Asbestos In The Community
Just after the turn of the century, the first wave of asbestos diseases and deaths occurred in the asbestos mining industry. The second wave attacked workers in the asbestos manufacturing industry. The third wave affected former building and construction workers and continues to do so. Now, due to decaying asbestos products the fourth wave of asbestos diseases, more subtle and insidious, is stalking a wide range of Australians at work, at school and in the home. The consequence of the fifth wave is still yet to come (workers from asbestos removal industry and consequence of uncontrolled-unsafe removal of asbestos cement products).
 Asbestos cement products such as roofs and cladding contain as much as 11% to 20% of chrysotile and 5% to 10% amphibole asbestos (crocidolite or amosite ). As a result of the continuing exposure to meteorologic influences such as rain, sunshine, wind and frost, as well as to industrial atmospheric pollutants, the surface of asbestos cement products corrodes and weathers.
Thus, cement particles and asbestos fibres are released from the surface and disperse in air and rainwater.
Residential housing and schools were often clad with fibro cement sheeting (commonly known as fibro) and roofed with corrugated asbestos cement products.
Children who regularly play the whole day in the vicinity of such buildings are possibly already subjected to a level of exposure to asbestos, which should not be ignored.
There has been concern for many years that young persons may be more susceptible to damage by hazardous asbestos fibres. The concern about exposure at an early age is particularly relevant in the case of carcinogens as critical organs may be susceptible to cell damage when they are still growing. Fortunately there is no evidence to date that asbestos has such an effect.

存在于公众社会当中的石棉

世纪之交刚刚过去，第一波由石棉导致的疾病和死亡就在石棉开采业爆发了。第二波发生在了石棉加工业的工人们身上。第三波侵袭了曾从事建筑工作的工人们，而且这种侵袭还将持续。目前，由于各种石棉产品的腐烂，更加不易被发觉和更加隐蔽的第四波石棉疾病广泛地威胁着澳大利亚人，不论他们是在工作当中、在学校还是在家里。第五波的后果还未显现出来（从事石棉搬运行业的工人们和由于无控制—不安全的石棉水泥产品的搬运造成的后果）。-由于各种目的，比如装修等，石棉过去常常被涂抹于顶棚和墙壁上。它也被作为一种隔热材料应用于散热器或燃木炉背后的管子周围。石棉也被用于乙烯地板砖及其背衬、屋顶、屋檐, 墙面板、部分石膏及涂料内。很多常规的维修、改造和维护行为----即使是安装一套新加热系统----也会弄裂石棉，从而使数百万的石棉纤维散落到你的家里、学校和办公室。

 
那些整天在这些建筑物附近玩耍的孩子们，可能在某种程度上接触到了石棉，这一点不容忽视。多年来，人们一直担心青年人可能更容易受到有害石棉纤维造成的损害。这种对在早年接触石棉的担心与致癌物相关，这是因为，一些仍在发育阶段的关键性器官可能容易遭到细胞损害。幸运的是，直到目前为止还未有证据表明石棉有这样的影响。