Asbestos Products in Australia

History, uses, government guidelines, testing of asbestos in Australia

Asbestos in Australian Flooring, Roofing, Siding, Insulation, Appliances

Possible asbestos in fibreboard / sheeting, at old pub 1888 in the Riversdale Hotel

I've attached some photos [that caught my attention] for the InspectApedia archives.

This is regarding an old Pub here in Melbourne [Australia] and it was built in 1888 by Annie Rosey.

This is the Riversdale Hotel, - Source: Riversdale Hotel, 277 Auburn Road - Hawthorn East 3123, Melbourne Australia Tel: (03) 9882 3361 retrieved 2020/01/19 original source: https://www.riversdalehotel.com.au/our-story

The photos I have taken are in the Utility room [toilets] where I noticed this exposed substrate board, with some writing on it,

Do Not Breathe Dust Wear Respirator

Please find attached photos.

The Riversdale Hotel, 277 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, designed by architect William Pitt and constructed in 1888 for owner John J Rosney.

The hotel was run by JJ Rosney until his death in the early 1890s, after which his widow, Annie Rosney, was the owner and licensee until 1930.

- Source: RIVERSDALE HOTEL [PDF] Victorian Heritage Database, GPO Box 527, Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia, Email: heritage.council@delwp.vic.gov.au Tel: (03) 9194 0868. Report 2020 - retrieved 2020/01/19 original source: https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/199603/download-report

I thought it was something that you don't see very often these days as most places are renovated and/ or covered up. - Marc Joshmar - Melbourne

Moderator Reply:

I agree that the warning imprinted on this material is not often seen.

Zooming in on your photo to see the edges of the material and the mounting screws suggest that this is either a type of fibreboard or an asbestos-cement board, though without a closer look, sorry to say I can't even rule out gypsum board or Gyproc.

Go back to the pub and have a beer for me, and if you can do so without being accused of being crazy, see if you can get a sharper photo of the edges of the material.

Asbestos Not Found in This 1950s & 1970s Australian Flooring

Our InspectApedia reader Emily has provided these asbestos lab test results that found no asbestos in several flooring products found in a 1950's Melbourne Australia home.

I wanted to share the attached info to add to your website. I'll have to send it in two emails as it won't let me add all attachments. These were from a 1950's home in Melbourne, Australia. Four different layers were tested, and happily all came back with no asbestos fibers detected.

Unfortunately none of them had any identifiable production details such as a company name.

Hopefully the below descriptions help. For anyone in Melbourne, we have used Identifibre twice now to test samples, and have been happy with their price, turnaround time and communication. -

The green and grey floral rug patterns were the oldest layers (assumed approx 1950's/60's).

The green layer had a red pressed backing (see pics of stacked sheets - this shows the front and back of this layer) and when torn the inner layer was a black cardboard-like material.

It was quite brittle and snapped/tore when we tried to roll it.

The grey layer had a black pressed backing which also enclosed a black cardboard-like layer when torn. It was quite brittle and snapped/tore when we tried to roll it.

The orange patterned layer (shown below) was flexible and rolled easily.

The backing was thin, white/beige, and was slightly "spongy" - The beige tile layer was flexible and rolled easily.

This was the thinnest and probably the newest layer. It was definitely post 1970's, as we found a coin below this layer. Thanks again for your efforts in maintaining the website.

Congoleum Sheet Flooring Backer Text - Australia 1970's - Asbestos?

This Congoleum sheet flooring and the photographs of text on the flooring backer were observed in an Australian home.

The design pattern looks like some older sheet flooring whose backer contained asbestos. But we're not sure where nor just when this particular floor covering was produced.

Asbestos was found in at some Congoleum flooring products including:

Congoleum-Nairn Flor-Ever Vinyl, Fashionflor Cushioned Vinyl flooring, Gold Seal Vinyl Inlaid flooring, Gold Seal Vinyl Nairon Standard flooring.

