10 scary asbestos facts (it is the spooky month after all!)

With good asbestos management, we can mitigate the risk of asbestos day to day. But this hasn’t always been the case.

We at SQN support you with taking the scariness out of asbestos. Our approach is always risk based and we bring you pragmatic asbestos solutions. But since October is the spooky month, we thought we would share some of the scarier facts about asbestos that we are all collectively working away from.

1. We have known asbestos is deadly to humans for 2000 years - yet still used it extensively through the 20th Century.

Many ancient civilisations used asbestos. The Romans, being the excellent record keepers we know them to be, are proof that we have known about the dangers of asbestos for a long time.

Strabo and Pliny the Elder documented that the slaves who worked in asbestos mines or mills would develop a “sickness of the lungs” which would follow them, even once they were posted away from asbestos. It was a recommendation to not buy slaves who had worked in the asbestos mines as they died young. Pliny also wrote about those who worked with asbestos making a respirator out of the bladders of small animals.

The Romans moved away from asbestos mining and use, but humans have short memories across the generations. With the industrial revolution, asbestos mining, production and shipping became relatively cheap and easy.

2. The first “official” death directly linked to asbestos exposure occurred in 1924.

Nellie Kershaw is recognised as the first official asbestos death in modern times. There would have been many others, but she was the first to have “asbestos poisoning” and then later “pulmonary asbestosis” recorded as her cause of death.

Nellie worked in an asbestos textile factory in the UK until 2 years before her death. She was 33 years old. The factory processed raw chrysolite into thread to make the textiles. The textiles would then be cut into brake linings, fireproof coveralls and many other products. However, the cause of Nellie’s death was not widely publicised until many years later.

Just think how many deaths could have been avoided had asbestos use ended then. We didn’t start importing asbestos into Aotearoa New Zealand until the late 1930s…

3. Asbestos is naturally occurring here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

That’s right, and we joined the rest of the world to mine asbestos too. The Caffeys, Annie and Henry, lived an isolated life in the Cobb River area of the Kahurangi national park to mine asbestos. They tried for years to get commercial interest in mining asbestos. The area is very remote and pack horses were used to carry out the mined mineral until the beginning of a joint venture with the Cobb River Power Scheme built them a road.

The slightly improved infrastructure meant the mine could extract 40 tonnes of raw chrysotile per month between 1940 and 1949. Interest fizzled though due to the low grade of this asbestos - we could by better asbestos, for cheaper, from overseas - and the commercial uses of these fibres were limited. The mine officially closed in 1964.

The cottage the Chaffeys lived in, named Asbestos Cottage, is still standing. It is now owned by the department of Conservation and is a tramping hut that anyone can stay at.

Nephrite jade is also associated with asbestos - fibrous actinolite and tremolite. Nephrite is one of the types of pounamu found in certain areas of the South Island. There is also bowenite, a different type of pounamu, which is linked to the serpentine group of rocks. Chrysotile is found in serpentine rocks.

4. Asbestos cigarettes were a thing.

It won’t be news to you that smoking is bad and asbestos is bad. Both usually affect the lungs. Studies have shown that, compared to people who neither worked with asbestos or smoked, asbestos workers had 5x higher risk of developing lung cancer, smokers had 10x higher risk of developing lung cancer and those who both smoked AND worked with asbestos had a massive 50x higher risk of developing lung cancer. A significant increase.

So Kent, a cigarette manufacturer in the USA, cut out the middle man and put crocidolite (blue asbestos) directly into their “micronite” filters. These cigarettes were on sale for around 4 years in the 1950s.

Studies carried out since - on old, unopened packets - showed that the concentration of fibre release during smoking these cigarettes would have been incredibly high.

5. Mining for asbestos is still happening in some parts of the world.

There are still thousands of tonnes of raw asbestos mined each year. The main producers are Russia (the biggest), Kazakhstan and China.

It might seem unbelievable, knowing how harmful asbestos is to human health, but there are people around the world still trying to prove chrysotile (white asbestos) is not hazardous to us, despite all the evidence to the contrary. There are numerous studies on people who have had asbestos related disease where their lungs were found to have mostly or all chrysotile fibres present.

6. In China, if a product contains less than 5% asbestos, the manufacturer does not have to declare there is asbestos.

Not only is China the second biggest asbestos mining nation in the world, they are also the biggest manufacturers of asbestos containing materials today. While they banned the amphibole asbestos types (crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, anthophyllite), they still use chrysotile in many products.

What makes it tricky for a country where asbestos is banned - like ours - is that if the made in China product has less than 5% asbestos, it won’t be declared at customs (and then sent back since asbestos is banned here). Things have slipped through the net into our country and there have been plasterboard (gib) products imported into Australia that contain asbestos. It always pays to be asbestos aware….

7. Asbestos is a Group 1 carcinogen.

This means there is sufficient convincing evidence that asbestos causes cancer in humans. Yes, not a big shock to most of us, but due to the time lag between exposure and developing asbestos related diseases, it is a waiting game for people who know they have been exposed. Asbestos is strongly linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma (lungs, heart, intestines) and has also been linked to testicular, ovarian and laryngeal cancers.

People who worked in the trades and construction industry are the most prominent group have been affected by asbestos exposure here in Aotearoa New Zealand, but many have also been exposed and developed illness from second hand exposure. This includes families of asbestos workers or those who have just worked in buildings where asbestos has been poorly managed.

8. Only 68 countries have banned asbestos and asbestos containing materials.

As of 14/07/22 - plus, that number does go down as some countries start using asbestos again… This link will take you through to more information of which countries have done what. Some of these countries do still have an exemption clause for importation by permit only in place too.

We have this in Aotearoa New Zealand. We can import asbestos containing materials with a permit if: there is no other asbestos free product available, or; the cost of using an asbestos free product is significantly higher, or; the product is to be used for research and development or training. A permit would be issued by the Environment Protection Authority, but please don’t import asbestos!

9. Asbestos was only banned in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016.

Probably one of the most surprising or shocking facts to a lot of people here…. While we banned raw asbestos earlier (1984 for the amphiboles and 1999 for chrysotile), the official ban for importing asbestos was not brought into law until October 2016. Plus asbestos containing materials were still in the building code until 2017.

A cursory Google search will find you several news articles about car components, and even trains, that were legally imported into the country between 2000 and 2016.

10. It is estimated that there were ~3000-5000 different products and uses for asbestos.

So when it seems like “everything contains asbestos”, it is not far from the truth. Humans are pretty ingenious at finding solutions to problems. Unfortunately, asbestos seemed to be one of the most versatile solutions to so many problems (and was often just lying around, like a perfect thickness panel to square off that framework….).

Our team still come across some unusual finds during our surveys, and we have over 80 years of asbestos surveying experience between us.

So stay safe out there and please consider asbestos in your projects to protect yourself and those around you. We are always here to help you manage the risk and work out the best way to deal with your asbestos.