We’ve discussed just about every location and source of asbestos on this blog over the years, from fake snow to ironing boards and toilet seats. Some kinds are now just historical curios, unlikely to be seen again. Others, such as the asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in houses, workplaces and outbuildings, remain a very real and present danger.
There’s one source of asbestos which we haven’t talked about as much, however. It’s one that you aren’t likely to have heard of before – and one that the government and local authorities would rather you didn’t. A growing body of evidence however suggests that you should. Asbestos could be in your drinking water, and the danger it poses could be substantial.
A lingering threat
For anyone who isn’t aware, the dangers of asbestos are extremely potent. There are several forms of asbestos, with white, brown and blue being the most common. White asbestos is considered to be the least dangerous form of asbestos, and is the most common today, but this is somewhat misleading: all forms of asbestos are extremely dangerous, and there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
Exposure to asbestos is dangerous because of the way it interacts with the body. When we encounter asbestos, it’s usually in the air around us. The jagged, microscopic particles enter the deepest recesses of our lungs, and are absorbed into our cells. This causes permanent damage to the cells, increasing the likelihood of mutations, which can ultimately cause various kinds of cancer.
Asbestos commonly causes a lung disease called asbestosis, as well as the cancer mesothelioma, which is unique to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is an incurable condition, and can take as long as 25 years to manifest. This means that you could be completely unaware of when or how you were exposed to asbestos when the disease finally presents itself, as well as being unable to seek compensation.
Asbestos and infrastructure
Asbestos was commonly used in the construction industry right up until the 1980s, and was not banned completely in the UK and many parts of the world until the turn of the century. Because of the need for post-War reconstruction, the UK was a particularly heavy user of asbestos, and is estimated to have the largest amount of asbestos still in place anywhere in the world. 90% of hospital trusts and 75% of schools are still thought to contain some asbestos, as well as an untold number of private properties.
Unfortunately, this period of construction also extended to the infrastructure used to build new housing stock, and repair existing infrastructure. As well as asbestos being used in buildings, asbestos cement was also used to construct pipes used for drinking water. This isn’t the only form of asbestos contamination in water, either, with asbestos rocks forming part of the water table in parts of the United States and elsewhere.
While the most dangerous forms of asbestos have largely been removed from buildings across Europe, little action has been taken on asbestos cement pipes. With much of this piping now at least 40 years old, is it fair to assume that the same kind of degradation might be happening to the asbestos cement? If so, are asbestos fibres leaching into the water – and what effect might this be having on people’s health?
The risk of asbestos in water
Current estimates suggest that there are around 125,000 km of asbestos cement water pipes in Italy, and around 257,000 km in the UK. Separate evidence also suggests that asbestos is endemic in the water supplies of many countries. As many as 33 million fibres/L have been detected in drinking water in the Netherlands, with 42 million fibres/L in one region of China. An EPA study on the effects of asbestos in the drinking water of rats showed that 7 million fibres/L was the threshold for increased risk of intestinal polyps, but this says nothing of the risk to humans, or the long term effects asbestos is known for.
Relatively few studies have been done on the effects of asbestos fibres when consumed in drinking water, with most occurring prior to the total asbestos ban. Studies showed that consumed asbestos fibres were detectable in urine for as much as two months after the water was first ingested, and that only 0.1% of ingested fibres were actually expelled. This combination of evidence suggests that an overwhelming proportion of asbestos fibres are absorbed into the body, and that some may ‘dislodge’ from the body over time.
Numerous other studies have established the effect of asbestos on other organs in the body, raising the risk of various cancers, including mesothelioma, stomach cancer and colon cancer. Despite all of this, there is a remarkable lack of contemporary scientific studies on the subject. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of water suppliers across Europe and much of the world are state-owned, surely removing any profit motive that might stymy research.
Taking action on asbestos pipes
Little is currently being done about asbestos cement pipes, but the risks are not unknown or unheralded. A resolution was put to the EU Parliament in 2013, and a question was forwarded again in 2021. The response was that the danger is not considered great enough to legislate on, and that as such, the natural replacement of pipes over time will be enough to protect against the worst degradation. A 2002 report by the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate meanwhile found no evidence of an increased risk of cancer from ingested asbestos based on the evidence at the time, something which was cited in a response to another question tabled in 2019.
That last response also cites 2012 research from both Health Canada and the World Health Organisation, neither of which found a conclusive link between consumed asbestos and cancer risk. However, there remains relatively little contemporary research on the subject, at least compared to other major public health issues. The reason for which seems relatively plain: asbestos exposure is hard to track and hard to link to cancers other than mesothelioma, and asbestos-related diseases can take decades to develop.
We shouldn’t be inordinately worried about asbestos exposure from drinking water given the weight of past research, but it is an area that warrants further investigation. Given everything we know about other forms of asbestos exposure – and how asbestos is absorbed by the body – it seems unlikely that they cause zero harm, even if the actual effects are less dramatic than that of asbestos on the lungs. For those of us in countries with asbestos cement pipes, pressure on the government is warranted – and arguably way overdue.