What the experts say about asbestos
- Queensland Asbestos Related Disease Support Society (Secretary Nick Bos):
"Our Society has been inundated with calls from people who think they are going to die because they have asbestos cement sheets in their homes. The fact of the matter is that the Australian Mesothelioma Register clearly shows that the people at greatest risk are those who have been exposed to huge doses of asbestos fibre.
The vast majority of people being diagnosed with asbestos cancer are the workers who worked in the Australian asbestos mines, manufactured asbestos products, unloaded the shiploads of asbestos that were imported into Australia from Canada and South Africa, worked on construction sites where asbestos was sprayed on the beams, where asbestos cement sheets were cut with power saws and in the power stations where asbestos was used to insulate the boilers and steam pipes etc.
Whilst it is true that a relatively small proportion of susceptible people will get cancer from relatively low level asbestos dust exposure, if one fibre of asbestos gives you cancer we would all have cancer because whether we like it or not if you live in Brisbane or any other Australian city you have inhaled asbestos fibre and have asbestos fibre in your lungs."
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