Asbestos isn’t the type of building material you can just touch, let alone disturb when conducting repairs or renovations. Given the health risks linked to this age-old material, simply realising that your house or building has asbestos can stress you out.
But know that you aren’t the only one who tends to feel that way. Across the country are dozens of homes and buildings built long before the complete ban on asbestos in 2003. While most still stand tall and proud today, they still have asbestos for their floors, drywalls, and ceilings, among other things. The gradual wear and tear of these materials, however, can lead to the release of these harmful fibres into the air.
It’s easy to live with asbestos without knowing. By the time you learn it, you might have already spent thousands on preventable medical care. For proper removal of asbestos from your home, it’s crucial to engage experts in asbestos inspection, removal, and disposal. Here’s everything you need to know about asbestos and why an expert service should be left with getting rid of it.
A century-long history
Australia first began using asbestos around the late 1800s, setting up mining and manufacturing operations nationwide. At first, its use was limited to insulating industrial machines and certain car components. By the 1930s, the country began importing asbestos to keep up with the increase in demand for construction.
As Australian service members returned from the battlefields of World War II, there was a spike in demand for new homes. This post-war construction boom saw asbestos grow more widespread due to being durable and fire-resistant for its low cost.
Asbestos was everywhere in a dwelling built between the 1940s and 1960s, from sheet roofing to spray coatings on walls and ceilings. It was also present in floor tiles, not to mention the cement used to hold the whole house together.
Unbeknownst to most of the public, by this time, Australia had already experienced two waves of illnesses linked to asbestos exposure. The first two mostly affected workers handling asbestos, but the third affected households and office workers. By the 1970s, information programs were launched to raise awareness among the public.
In the 1980s, the federal government moved to ban asbestos in construction products like cement and roofing. A complete ban on the import and manufacturing of asbestos was enforced in 2003. Still, it left the issue of disposing of every trace of asbestos in millions of homes and buildings.
How asbestos hurt you
Asbestos consists of long, fibrous crystals, which give it its resilience and fire resistance, but the fibres also make them dangerous to humans. When the material degrades, whether by trauma or wear and tear, it releases these microscopic fibres into the air. As such, the nose is often the entry vector for the fibres, eventually depositing into the lungs.
Various studies over the decades stated that the fibres attack the pleura, a lining that prevents the lungs from grinding against the chest cavity and rib cage. The fibres irritate the pleura, causing it to discharge too much protective fluid and flood the lungs.
As for how asbestos causes cancer, the mechanism wasn’t fully understood until 2010, when a multi-university study led by the University of Hawai’i cracked the code. According to the study, the fibres can induce “programmed cell necrosis,” in which the cells they killed start becoming tumours. Some types of cancer caused by asbestos include:
- Colon cancer
- Leukaemia
- Lung cancer
- Mesothelioma
- Ovarian cancer
- Stomach cancer
Mesothelioma – cancer that affects the linings of organs – alone accounts for between 700 and 800 diagnoses in Australia annually. Despite the complete ban on asbestos, mesothelioma cases continue to rise due to many properties still containing degrading asbestos.
Testing: the only way
Asbestos fibres are invisible to the naked eye and don’t give off a distinct smell or taste. Because of this, many households only learn that their dwellings may have asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) when they keep falling ill too often.
Some common workarounds exist, one of which involves tracing back to when the property was built. Generally, a house or building built before the 1990s will likely contain a considerable amount of asbestos. Demand and use of ACMs in Australia peaked in the 1980s, even as the industry was in the process of taking them off the market.
However, getting an expert to conduct an asbestos inspection is the only way to be sure. The idea is to obtain samples from parts of the house or building that may still have ACMs, like the roof or wall. This process requires utmost caution, lest they risk crumbling friable or hand-crushable asbestos by accident.
The samples are as big as a ten or twenty-cent coin and placed in a zip-lock bag. The front of the bag contains pertinent details about each sample, such as the part of the house it was taken from and the property’s address and contact information.
Once enough samples have been collected, they’re sent to a laboratory for testing. The laboratory must be accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities. Testing is done under AS 4964, an Australian Standard that recommends viewing asbestos fibres through a polarised light microscope and under various conditions.
Test results are usually released after 24 hours, though some labs may take as long as 48 hours.
The removal process
If the tests return positive for asbestos, the professional service can go ahead with the removal process. Due to the harmful nature of asbestos, the law requires the process to be performed by licenced professionals. They must hold either a Class A or Class B licence, which is issued after undergoing training by a registered training organisation.
- Class A – licenced to remove friable and non-friable ACMs and asbestos-tainted dust
- Class B – licenced only to remove non-friable ACMs and asbestos-tainted dust
Removal can be done by unlicenced individuals if there are only ten square metres of ACMs or less to remove. Even so, performing it without the necessary tools and training is still ill-advised. Note that this condition doesn’t apply in the ACT.
Dismantling and disposing of harmful materials that have been rotting away for decades isn’t as simple as getting some tools and getting to work. Asbestos inspection and removal companies have to abide by an entire Code of Practice, not to mention regulations under the Model Work Health and Safety Act. Examples include but aren’t limited to:
- Providing training to the staff who’ll be conducting asbestos removal
- Securing the workplace’s (in this case, the property’s) asbestos register
- Drawing up an asbestos removal and management plan
- Putting up warning signs around the workplace (AS 1319-compliant)
- Equipping workers with the right tools and personal protective equipment
- Monitoring the health status of exposed staff
The time it takes to complete a removal job depends on several factors, such as the amount of asbestos and the size of the project area. While some jobs are limited to several rooms, most professionals advise their clients to vacate their properties for several days. For one, despite the safety measures, there’s no telling if the asbestos fibres will make their way to the undisturbed areas. The fibres can also remain in the air for two to three days after being disturbed.
Once the last of the asbestos has been dismantled, it goes straight to the landfill – but not just any landfill. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of these all over Australia, though many need advanced notice (usually 24 hours) before accepting the material.
Costly but necessary
Ask any licenced asbestos remover, and they won’t hide or sugarcoat the fact that getting rid of asbestos is expensive. Quotes vary by location, project, and provider, but a rule of thumb is that the older the home, the more ACMs it contains, and the more expensive removal will be.
That said, considering that asbestos causes cancer, asbestos inspection and removal may be worth every penny. This is especially true today, as more Australians are becoming hesitant about seeking cancer treatment due to rising costs.
A recent survey of healthcare professionals by the University of New South Wales revealed that finances caused more distress among patients than physical and emotional harm. It also admitted that managing what she dubbed “financial toxicity” remains a major shortcoming of the current healthcare system.
Lung cancer, while not as prevalent as breast and non-melanoma cancer, accounts for more than AUD$440 million in treatment expenditures. Relative to the known cancers caused by asbestos exposure, lung cancer has one of, if not, the most expensive treatments.
That isn’t to say that asbestos is the only thing that can cause lung cancer; other factors, such as smoking, come into play. But when everyone at home still falls ill despite eating healthy and not engaging in unhealthy habits, this danger lurking in the wall or roof becomes harder to rule out.
Conclusion
Asbestos inspection and removal should be done by a licenced expert, not just because the law mandates it. The negative health effects of asbestos are well-documented, and scores of people already succumbed to the many cancers it can cause. Your body will thank you for leaving such a dangerous job to experts.
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