While the introduction of new asbestos products has ended in countries like Australia the danger of exposure to asbestos fibres has not ended. As the building fabric of workplaces containing asbestos products has aged, it has become more dangerous because the loosened fibres can be released into the atmosphere. Demolition workers face exposure as buildings are torn down, and must work under tightly regulated conditions. Even schools with asbestos cement roofs have become potential danger points.

The removal of all asbestos from a great range of workplaces is proceeding but is nowhere near complete. This means that exposure to asbestos continues into the present day and is a hazard that is faced by both tradespeople and home renovators. This is contributing to third wave of asbestos related disease which is the result of environmental exposure. The risk will remain until all asbestos-containing materials have been removed from all workplaces.

Ted Grant’s work as a fireman gave him more knowledge than most of the insides of our dwellings. Here he talks about how widely asbestos was used as a building material, which endures today in the older homes so many of us live in.
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Many people believe the danger of asbestos has been removed with the end of mining and manufacturing, but according to epidemiologist Dr Ashraf Grimwood, who has been tracking asbestos exposure since the 1980s, it remains a threat to health, buried as it is within Australia’s homes.
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