ACLCA SANEPM Asbestos

Andrew Winters

• Asbestos is derived from the Greek word meaning ‘unquenchable’

• There are many types of naturally occurring asbestos minerals

• The serpentine group produces whiteasbestos

• The amphibole group produces brown and blue asbestos

• All three were in widespread use throughout Australia

Background

Background

Literally thousands of ACM products, including:• asbestos cement products (1-15% w/w)• vinyl tiles and backings• pipe and vessel insulations• sound insulation• fire rating products for ship and building structures

(fire walls, fire doors, bulkheads, etc).

Background

One Fibre Theory not recognised by the scientific/medical community:

• the majority of people living in urban area, not occupationally exposed to asbestos, can have large numbers (millions) of asbestos fibres in their lungs, yet only about 1 person per million per annum of these are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

• most mesotheliomas can be related back to at least moderate asbestos exposures, eg. housewives washing their husbands asbestos contaminated overalls, spouses and children living in the same house as an asbestos worker, living close to an asbestos factory or shipyard, home renovations etc.

Background

• ACM (bonded ACM) bonded/non-friable >7mm

• Asbestos Fines (AF) non-bonded/friable <7mm

• Fibrous Asbestos (FA) free fibre/bundles – may not be visible

Three Asbestos Categories

• Important

OHS Framework

%w/w asbestos in soil =

% asbestos content x bonded ACM (kg) /soil volume (L) x soil density (kg/L)

% asbestos content (within bonded ACM) = 15%soil density (for sandy soils) = 1.65 kg/L

% Calculation

• 0.01% w/w asbestos in soil for ACM (being asbestos in bonded ACM) to residential sites equivalent to land use setting HIL A. Additional criteria are provided for other land uses based on the default exposure ratios of the NEPM (1999) (0.05% industrial)

• 0.001% w/w asbestos in soil for FA and AF for all site uses

• + no visible asbestos for surface soil (10cm)

Criteria

• Walkover• Limited Sampling• Detailed Sampling

Field Observations and Sampling

• Identifiability• Accountability• Productivity

Concluding Comments

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