 "Why Sydney’s growing asbestos problem has put schools in danger")
Asbestos is seemingly everywhere in Sydney.
The toxic material has been found in parks, railway substations, hospitals, and now even schools.
Nearly three dozen sites across the city have tested positive for bonded asbestos.
But how bad is the problem? And why are schools in danger?
Let’s take a closer look:
What is asbestos?
First, let’s take a closer look at asbestos.
According to the healthlinkbc.ca, asbestos is a group of naturally occurring mineral fibres.
It is found in rock.
Asbestos, which is white in colour, was used to build homes and offices for years.
It became popular in late 19th century as a way to reinforce cement and for fire-proofing.
While asbestos usually posed little to no health risks, this is not the case for exposure to asbestos fibres.
Asbestos has been banned in much of the world after research discovered found that the inhalation of asbestos fibres could cause lung inflammation and cancer.
According to WebMD, part of the problem is that asbestos fibres are too small for the human eye to spot and very easy to breathe in.
Impact Shorts
View AllThese can lodge in a human beings lungs – resulting in scarring and inflammation.
This can also cause
Lung cancer
Mesothelioma
The risk factors for asbestos include history of illnesses, amount of asbestos, duration of exposure and type of fibres.
Those who smoke and who have had pre-existing lung diseases face a greater risk of developing asbestos-related diseases.
How bad is the problem?
According to The Guardian, asbestos was widely used in Australia before being banned in the 1990s.
In New South Wales, loose fibre asbestos was used in parts of home roof insulations in the 1960s and 1970s.
Australia only entirely banned asbestos in 2003.
An asbestos contamination was discovered in January when the toxic material was found in a playground in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.
As per The New York Times, the discovery was made after a child brought some mulch home from Rozelle Parklands.
The parents, who spotted what seemed to be asbestos, had the mulch examined.
The positive result sent authorities into a flurry of action.
Subsequent investigations spotted it in recycled mulch near the park, built above an underground road interchange.
On Saturday, authorities said asbestos has been discovered in more places in Sydney, including housing estates, as the New South Wales government continued a weeks-long scramble to remove the toxic material from mulch used in public areas.
Since then, in what is the biggest investigation by the state’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in decades, nearly three dozen city sites have returned positive results for bonded asbestos.
As per ABC, asbestos has also been found in and around five schools.
This includes St Luke’s Catholic College in Marsden Park where estimated 30 cubic metres of asbestos-contaminated mulch is set to be removed.
The school has around 2,000 students.
“My understanding of that school is that there was something like 30 cubic metres of mulch that was provided,” Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar told the website.
“So that’s quite an extensive amount and it’s quite widespread throughout the school, and that was difficult to cordon off and contain.”
According to The Guardian, the students in the school will learn from home as the area is cleared of asbestos.
The EPA said new sites where asbestos had been detected were a public school and park in the city’s north, and two residential estates under construction in Sydney’s south-west.
The University of Sydney had also been identified as potentially tainted and would be tested this weekend, it said.
EPA head Tony Chappel said a concert by pop superstar Taylor Swift set to take place next weekend in the city’s west would go ahead.
“Government has ensured any necessary resources for remediation should they be required are in place and we can make sure that site is in the clear for the Taylor Swift event,” Chappel said in Sydney.
According to The New York Times, that venue has been since declared asbestos-free.
Authorities have cordoned off areas in several contaminated Sydney parks, forcing the cancellation of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day event scheduled for Sunday, which usually draws tens of thousands of revellers, after traces of asbestos were found around the venue.
Transport projects, a primary school, a warehouse and a hospital have also been confirmed as contaminated.
Since 10 January, the EPA says it has taken almost 300 samples citywide, with 10 percent testing positive for asbestos.
In response, the New South Wales government has set up a dedicated asbestos task force to give more resources and support to the EPA as it investigates the widening contamination.
The government has also attempted to calm the situation.
“There’s 12 so far that we’ve worked with, across 3,000 schools … in this state,” Dizdar told ABC.
“From my angle as secretary of education, it has been quite contained.”
Much of the mulch has been supplied by Greenlife Resource Recovery, as per The Guardian.
The company has said it is not liable for the mulch being contaminated and that it has multiple rounds of testing from independent laboratories to prove it.
“Greenlife is confident mulch leaving our facility is free of asbestos contamination,” the company said in a statement as per ABC.
Chappel was quoted as saying that “all lines of inquiry” were being undertaken.
“It’s certainly unhelpful at this point for anyone to attribute blame,” he warned on Sunday.
“This is a complex supply chain and the investigation is ongoing. When we’ve concluded, we will release the full report to the public as well as any potential court processes that follow.”
But experts say asbestos fibres are bad news.
“Once the fibres get into that lining they create cancer that is quite volatile, that doesn’t respond to normal treatments for cancer,” Peter Tighe, the independent chair of the Asbestos Industry Research Institute told The Gurdian.
Diagnosing it is no mean feat either.
“We’re not sure whether there is a genetic disposition to it, and to diagnose it properly, when someone does have it, is a very invasive procedure,” Tighe said.
Tighe added that “it’s really difficult to do much about it, other than to record the fact that you’ve been exposed and make people aware of it”.
It also takes a long time for diseases from asbestos to develop – as long as 15 to 30 years after exposure.
With inputs from agencies
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