Our goal, at ARC Asbestos Consultants, is to help reduce the exposure to asbestos and associated diseases, through diligent auditing and testing of suspected sites, and materials.
We provide auditing to residential & commercial properties, educational facilities, hospitals, aged care and medical centers.
Every year, in Australia, people are still being exposed to asbestos and the effects typically will not show up until 10-40 years after initial exposure.
Asbestos Diseases Research Institute has stated, that despite the predicted rise in deaths due to homeowners and tradespeople inhaling asbestos fibres during renovations, the maintenance of older properties, or demolition of properties.
Australians remain complacent about the dire consequences of disturbing asbestos-containing materials (ACM).
Sadly, around 4000 lose their lives annually to either:
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Mesothelioma
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Asbestos related lung cancers
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Asbestosis
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Pleural thickening
In Australia, asbestos materials were first manufactured in the 1920's. These were commonly used in the manufacture of residential and commercial building materials from the mid-1940's until the late 1980's.
The residential materials came in the form of:
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Flat cement sheeting for walls, ceilings and eave linings
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Corrugated sheeting for roofing and fencing
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Heater flues and stormwater pipes
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Vinyl floor sheeting (lino) and vinyl floor tiles
Commercial materials used include:
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Sprayed limpet to ceilings and structural columns
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Lagging insulation to boilers and pipework
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Loose insulation to window cavities
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Fire door insulation
Australia banned the use and import of blue asbestos, brown asbestos and asbestos-containing products in the mid-1980s, but fibro cement products that were stocked at hardware stores and supplier yards were still sold to customers, until this old stock was exhausted.
The manufacture and import of white asbestos products was finally banned in December 2003.
From 31 December 2003, the total ban on manufacture, supply, use, reuse, import, transport, storage and sale of all forms of asbestos came into force.
Unfortunately, even though the ban on importation was enacted in 2003, various products are still entering our shores from overseas.
Products found to contain asbestos include:
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Children's crayons (China)
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Electric scooters with asbestos brakes (China)
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New vehicles with asbestos gaskets to engines (China)
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Cement sheeting (China)
China started to ban the production, import, and use of amphibole asbestos in 2002, but chrysotile products are allowed to be safely produced. Most of these products still reach our shores, with Material Data Safety Sheets (MDSS) stating that the products do not contain asbestos. Under Chinese regulations, any product with <5% asbestos, is deemed to be asbestos free.
