asbestos awareness

Asbestos is the name for a group of fibres, typically mixed with cement or woven into fabric or matting, and is used in buildings for its flame-retardant and insulating properties, its tensile strength, flexibility, and resistance to chemicals.

Asbestos is now known to be carcinogenic and is banned in many countries including the UK. Breathing air containing asbestos dust can lead to asbestos-related diseases. These are mainly cancers of the chest and lungs and there is no cure for these illnesses. There is usually a long delay between first exposure to asbestos dust and the diagnosis of disease. This can vary between fifteen and sixty years.

There are no known safe levels of exposure but clearly, the more asbestos dust you breathe in the greater the risk to your health. That is why it is important that everyone who works with asbestos should take the strictest precautions to reduce the amount of asbestos dust in the workplace. Most asbestos fibers are invisible to the human eye because their size is about 3.0-20.0 µm.

Typical Asbestos Applications

The following photographs detail typical applications and locations where Asbestos might be found:

Asbestos Cement	Sprayed Asbestos	Lagging
Insulating Board	Asbestos Debris	Asbestos Textiles

Asbestos Statistics

• Since 1880, 4.4 million tonnes of asbestos has been used in building products
• Up to 500,000 commercial, industrial and public buildings contain asbestos
• 3,500 deaths per year are directly related to asbestos (1/4 of whom worked in building and maintenance trades). This is expected to rise to 10,000 deaths by 2024

Asbestos Related Diseases

• Asbestosis
• Lung Cancer
• Mesothelioma
• Cancer of the larynx
• Asbestos warts
• Pleural plaques
• Benign pleural effusions
• Pleural thickening

© Sussex Asbestos Solutions Limited  |  Company Registration No: 05295493