Asbestos News
Australian trade group alerts authorities about asbestos
An Australian trade association recently alerted state authorities about the presence of asbestos at a work site that was posing health risks to workers.The Victorian Environment Protection Authority and WorkSafe Victoria were alerted to the presence of asbestos at a site being developed in Newcomb, Victoria, by Geelong Trades Hall secretary Tim Gooden, according to the Geelong Advertiser.
"Any children who ride their bikes across this now ... will be exposed and the drier and the windier it is, the more likely it is that people will be exposed," Gooden told the news source.
Gooden explained that the asbestos found at the site was dangerous because of the form in which it was found.
"It would have been sheets. Now it's all broken up in the soil it's friable," he told the news provider. "Now it's more dangerous than when it's in a sheet."
Asbestos poses a serious health risk as the inhalation of the deadly mineral fibers can cause a number of severe illnesses such as asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a rare cancer.
5/25/11
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