Asbestos concerns in Australian buildings

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos concerns in Australian buildings, by T.K. Burki (The Lancet. Oncology, 2016).

The study

• Author: T.K. Burki
• Journal: The Lancet. Oncology
• Published: 2016;17(9):e377
• Type of article: News
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short news article in The Lancet Oncology, not a research study, and it presented no original research data. It noted that asbestos-related illness is thought to kill around 100 000 people worldwide every year. It reported that in July 2016 asbestos was found in roof panels supplied by Yuanda Australia for a new hospital in Perth, and in gaskets the same company supplied for a forthcoming government building in Brisbane. The Australian Border Force had raided Yuanda Australia's offices for evidence that Australia's 2003 comprehensive ban on asbestos had been flouted. A company representative said Yuanda Australia had been duped by a Chinese supplier who provided fake certificates saying the products were asbestos-free. Australia's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency was reported to believe that at least 64 building sites had incorporated asbestos-contaminated concrete from China. A Yuanda UK spokesperson said the materials it used in Europe and the UK were free of asbestos. Arthur Frank was quoted as saying the case emphasised the importance of strong agencies to check imports for asbestos. The type of asbestos was not stated.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: news article (journalism report, not a research study)
• Who was studied: Building projects in Australia found in July 2016 to contain asbestos-containing products: a new hospital in Perth and a forthcoming government building in Brisbane; several other projects by the same supplier under investigation
• Exposure: Asbestos-containing building products (roof panels, gaskets, and concrete) imported from China; fiber type not stated
• Main results:
  • Asbestos was reported in roof panels supplied by Yuanda Australia for a new hospital in Perth
  • The same company was reported to have provided asbestos-tainted gaskets for a forthcoming government building in Brisbane
  • The Australian Border Force raided Yuanda Australia's offices for evidence that Australia's 2003 comprehensive asbestos ban had been flouted
  • The article gave a general estimate, without a stated source, that asbestos-related illness kills around 100 000 people worldwide every year
  • A Yuanda Australia representative said the company had been duped by a Chinese supplier who provided fake certificates
  • The Australian Government's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency was reported to believe that at least 64 building sites in Australia had incorporated asbestos-contaminated concrete from China
  • A Yuanda UK spokesperson said materials used in Europe and the UK were free of asbestos
• The authors' conclusion: The news article does not state a conclusion of its own. It closes with comments from Arthur Frank (Drexel University), who said Australia's experience emphasised the importance of strong agencies to check imports for asbestos.

Related studies

• Asbestos-containing materials in New York City buildings — P. Lundy, M. Barer (1992)
• Asbestos release from whole-building demolition of buildings with asbestos-containing material — R.A. Perkins, J. Hargesheimer, et al. (2007)
• Current and future risks of asbestos exposure in the Australian community — C. Gray, R.N. Carey, et al. (2016)
• Asbestos exposures in public and commercial buildings — A.C. Upton, R.A. Shaikh (1995)
• Worker exposure to asbestos during removal of sprayed material and renovation activity in buildings containing sprayed material — N.W. Paik, R.J. Walcott, et al. (1983)
• Airborne asbestos concentrations in buildings — G.J. Burdett, S.A. Jaffrey (1986)

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