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Imported Many Manufactured Asbestos Mesothelioma Product, Including Asbestos Cement Articles, Asbestos Yarn, Cord And Fabric, Asbestos Joint And Millboard

This document is the thirteenth report of the Australian Mesothelioma Register, produced by the Research and Epidemiology Units of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC).

Malignant mesothelioma is a cancer of the outer covering of the lung (the pleura) or the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum). Formerly rare, it is increasing in incidence throughout the industrial world and is very frequently associated with past exposure to asbestos. It is usually fatal and has no direct relation to smoking. Australia has the world's highest incidence rate (Takahashi et al, 1999, Tossavainen and Takahashi, 2000).

ASBESTOS PRODUCTION AND USE IN AUSTRALIA
In Australia, more chrysotile than amphibole asbestos was mined until 1939. With the commencement of mining at Wittenoom, Western Australia in 1937, crocidolite dominated production, until final closure in 1966. New South Wales, the first State to mine asbestos, also produced the largest tonnages of chrysotile (until 1983) as well as smaller quantities of amphibole (until 1949). With the closing of the crocidolite mine at Wittenoom, Australian asbestos production and exports declined. Imports of chrysotile also started to decline. The main sources of raw asbestos imports were Canada (chrysotile) and South Africa (crocidolite and amosite). Consumption peaked in about 1975 at 70,000 tonnes/year.

In addition to imports of asbestos fibre, Australia also imported many manufactured asbestos products, including asbestos cement articles, asbestos yarn, cord and fabric, asbestos joint and millboard, asbestos friction materials and gaskets. The main sources of supply were the United Kingdom, USA, Federal Republic of Germany and Japan. In Australia, over 60% of all production and 90% of all consumption of asbestos fibre was used by the asbestos cement manufacturing industry. From about 1940 to the late 1960s all three types of asbestos were used in this industry. The use of crocidolite began being phased out from 1967. Amosite was used until the mid 1980s. Much of this industry output remains in service today in the form of "fibro" houses and water and sewerage piping. By 1954 Australia was number four in the Western world in gross consumption of asbestos cement products, after USA, UK and France, and clearly first on a per capita basis. After World War II to 1954, 70,000 asbestos cement houses were built in the State of New South Wales alone (52% of all houses built). In Australia as a whole, until the 1960s, 25% of all new housing was clad in asbestos cement.

Exposures in the past were very high in some industries and jobs - (eg, 25 million particles per cubic foot (150 fibres/ml) in asbestos pulverisors and disintegrators in the asbestos cement industry; up to 600 fibres/ml in baggers at Wittenoom). Australia still imports about 1,500 tonnes a year of chrysotile fibre and some asbestos products a year, mainly friction material and gaskets. Handling of asbestos in place and removal operations are subject to a National Code of Practice. A series of regulations adopted in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the various States now impose exposure limits of 0.1 fibre/ml for crocidolite, amosite and mixtures and 0.1-1.0 fibre/ml for chrysotile (TWA 8 hr membrane filter method light microscopy, WHO fibres). In May 2001 the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council agreed to support the phase out of all new chrysotile use by 2003.

The first reported case of mesothelioma, from Wittenoom, was in 1962 (McNulty, 1962). Retrospective search identified 658 cases (535 male, 123 female) occurring in Australia from 1945-1979 (Musk et al, 1989).