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Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma cancer:
- There is no known cure for mesothelioma.
- More than one person dies every 12 hours in Australia from mesothelioma – this is approximately the same rate as for Ovarian Cancer and Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
- Disturbingly, for every person who dies of mesothelioma, another is diagnosed!
- There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos fibres/dust!
- Very low levels of exposure to asbestos fibres/dust have been attributed to causing mesothelioma.
- From exposure to asbestos fibres/dust to being diagnosed can take from under 20 years to over 60 years.
- You do not have to have worked with asbestos to contract mesothelioma – many women, daughters and sons have been diagnosed after being exposed when workers brought asbestos fibres/dust home on their clothes, or when they were present/helped during a renovation or building a cubby house many years before.
- Asbestos related lung cancer is thought to be widely under diagnosed and reported (largely due to the extreme difficulty in determining asbestos was the cause). But what is known, a person who smokes cigarettes and who is, or was exposed to asbestos has a vastly higher chance of being diagnosed with lung cancer than if those who smoked and and were never exposed to asbestos.
- Exact figures are not known on how many people in Australia die from causes associated with asbestos related diseases (ARD) each year. Conservative estimates range from 1500 to 2500 deaths per year. To put it in perspective – in 2017, 2 times as many Australians may have died from an ARD, than as a result of road accidents.
- There are over 3000 known products that contain asbestos.
- The use of asbestos in building materials in Australia ceased in the 1980s.
- The use of all asbestos products was not banned in Australia until 2004.
- Many homes, commercial and government buildings built or renovated prior to 2004 will contain equipment, products and materials that comprise asbestos.
- A large percentage of homes and buildings in Australia, built or renovated before 1990, are likely to include asbestos containing building materials.
- Asbestos was widely used in the Australian construction industry from the 1940s up until the late 1980s when its use in building materials was banned. Its awful legacy continues to pose a problem during maintenance, renovation and demolition.
- Home renovating is now thought to be the biggest cause of exposure to asbestos fibre/dust in Australia.
- Lack of awareness and ‘ignorance’ about the dangers of asbestos by trades persons and DIY renovators is placing many people at risk of exposure to asbestos fibres/dust, and to the very real possibility of being diagnosed with mesothelioma many years down the track.
Breathing in asbestos dust can be deadly and may kill you!
There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos fibre/dust!