Once marketed as a “magic mineral,” asbestos is now an infamous public health menace which has left a lethal legacy.

Long considered one of the most versatile minerals because of its flexibility, tensile strength, insulating properties (heat and electricity), chemical inertness and affordability, asbestos was used in over 3,000 different applications worldwide.

Australia was one of the highest per capita asbestos users and approximately one third of all homes in Australia contain asbestos products. New Zealand’s use was lower than many industrialised countries until the 1970s-1980s when per capita use exceeded that of the USA and the UK – an estimated 40,000 commercial and residential properties in Christchurch alone contain asbestos.

Asbestos exposure, however, causes a number of serious diseases including mesothelioma, a highly aggressive cancer; asbestosis, a chronic lung disease; along with cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary; and pleural disorders such as pleural plaques and thickening. It has also been linked to cancers of the stomach, pharynx and colon.

Australia has one of the highest recorded rates of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in the world due to the country’s past heavy use. New Zealand falls marginally behind, with upwards of 20,000 people listed on the national Asbestos Exposure Register.

Smaller nations are not immune. A 1994 study linked New Caledonia’s high rate of cancer of the pleura – the lining of the lung – with the use of asbestos in the construction of traditional Melanesian huts. Since then, the huts have been destroyed, but the problem persists. Whilst the 2017 State of Asbestos in the Pacific report found more than 187,000 square metres of confirmed non-residential asbestos across 11 Pacific Island countries, 78% of which was classified as either high or moderate risk.

Currently in Australia, as well as throughout much of the developed world, asbestos waste can only legally be disposed of at licensed landfills. However, this method does not alter fibre structure, therefore does not render the waste intrinsically safe for human health and the environment. Furthermore, asbestos waste is typically a low-density waste and thus, occupies an inordinate volume of landfill space.

Landfilling merely provides a storage solution that requires long term management to minimise risk of deterioration and interference, the financial cost of which is mostly the responsibility of State and Territory Governments and Local Councils. However, the environmental and human health impacts will be borne by current and future generations.