The unlikely places where deadly asbestos could be lurking in YOUR home...
as Britain faces a 'tsunami' of deaths from the toxic fibres, experts answer the 10 key questions By Pat Hagan Published: 01:52 GMT, 29 October 2024 | Updated: 01:56 GMT, 29 October 2024 e-mail View comments The message could not be starker – Britain faces a potential 'tsunami' of asbestos-related deaths in the years ahead unless action is taken to curb the threat. That was the warning from a major new report last week which said hundreds of thousands of people could die over the next few decades from exposure to the toxic dust in schools and hospitals. The report, compiled by the Joint Union Asbestos Committee – a body which lobbies for schools to be stripped of the deadly material – claimed 'ineffective regulations and a cost-cutting culture' were putting teachers and pupils at risk.
The Mail is now campaigning for public buildings – including more than 21,000 schools – to have all remaining asbestos removed and a national online database to be set up listing every non-domestic building in the country that contains it. Naturally heat and fire-resistant, asbestos was widely used in public and domestic buildings as a form of insulation and a fire retardant for decades before finally being banned in the UK in 1999, after research found it was linked with a range of incurable diseases. Britain faces a potential 'tsunami' of asbestos-related deaths in the years ahead unless action is taken to cu.