Balanced view of asbestos?

Your November 26 edition of Peninsula News carries an article penned by Peter Hartley, of Killcare Heights, cautioning readers of the extreme danger posed by asbestos.

There is no doubt that these dangers have been vividly portrayed on TV and elsewhere.

No doubt WorkCover echoes these concerns, although I have not checked.

However, I would suggest that the claim, by anyone, that "one speck of asbestos, any colour" can cause asbestosis is somewhat overblown, particularly when it is seen in the context of cigarette smoking.

In the immediate post WWII years, there was a chronic shortage of any sort of housing, and many, many landowners were required to build their own homes.

Indeed I should say that most homes constructed in that period were built, inside and out, with fibro - asbestos sheeting.

This required not only handling of the fibro but also extensive cutting and shaping of it.

I myself was so involved in the construction of three such family homes.

In the years since, I have not heard of one death, indeed serious illness, resulting from this activity, done as it was without the benefit of studies years later.

The point of this letter is not in any way to challenge issues relating to asbestosis but simply for us to maintain a sense of balance.

One only has to cast one's eyes about to see many existing homes, especially in areas which were popular for holiday homes, constructed largely of fibro sheeting and which still stand, and are occupied.

I wonder if we will see the day when some over-zealous authority figure stands up and calls for the demolition of these homes on the basis of eliminating all these "specs of dust".

Unlikely perhaps, but who knows?

Email, 30 Nov 2012

Kevin Wilson, Killcare