Asbestos Law - Adviceline Injury Lawyers
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a term applied to a group of minerals formed into rock and mined in a similar way to coal. In this form, asbestos is made up of strong, fine and flexible fibres. The processing and milling of asbestos shapes the fibres like needles which once airborne, can be easily inhaled or swallowed. In Australia, asbestos fibre production began in 1880, leading to asbestos mining and milling operations in various states, including Western Australia (Wittenoom 1938-1966) and New South Wales (Baryulgil 1940-1979). Asbestos fibre was also imported into Australia from Canada, South Africa and the United States.
Asbestos is now widely recognised as an occupational health hazard and a major cause of human injury and death. There are four commercially important forms of asbestos, all once widely used in building and in numerous commercial products:
- Chrysotile (white asbestos)
- Crocidolite (blue asbestos)
- Amosite (brown or grey asbestos)
- Anthophyllite
Asbestos manufacture and use today has all but ceased, however it can still be found in:
- asbestos-cement sheets, roofing and pipes
- paints and sealants
- brake linings, gaskets and friction products
- textiles including felts and curtains
- sprayed on sound proofing or fire proofing
In Australia, most asbestos is white asbestos but all forms are capable of causing lung cancer, mesothelioma as well as other asbestos-related diseases such as pleural fibrosis and asbestosis.
