Advanced Asbestos Removal Explain Why Asbestos is So Dangerous

Advanced Asbestos Removal are the leaders in protecting people and the environment – it’s what they are really good at, and here they explain why asbestos is so dangerous, and particularly is a health risk if it becomes airborne.

 

Asbestos is a fibrous material that, when broken, easily breaks down into very small microfibres of 4 µm or less. When these invisible fibres are airborne (friable) they are easily inhaled and become lodged deep in the lungs, causing fibrosis (scarring) of the lung, resulting in a slow painful death for which there is no current cure.

 

In New Zealand, between 1999 and 2010, approximately 150 people died each year of asbestos related conditions. The 2013 Ministry of Innovation and Business report – Work Related Disease in New Zealand stated:

“We estimate that at least 170 people died in 2010 from asbestos-related diseases, including the cancers mesothelioma and lung cancer and the respiratory disease asbestosis. The number of mesothelioma deaths have increased dramatically since 1999. While preventative measures are too late for this wave of asbestos-related deaths, this data is a timely reminder of the toll of exposure to asbestos. It also reinforces the need to ensure present-day exposure to asbestos is prevented.”

 

The Advanced Asbestos Removal team advise that if asbestos is found in the workplace, people should stop work immediately and advise others. New legislation due early 2016 is expected to define the level of responsibility of ‘people in control of a place of work’.  It is proposed that people in control of a place of work will need to prepare an asbestos register, arrange for an asbestos survey of their workplace to be undertaken by an accredited organisation and keep the survey at the workplace. They need to provide this information to those who occupy the premises and those who may carry out work that may disturb asbestos.

 

If someone suspects that they may have friable asbestos product in or around the home or workplace they should call Advanced Asbestos Removal immediately, and if in doubt they will safely extract a sample and send it to an independent laboratory for analysis, so to find out more about Advanced Asbestos Removal and their asbestos removal services, please visit the website at http://www.advancedasbestosremoval.co.nz .