Asbestos News
Discovered construction materials in Australian soil to be tested for asbestos
Construction materials that may have been illegally dumped and could contain asbestos have been discovered in soil in Penfield, Australia, the News Review Messenger reports.According to the news source, contractors for the State Government's Land Management Corporation (LMC) discovered the materials while excavating a vacant site in the area. The LMC has not ruled out the possibility that the materials were dumped illegally.
LMC chief executive Wayne Gibbings told the news source that tests would be carried out to determine whether or not asbestos was present in the materials.
"The area around the material was immediately quarantined and as a precautionary measure LMC has commissioned testing of the building material to determine whether it does contain asbestos," Gibbings said.
It is important that asbestos is handled with care and properly removed as exposure to the dangerous mineral can lead to the development of deadly diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Such asbestos-related diseases kill approximately 107,000 people around the world each year, according to the World Health Organization.
3/9/11
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