What are the risks?

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a soft mineral rock consisting of tiny fibres that can be released into the air when asbestos containing materials are cut, sawn, drilled, damaged or deteriorated. If inhaled, asbestos fibres can penetrate deep into the lungs where they can cause disease.
The most common types of asbestos fibre used are chrysotile (white) asbestos which is a serpentine mineral and amosite (brown), and crocidolite (blue) asbestos which are amphibole minerals. All types of asbestos are dangerous, but blue and brown are known to be more dangerous than white. The colours are seen in clean fibres and may not be clearly visible when the fibres are mixed with other material.

Asbestos was widely used in buildings, vehicles and domestic and industrial items because of its chemical and physical properties of high tensile strength, flexibility, chemical and heat resistance and good thermal and electrical insulation properties. Any building that was constructed or had major refurbishment between the 1950’s and mid 80’s is likely to contain some type of asbestos containing material. In 1986 the use of amosite (brown) and crocidolite (blue) asbestos was banned. Asbestos cement products containing crysotile (white) continued to be used in construction until 2000.

Is it dangerous?

Asbestos is recognised as the greatest single cause of work-related deaths in Northern Ireland, resulting in approximately 90 deaths each year. Although it is now illegal to use asbestos in the construction and refurbishment of buildings, in the past, it had been used extensively in the building industry where asbestos cement products (corrugated roofing, pipes), thermal insulation and fire proofing were widely employed. There is a risk to health when microscopic asbestos fibres are released into the air when asbestos containing materials are cut, drilled, or damaged in some way, or become worn or start flaking. The airbourne fibres can easily be inhaled and even at low exposure levels can cause scarring of the lungs (asbestosis), lung cancer and cancer of the inner lining of the chest wall or abdominal cavity. Much of this asbestos is still in place in buildings, therefore if not adequately managed it will continue to be an issue for many years to come.

Who is most at risk?

Many of those suffering from asbestos-related disease were exposed to very high levels of asbestos in the more traditional industries e.g. shipbuilding, construction, boiler work. However, recent research has shown that persons who may inadvertently disturb asbestos containing materials while working in buildings are considered now to be most at risk from exposure to asbestos, for example, electricians, plumbers, maintenance workers, joiners, computer engineers and even cleaners. Those people have often worked without knowing that they have repeatedly been exposed to asbestos fibres when they disturb contaminated building materials.

But the control of this risk through proper management of asbestos-containing materials and/or the use of effective working methods will go a long way to preventing further exposure from the deadly asbestos fibres whilst complying with asbestos laws.