Asbestos starts life as a mineral found in certain rocks, mainly in South America. It is fibrous in nature and has fire retardant properties. Asbestos has been widely used as a building material for over 100 years. It can be found in cement pipes and sheets as a reinforcing agent. These asbestos cement products can be found in many schools, factories and homes. Asbestos was also used to make floor tiles and as insulation lagging on hot water pipes.
Over the past 20 -30 years researchers and medical opinion has united against any asbestos use at all. Asbestos containing materials let asbestos fibers off into the air. These fibers lodge in the lungs of people working and living in the building and cause a disease called asbestosis, or mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer of the lung. It only takes one asbestos fiber in the lung to cause asbestosis. Asbestos workers are the people most affected by asbestosis and mesothelioma. People who worked in construction and ship building in the 1950s and 1960s are also commonly affected.
The detection and removal of asbestos from buildings is a specialized task, which must only be carried out by licensed...