How to stop the fly-tipping of asbestos waste

Hardly a week goes by when there isn’t a report from somewhere in the UK about fly-tippers illegally dumping asbestos waste. Often it turns up close to footpaths or on country lanes. Sometimes it is even dumped at night in the middle of town and cities. Local residents are appalled and politicians vent their fury.…

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How much did the boss know?

People are sometimes appalled to discover that they were exposed to asbestos during their working life. But equally often, they will say, ‘We worked with asbestos all the time. No one knew any better in those days. We thought it was a safe material to use.’ Their manager, or the owner of the firm, may…

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Are there hidden dangers lurking in your make-up?

Talcum is a mineral which is often found alongside deposits of asbestos. When the talcum, or talc, is mined asbestos can be collected inadvertently at the same time. Any asbestos is supposed to be removed when the talc is refined into a powder. Where is talc used in cosmetics? Talc is commonly used as a…

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A Real and Present Danger From New Trade Negotiations

Trade negotiations are not just about imposing or removing tariffs. They are also about removing unnecessary barriers to trade. Asbestos Support Central England is concerned that, when we are negotiating new trade agreements, we will be asked to accept the same rules that apply in other countries. The implications for trade with the USA Asbestos…

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How your gender affects your experience of mesothelioma

Working with Sheffield Univeristy and HASAG Asbestos Disease Support, the asbestos support group for London and the South-east, the charity Mesothelioma UK has published a new study of the ways your gender can affect your experience of mesothelioma. Differences in the work people have done Mesothelioma is often  diagnosed after a person has retired, and…

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Wolverhampton Company Tests a Way of Rendering Some Asbestos Harmless

Thermal Recycling in Wolverhampton received an Innovate UK ‘Smart Grant’ to develop a new method for turning asbestos roof sheets into a compound that can be safely used as aggregate for road building. The process involves ‘denaturing’ the asbestos. They have tested the kiln 200 times and hope to go into full production next year.…

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Asbestos is still making people seriously ill

A new study of 4,000 mesothelioma cases in Canada, stretching back over 25 years, has found that occupational exposure to asbestos is gradually reduceing but the number of cases arising from exposure outside the workplace is on the increase. This is probably because of better detectionof what were previously undiagnosed cases. It highlights the continuing…

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