to Kill !

One of the most common building materials in Australia was asbestos-cement sheeting.  There were few homes built before  1987 that did not have it somewhere and cheaper housing had asbestos-cement outer walls and often even roofing.  The trouble was if this asbestos content was disturbed by drilling or sawing the fibres released lodged in human lungs and this led to a disease called mesothelioma.  Unfortunately, this could occur from just a single exposure and lay dormant for thirty or forty years before becoming active and subjecting the victim to an agonising and lingering death.

In 1987 it was banned and the main manufacturer, James Hardie was required to setup a compensation fund for victims.  There was the expectation that mesothelioma would mainly occur amongst members of the building trade who worked these products, but decades later the numbers are still rising and we are leaning just what a monster asbestos has become.

It was such a convenient product that it was widely used in schools and hospitals as heat insulation and pipe lagging and people who would have no known contact with it are developing this dread disease.  The toll of asbestos victims continues to rise at the rate of over five percent each year and shows no sign of stopping even though it is not present in new building products.

Perhaps the biggest danger from this silent killer is the immense stock of homes constructed prior to 1987. In most cases old asbestos-cement sheeting is covered by layers of paint and would not be recognizable to the householder.  Any sort of minor renovation that involves drilling a hole or cutting a sheet can release asbestos fibres that may lodge in the lungs and ultimately cause a painful death. There is no such thing as a " harmless exposure " to asbestos.

We live in an age when demolition and building a new home is common, dictated by the land costs.   Fortunately government ordinances require demolition to be in the hands of licensed contractors who wet down material containing asbestos, bag it and safely remove it to special tips, but neighbours are exposed to the homeowner who does even a small DIY renovation.  A broken sheet can release fibres that float in the breeze and contaminate surrounding homes.  Given the long lead time with this disease, few would accurately nominate how and when they were exposed.

Perhaps the ultimate safety is to buy a new home in an estate being established on former farming land.  None of these new homes contain asbestos, but those same residents face a risk where they shop or work, or where their children go to school.   We are literally surrounded by old asbestos products from the days when that was a legal and commonly used building product.

This danger will be with us well into the next century. Perhaps the best defence is to be very aware of where asbestos may be lurking and to be active in spreading the word if dangerous activity is happening in your vicinity.  The biggest danger now is the invisibility of this product in many peoples minds.