Mr. Fluffy Asbestos: Photos Educate Canberra Homeowners

New photos of loose asbestos in a Mr. Fluffy home in Canberra show an extreme example of the contamination that has endangered residents in Australia's capital city for decades. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government's Asbestos Response Taskforce took the pictures inside one of the 1,022 Canberra homes known to contain Mr. Fluffy insulation. Thousands of homes were insulated with Mr. Fluffy-brand asbestos in the 1960s and '70s. Breathing the insulation can cause the rare cancer mesothelioma, which develops 20 to 50 years after asbestos exposure. “What we found inside the walls was a very significant amount of asbestos insulation,” Andrew Kefford, head of the Asbestos Response Taskforce, said. The photos showed an asbestos-packed wall cavity and a close-up of the loose fibers. The task force shared the images to inform the public of what the Mr. Fluffy asbestos insulation looks like and to show how loose fibers can migrate all throughout a home's many crevices. The government later demolished the photographed home as part of the Buyback and Demolition Program it launched in 2015 in response to the Mr. Fluffy catastrophe. Asbestos Insulation Is a Nightmare for Canberra Homeowners Mr. Fluffy, named for its fluffy appearance, is an insulation product made of loose amosite asbestos. Unlike many other asbestos-containing materials, Mr. Fluffy is not held together with a bonding agent and easily releases toxic fibers into the air. In the...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Asbestos Exposure & Bans Source Type: news