AS a former employee of the Turner and Newell organisation in the 1960s and into the 70s, I would like to comment on the report by Martin Williams (“Crumbling schools put pupils at risk of asbestos”, The Herald, April 21).
All asbestos fibre, be it white, brown or blue has the potential to be carcinogenic, especially the latter two types. However I have noticed over the years that the term asbestos becomes a catch-all with no reportage on the different types and how they were used.
In buildings the material was mainly in the form of asbestos cement with about 10 per cent content of white fibre when used as weathe proof cladding materials for roofs and walls. Handling this type of product is relatively safe, given due concern to avoid cutting and breaking when fibres can be released.
Of much greater concern is the use of lowdensity boards to encase steel work in the provision of fire resistance. This type of product had a much higher percentage of fibre due to the known non-combustible properties of asbestos .
As examples, very high density asbestos cement was used to clad the Red Road flats in Glasgow as the external wall material and the low density boards were used to fire protect the steel frame work
Of much greater concern is the use of sprayed asbestos . This was where fibres were mixed with cement , water and an adhesive and then sprayed on to many surfaces to provide fire protection such as to steel framing and onto whole soffits and ceiling surfaces again for fire protection but also for thermal and sound insulation.
The intermediate floors of many multi-storey flats have this form of asbestos, as do swimming pools. The use of water in the application reduced the release of fibre during application and aided the after-work clear-up.
The key to dealing with this material is knowledge of the different products and applications. That must determine the correct and safest way of disposing of it.
A few years before the demolition of the Red Road flats, I had access to historical information about the asbestos-containing products in these buildings. I contacted the relevant department in Glasgow building departments with a view to assisting in the identification of each product type and where it was used. My offer was declined and I chose to assume that complete knowledge from the council's records were still intact and would be in the possession of the demolition contractor when appointed.
Other forms of asbestos were used in the engineering, shipbuilding and steam locomotive industries for boiler lagging and also for many years as brake linings for all vehicles on road and rail.
I hope that I have emphasised the need for knowledge about this material and the emotional danger that is attached to the single word “asbestos”. It is dangerous and the more so if it is misunderstood due to its type and application and maybe some additional relevant comment when necessary will give confidence to the general public when the term asbestos is used in that the experts can, will and do deal with all occurrences in total safety.
Lastly, I lost a very dear friend to mesothelioma following his work as a young engineer in Rhodesia when he visited asbestos mines, so fully understand the time-bomb nature that comes with exposure to these fibres. He was 26 when in Rhodesia and died when he was 63.
Ian Gray,
Low Cottage, Croftamie.
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