The pattern shown above does not appear in the current (2016) Congoleum sheet flooring catalogs scanned online at the company's website.

However the reference to Seam Sealer SU 106 suggests that this might be a more-recent Congoleum flooring product. If so it would not be expected to contain asbestos. Thanks to readers L and G.R. 2016/03/31

Above: text indicating that seams of this flooring product should be sealed with Congoleum SU106 seam sealer.

Congoleum's SU106 seam sealer is a current product (2016). This product is applied on top of the seam of Congoleum sheet flooring that has already been joined below using QuikStik adhesive tape.

(You'll need to protect the sealed Congoleum floor seam from foot traffic for at least 16 hours.)

This same seam sealing product can be used to repair small areas of damaged or torn flooring.

Below: close-up photo of text on the "back" of Congoleum sheet flooring.

Modern, contemporary Airstep Congoleum sheet flooring seams are sealed with a Congoleum seam sealer kit and are used with Congoleum and IVC Flexitec vinyl floor coverings.

The company provides an adhesive sealer for sheet flooring and a "QuikStik tape used for loose-laid flooring seams and to adhere the perimeter of sheet flooring to the subfloor.

Sheet flooring can also be stapled down to wood floors or subflooring around its perimeter if those edges are to be covered by a wood floor trim.

Asbestos Confirmed in 1979 Congoleum The No Wax Shiny Vinyl - 20% Chrysotile Asbestos

Our reader said:

I appreciate your website and have spent an extensive amount of time researching a flooring that we're removing from our house.

We got halfway through the floor removal before we realized we should worry about asbestos (yikes!).

I've ordered an in-home test kit but in the meantime I wondered if you had any thoughts on the attached photos?

Our home was built in 1979. The kitchen and dining room was covered in 12-foot wide vinyl sheet flooring made by congoleum.

On the backer, which is white, the Congoleum name appears, along with what appears to say "The No Wax Shiny [vinyl?]" There's something written above congoleum but I cannot make it out.

I appreciate any help or direction you can give us.

Also, I thought it would be helpful to future viewers of your website to see another sample. - Anonymous by private email 2018/12/03

Reply:

With no other more precise date information you need to either treat the floor as presumed to contain asbestos or have a sample tested.

If you can remove the floor without making a dusty mess you might eschew testing.

Reader follow-up: 20% chrysotile asbestos in this Congoleum No-Wax vinyl flooring

Just an fyi...this flooring came back 20% chrysotile asbestos in the flooring itself, none in the mastic glue.

Reply: thank you

Thank you Anon. Other readers will benefit from your report confirming asbestos in this 1979 Congoleum No-Wax Shiny Vinyl sheet flooring.

In my experience often the white backer of sheet flooring from the 1970's contained Chrysotile asbestos.

If the flooring adhesive can be dissolved - sometimes by mere water - enough that the flooring can be rolled-up and removed, you will have avoided creating potentially-hazardous asbestos-contaminated dust.

Armstrong Corlon vinyl flooring (containing asbestos) was sold world wide; some of these ads appeared in the U.K., Australia, and other countries.

Above: Armstrong resilient flooring: Left: Montina Vinyl Corlon and Right: 1959 Armstrong Vinyl Corlon advertisement

Cement Board and Ceramic tile Mastic in my 1986 home in Australia contain asbestos?

I posted a question in the Comments section regarding my bathroom Reno.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Shown here: reader's photos of ceramic bath tile and black tile mastic in a 1985-1986 Australian home.

My house is from 1985/86, the cement sheeting in the shower areas say “Manufactured With Asbestos”.

Before I remove the wall tile, I would like to know if there is any chance the adhesive could contain asbestos. I am sending images as requested.

Any information appreciated.

Although I can see some kind of fibre in the images, I have read that they can’t be seen without a microscope.

