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What is Asbestos?
By
Abyss Demolition
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What is Asbestos?
Asbestos is a mineral rock which was mined, milled and processed into manufactured products which then contained asbestos fibres. Asbestos is a substance that can have potentially fatal health effects. Asbestos fibres are dangerous because they are so tiny and become airbourne very easily. Disturbed or broken asbestos products or materials can release minute asbestos fibres that once airborne are capable of being inhaled deep into a person’s lungs.
Airborne asbestos fibres can result from:
The release of asbestos fibres through renovation, maintenance or demolition.
Accidental damage such as fibres causing asbestos fibres to break free.
Inadequate maintenance of material containing asbestos resulting in the release of asbestos fibres.
Asbestos fibres can be breathed into the lungs or swallowed. Inhalation of asbestos fibres has been linked to three respiratory diseases – asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
While asbestos is now banned from use it was a component of thousands of different products used in the community and in Industry from the 1940’s until the 1990’s. There’s a wave of cases of asbestos related diseases appearing in people who have been exposed to asbestos.
Where is Asbestos found?
Materials that contain asbestos can be found in buildings, workplaces and dwellings built before 1990. Even in buildings built after 1990 it is possible to that second hand items installed within them can contain asbestos.
Asbestos used to be a staple product in home building and was used in fibro cement, insulation, fireproofing, pipes, paint, floor coverings, ceiling tiles and roofing materials. In Queensland, bonded asbestos was commonly used in the manufacture of asbestos-cement corrugated and flat sheets (fibro) for roofing and walls. Thermal or acoustic insulation used in homes may have also contained friable asbestos, the easily crumbled form of asbestos that can be reduced to powder by hand. Friable asbestos is extremely dangerous and must only be removed by a certified asbestos removalist holding an “A” class license for asbestos removal work. Sampling of anything you suspect may contain asbestos is itself hazardous and should only be done by a competent person, and analysed only in accredited laboratories.
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