Though many Australians and others worldwide develop asbestos-caused mesothelioma due to occupational exposure, thousands of individuals have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos merely by living or working near natural deposits of the dangerous mineral. That’s why an Australian university has decided to embark upon a study outlining the dangers of naturally-occurring asbestos.

According to an article penned by the Australian Associated Press, the new study, led by Macquarie University researcher Marc Hendrickx, is aimed at determining how many cases of mesothelioma may have been caused by exposure to asbestos in its naturally occurring state around the nation.

“It’s been largely overlooked as a potential source of asbestos exposure,” Hendrickx said. “The risk of small, naturally-occurring deposits, from disturbing those, have been mostly ignored, I think.”

The study will produce detailed maps of naturally-occurring asbestos throughout Australia and involve comprehensive checks of medical records around the deposits, as well as monitoring of air quality to determine the level of fibers to which nearby residents are being exposed.

While Hendrickx admits that the risk of disease from living near asbestos-containing rock is low, he notes that those at highest risk are road construction workers, farmers, and those working in forestry, mainly because they are often involved in digging or disturbing the land in some way.

But Hendrickx points out that a California study released in 2005 found that residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos was indeed associated with an increased risk of mesothelioma.

“The sort of situations they’re talking about in California are no different to what they are in Australia. We’ve got these belts of asbestos-bearing rock here,” he said.

“It’s something that really needs to be addressed, and when I started looking into it, it became apparent that no one was really looking into it or being overly concerned about it.”

Hendrickx adds that about 10 percent of mesothelioma cases occurred in people with no known exposure to asbestos. He believes that some of these cases could be linked to naturally-occurring asbestos.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 11:44 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.