Seems to be a lot of confusing info out there. - Anonymous by private email 2017/08/24

Reply: Australian & possibly some U.S. manufacturers stamped cement board as not made with asbestos in the late 1980's

In both the U.S. and Australia it would be unusual for new construction in 1985/6 to have used asbestos products.

At the time of my initial reply I had not yet seen your photos of the mastic used behind ceramic bath tile, nor your backer board photo, so I offered this general advice:

I'm not sure if you saw my note or if I was clear before about the possibility of asbestos in tile mastic.

See ASBESTOS-CONTAINING ADHESIVES - for floor tiles

and ASBESTOS MASTIC IDENTIFICATION - Tile Mastic or Roofing Sealant Adhesive that may contain asbestos: Identification

and ASBESTOS-CONTAINING MASTIC DANGEROUS? - Demolition or remodeling advice for old tile floors or for roofing flashings, sealants & mastics

From the fact that you saw asbestos-suspect wall materials it certainly believable that a contractor would have used a mastic that contained asbestos. However that's not a friable material unless you grind or saw to make a Dusty mess.

I would much like to see a photo of the printing on the cement board or asbestos board that you found.

Also if you tell me what your plans are for the wall I might be able to make a suggestion. That is are you just stripping tile or do you need to take the whole wall down.

Reader follow-up

Here is a picture of the cement sheet, (shown above) this on several of the sheets in the other bathroom in the house.

I was planning on just removing the tile, but if I have to, I can certainly remove the whole sheets containing the tile.

... Oh ...,

I just noticed on my first email that I put “Manufactured with Asbestos” it SHOULD HAVE READ “Manufactured WITHOUT Asbestos”

Reply: Australian cement board installed 1985-1986, manufactured without asbestos

Aha so we found that the wallboard was marked as NOT containing asbestos. An easy misread to make when we're nervous about asbestos in a home.

The no-asbestos stamp on the cement board in your home reminds us that at the time your house was built, manufacturers as well as installers of fiber cement tile-backer board and other cement board products faced customers who wanted to be sure they were not being sold old-stock of asbestos containing products.

One could speculate that the same contractor who installed such cement board would not have intended to use a mastic tile adhesive that contained asbestos.

OPINION: Adding that to the generally not friable nature of tile mastics the risk of asbestos from the wall demolition is likely to be low.

Only if you were facing an unavoidable requirement to grind, chop, saw or otherwise make a dusty mess might you add asbestos to the general concern that you ought to have anyway about avoiding breathing demolition dust.

Also see this fiber cement tile backer board discussed

at NON-ASBESTOS FIBER CEMENT BACKERBOARD examples found in CEMENT BACKERBOARD INSTALLATION - Editor

Asbestos in Australian Building Insulation

Though the practice was not common world wide, asbestos was used directly as a building wall or ceiling insulation material as installed by Mr. Fluffy in Canberra, as we discuss below.

• Armstrong, Bruce, "HOW DANGEROUS IS IT TO LIVE IN A MR FLUFFY HOUSE?" [PDF] The University of Sydney Senior Adviser, The Sax Institute, Sydney, retrieved 2018/03/11, original source: https://rsph.anu.edu.au/files/Mr%20Fluffy%20150804.pdf
  Except:
  
  "Mr. Fluffy: From 1968 to 1979, D Jansen & Co Pty Ltd. (Mr Fluffy) insulated ~1,100 residences in Canberra by blowing loose-fill asbestos into their ceiling spaces; amosite in most cases, crocidolite in a few."
• Lew, Dan, "Mr Fluffy – Asbestos Marketing and the (Mr. Fluffy) asbestos crisis in Australia", HazMat Environmental, 2017/10/24, retrieved 2018/03/11, original source: http://www.haz-mat.ca/2017/10/24/mr-fluffy-asbestos-marketing-mr-fluffy-asbestos-crisis-australia/ , Excerpt:
  
  “Retains Effectiveness Forever” - