Asbestos is dangerous when its fibres are released into the air and breathed in. Inhaled fibres can become trapped in the lungs and cause serious, often fatal diseases. These diseases typically don’t appear until 20 to 60 years after exposure.
There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos. The World Health Organization has confirmed that no threshold exists below which the risk of disease is eliminated.
Diseases caused by asbestos
Mesothelioma: a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen. Almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure. About 900 Australians are diagnosed each year.
Lung cancer: tumours in the lungs that can be caused by asbestos exposure. The risk is higher for people who smoke.
Asbestosis: scarring of the lungs caused by prolonged exposure. Causes progressive breathlessness and permanent lung damage.
Pleural plaques: thickened patches of scar tissue on the lung lining. Often the earliest sign of past exposure.
Who is most at risk?
The risk of disease increases with the duration and frequency of exposure. People most at risk include those who work on or around older buildings and infrastructure: tradies, renovators, demolition workers, electricians, plumbers and maintenance workers.
Exposure doesn’t only happen at work. Home renovators disturbing asbestos materials, people living near damaged asbestos products and family members exposed to fibres carried home on clothing are also at risk.
Why the risk is growing
It was widely expected that asbestos-related disease rates in Australia would plateau and decline after the ban took effect in 2003. They haven’t. An estimated 4,000 Australians still die from asbestos-related diseases every year: in Victoria, around 1,000 people – four times greater than the state’s average annual road toll.
The nature of exposure has changed. The first wave of disease came from mining and manufacturing. The second from workers using asbestos products. The third, which Australia is now in, comes from people repairing, renovating and demolishing buildings that still contain asbestos, and from materials that are degrading with age.
Asbestos products in Australian buildings are now 30 to 100+ years old. Their binding materials are breaking down through weathering, chemical processes and everyday wear. As they break down, the chance of fibre release increases, even without deliberate disturbance.
Research commissioned by ASSEA (PDF) estimates that prioritised removal of asbestos from Australia’s built environment could prevent approximately 25,000 to 28,000 premature deaths. Removal isn’t just a safety measure. It’s a public health investment.