It seems to be the case, that the dangers of asbestos and asbestos disease, are being much more widely talked about in the media than has previously been the case.
Why is asbestos in the news much more these days?
There are probably several reasons for this.
It had been thought that by now, the numbers of new cases of asbestos disease being diagnosed each year would have started to fall. In 2005, The British Journal of Cancer published an article which suggested that the numbers of new cases of mesothelioma (a cancer caused solely by asbestos exposure) being diagnosed, would peak in the year 2016 at around 2450 deaths in the year. This was because the final, comprehensive ban on the use or import of all types of asbestos came into force in 1999. In fact, the most dangerous types of asbestos, amocite (brown) and crocidolite (blue), were banned in 1985. That’s now 34 years ago.
There is a delay, known as the latency period, between exposure to asbestos and diagnosis of an asbestos related disease. Incredibly, this latency period can be anything from 10 to 50 years, although the average is about 35 to 40 years, in cases of mesothelioma. That means that, from being exposed to asbestos, through to becoming ill and being diagnosed with an asbestos related disease will usually take on average, 30 plus years.
The earlier estimates about when asbestos diseases would peak, were not just wild guesses. Scientific formulas were used to reach the conclusion that 2016 would be the year when the numbers of asbestos deaths would be at their highest in the UK. At the time it was also thought there would be a steep decline in the annual death rates after 2016.
That has not proved to be an accurate estimate. In 2017 there were 2523 deaths from mesothelioma. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) now estimates that annual numbers of people dying from mesothelioma will continue at current levels until the end of the decade. They believe that we should then start to see a decline in subsequent years. Given that rates were predicted to decline after 2016, then there are no guarantees that things will be different this time.
So in answer to the question as to the original question, one of the reasons that asbestos is still in the news is the sobering fact that more people are dying from mesothelioma and the other asbestos diseases, than ever before.
The other reason, is probably due to the fact that whilst the ban on the use of asbestos has been in force for 30 years (and more in the case of the most dangerous types of asbestos), there is still an abundance of it to be found in buildings all over the country. Indeed, there has been a good deal of outrage about the fact that there is still asbestos to be found in schools, hospitals and other public institutions. The newspapers and TV have taken a specifically keen interest in the fact that asbestos is present in hospitals and schools.
Whilst asbestos is present in many public buildings and even in some older houses, how much of a threat is it?
When asbestos was in regular use in factories, building sites, engineering works, car repairers, on ships, in the dockyards and many more industrial settings, it was being worked with every day. By this we mean it was being torn, sawn and drilled to put it to the hundreds of different uses for which it was an extremely effective heat resistant material.
When workers were using it in any of these ways, asbestos dust and particles where sent up into the air. Clouds of asbestos dust enveloped workers who could not avoid breathing in the dust. That was how they became exposed to the deadly mineral and it was this that eventually caused many of them to get the asbestos diseases that have made their later years in life so miserable and in the cases of many too, has brought about their death.
If the asbestos that is still in some buildings in the UK today is left alone, it will not usually present a problem to those who live or work in the buildings where it is present. When it can cause a problem in terms of exposure, is if it is removed without the proper precautions being taken or if it becomes worn or damaged – in fact anything that might cause the asbestos to shed dust or particles that then become airborne.
This leads us to ask the question;
Can a once only exposure to asbestos dust, cause you to get asbestos disease?
Asbestos is dangerous when the dust and particles that it gives off when it is worked on or disturbed, are made airborne. Anyone who is in the immediate proximity of airborne dust, will be likely to inhale it it. The asbestos particles that are inhaled, may get trapped in the lungs and stay there for many years.
Over time they can cause damage and scarring of the lungs, which affect the person’s breathing. Asbestos disease can then develop.
But can this happen from breathing in asbestos particles on one occasion?
It is highly unlikely. In the main, those who go on to suffer from asbestos disease, do so as a result of working in a job where they came into regular contact with asbestos, either whilst they themselves worked on it, or in cases where they regularly worked near to others who were working with asbestos. Heavy enough exposure to cause asbestos health problems, came not through being exposed in these work situations on one occasion, but through daily exposure, often over many years. Most asbestos disease is caused by moderate to heavy exposure to asbestos, which results in millions of asbestos micro-fibres being inhaled and staying in the lungs. Some of those fibres will over time cause damage to the lungs and from there mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening or asbestos lung cancer can develop.
One off occurrence, but of an extensive amount of asbestos exposure?
People who are exposed to asbestos on one occasion or even for one whole day are unlikely to get enough exposure to asbestos for it to cause asbestos related illness. The exposure in such a short space of time would have to be particularly intense.
One rare and tragic example of this was in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks on the Twin towers. Rescue workers who attended the scene of the attacks on that day were exposed to hugely significant amounts of asbestos that was present in the buildings that were destroyed. It is too early to say how many of those workers will go on to develop asbestos disease, because of the long latency period referred to earlier. It is thought that a potentially significant number of those who worked tirelessly to rescue survivors from the rubble, may eventually succumb to asbestos disease.
Thankfully situations like the disaster that befell after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are extremely rare. Equally, so too is getting asbestos disease from an isolated incident of exposure.
What about the families of asbestos workers?
There have been many cases where wives and family members of asbestos workers have themselves got mesothelioma. This has happened, even though they never worked with asbestos or got first hand exposure to it, in a work environment. Their exposure was caused by washing the asbestos laden overalls of their husbands or their fathers.
Those who worked regularly with asbestos would find that their work clothes would be covered in fine asbestos dust. When the clothes were washed, asbestos particles became airborne. These were then inhaled by the person doing the washing. Overtime many women who were married to asbestos workers got mesothelioma in this way.
The women who got mesothelioma by washing work clothes, did so by being exposed to asbestos over long periods of time. It is very unlikely that they would have got mesothelioma by inhaling the fibres on just one occasion.
Bullet Point summary
It is unwise to think that inhaling any amount of asbestos is safe.
Asbestos only becomes dangerous to health when it is disturbed.
Asbestos being ‘disturbed’ happens when asbestos is worked with – sawn, torn, drilled.
Asbestos can also become ‘disturbed’ when buildings containing it are demolished.
It can be ‘disturbed’ in buildings where it hasn’t been removed. This can be through decay or from damage to the asbestos that is present.
In most cases, those who develop asbestos disease, do so after having been exposed to moderate to high levels of asbestos in their places of work.
For asbestos disease to be caused by exposure on a single occasion, the level of exposure would have to be very heavy indeed. This would be a very rare occurrence.
AUTHOR
James Burrell is an experienced asbestos and mesothelioma compensation solicitor. He is a partner in the Personal Injury and Industrial Disease department of Bridge McFarland LLP solicitors, based in Hull.
