Asbestos was once considered a wonderful building resource, also known as a miracle mineral. It was heavily known for it’s amazing resistance to heat, acid, electricity and corrosion after the twentieth century. It had a pure white complexion was lightweight, didn’t melt and was obviously fireproof therefore, made the perfect concoction for movie sets fake snow. Yet Hollywood directors were yet to know that this beautiful magic mineral would be detrimental towards everyone that got in it’s way. The exposure would indefinitely rise peoples chances of getting deadly illnesses.
Asbestos fibres are only harmful when disturbed, therefore you can imagine the catastrophe it would cause when quite literally falling onto as snow. Any amount of asbestos increases the risk of developing cancers such as lung cancer, ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, many of which are extremely deadly, or even incurable. Mesothelioma, just one of the aggressive asbestos-caused cancer, primarily attacks the lining that surrounds lungs, heart, and abdominal cavity. And while the latency period for many asbestos-related diseases can be up to 30 years, this clearly impacts children more than adults – making the presence of asbestos on movie sets a particularly horrifying reality.
Thousands of people across the globe dream of a white Christmas holiday. Waking up to fresh powdery snow outside whilst having a crackling fireplace inside on Christmas is the dream of many. Therefore, the fantasy has driven Hollywood directors to imitate this in famous Christmas classics such as ‘The wizard of Oz’, Holiday inn and of course the notorious wonderful life. The deadly snow was used since the 1900’s to to create the peaceful fall of real snow, therefore filling the lungs of many on set with toxic minerals. However, the horror doesn’t stop there, not only were people using the snow on sets, people were bringing the asbestos snow into their homes!
They used the snow to decorate their trees and all other beloved decorations around the house, you can imagine the families that were oblivious to consuming the deadly substance. The asbestos industry was later made aware in 1960 that the asbestos mineral was in fact harmful and was threatening peoples lively hood. Yet the money driven industries shamefully continued to churn out asbestos to vulnerable, none the wiser members of the public. You’ll be happy to know that the asbestos ban has been put in place since the year 2000, however you can still find asbestos today in buildings built before the year 2000.
Any amount of asbestos increases the risk of developing cancers such as lung cancer, ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, many of which are extremely deadly, or even incurable. And while the latency period for many asbestos-related diseases can be up to 30 years, this clearly impacts children more than adults – making the presence of asbestos in baby powder a particularly horrifying reality.
There can be no doubt that asbestos removal can be costly, and that this burden will have to be shouldered by someone. But the risk of asbestos exposure grows the longer ACMs persist, and particularly when they go unobserved. Asbestos ultimately remains a present danger because there is a lack of both money and political will to get rid of it. Most asbestos is now 50 or more years old, and the general advice – that it’s safer to leave it in place than remove it – only works when cataloguing and inspections perform their intended function.
HSE inspectors need to ensure that asbestos is being regularly assessed for damage, and maintained properly. Yet low inspection numbers and reductions in funding suggest that this isn’t the case. Asbestos is also only catalogued in public buildings and business premises, with no requirement to record or ensure the maintenance of asbestos in private properties. On top of this, rogue builders commonly upset this with little reprimand for exposing people to the deadly substance, either going unnoticed or paying small fines.