What do the Calgary floods have to do with asbestos?

As the city of Calgary, Alberta and its surrounding areas begin to assess the cleanup from last week’s record-breaking flood, it is important that public health remains on the radar. There are many risks to people’s health that can result from exposure to hazards that are the direct result of the floods or the cleanup efforts.

Aerial view of downtown Calgary June 22, 2013**

One such concern is asbestos. As a very popular building material for home and other buildings during the twentieth century, asbestos is present in most of Canada’s cities, in buildings built before the year 2000.

Asbestos is not dangerous when it is isolated in building materials but as soon as it is disturbed, its fibres will become airborne. From there, they can enter a person’s lungs and wreak havoc years later in the form of asbestos-related diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.

From the images of the record-breaking floods, we have seen the power of water. It has the power to destroy property and break apart even the strongest materials… Materials like those reinforced with asbestos, materials that are present in many buildings around Canada, including in Calgary.  

The damaged homes resulting from flooding could have been made with asbestos containing materials such as drywall, insulation, tiles, roofing, siding, gaskets, and sealants. There are so many possible uses for asbestos that so many products – over 3000! – in the twentieth century were made in part with asbestos.

During the 1950s, Calgary’s population was expanding. Calgary remained one of the fastest growing cities in Canada due to oil production for the next few decades after that, too. With so many new homes required and asbestos being the popular product of the day, it is not unreasonable to assume that many of the homes still in the area contain asbestos.

Floods can expose asbestos in homes that was isolated before, preventing contact with people. Flooding can also damage materials containing asbestos, a situation that will also lead to asbestos fibres in the air. Water is strong enough to break these materials down enough that asbestos fibres can easily get into the air once they dry out.

Unfortunately, there is not yet a registry for buildings containing asbestos in Canada, though Saskatchewan recently committed to create a registry for that province. A registry of buildings in which asbestos is present could be a very useful source during cleanups after floods or other natural disasters.

Armed with information about where people could encounter asbestos would allow us to take the necessary safety precautions to keep residents, and especially first responders and disaster relief workers, as safe and healthy as possible.

Resources:

The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2012). Calgary. Retrieved June 2013 from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/calgary.

The Mesothelioma Center. (2013). Asbestos and Natural Disasters. Retreived June 2013 from http://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/natural-disasters/.

**Image from: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/communities-along-south-saskatchewan-river-brace-approaching-floodwaters-003800046.html.

Does Asbestos Harm The Environment?

In our last CCSN article, my colleague Tim Povtak wrote about the damage that asbestos can do to your body. Today, Jackie kindly opened the floor for me to discuss the damage it can do to the earth.

It’s ironic to think that a mineral that originates in the earth could actually end up hurting it. But that’s exactly the case with asbestos.

The naturally occurring fibers are found in various environmental deposits. They’re often intertwined with rock formations and other minerals, such as quartz and limestone. Unfortunately, mining these co-existing minerals can release the nearby asbestos into the air. (Asbestos itself is no longer mined in Canada, but the fibers that were released during the process may still be present in the environment.)

Even if it’s already been mined and processed, construction or building demolition can re-introduce asbestos back into the environment. For instance, if construction crews bulldoze an asbestos-containing building without addressing the asbestos products beforehand, the contaminated debris becomes an exposure hazard.

What Happens after Asbestos is in the Air?

Like dandelion florets, asbestos fibers can float through the air for long distances. Even if they land, another gust of wind can pick them back up and send them elsewhere. This allows them to travel long distances and eventually settle far from the original deposit.

Asbestos can settle in rivers or streams, which then contaminates the area’s water supply. One Minnesota study found 2.6 million asbestos fibers per liter of drinking water sourced from Two Harbors, and 1.9 million fibers per liter of Beaver Bay water. Those levels are more than high enough to cause illness if ingested.

The fibers can also settle in a thin layer on top of soil. It doesn’t sink into the ground, and it’s not bio-degradable. It’s even impervious to fire.

That durable, hard-to-destroy quality is exactly why so many companies once mined the fibers for industrial use. Unfortunately, because it was so widely used, there’s now a “background level” of asbestos in the environment, which everyone is exposed to.

That ambient asbestos level is low enough that most people will only inhale a fiber or two throughout their lifetimes, and will never develop health effects. But for the unlucky few – for instance, those who developed peritoneal mesothelioma from swallowing asbestos-contaminated water – that fure is still a serious environmental problem. Once diagnosed, the life span for a mesothelioma patient is usually up to one year.

Faith Franz is a researcher and writer for The Mesothelioma Center. She advocates for alternative medicine and encourages patients to explore all of their treatment options.

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Resources:

Horvitz, J. S. (1974). Asbestos and its Environmental Impact. Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review; 3:1. Retrieved from http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1941&context=ealr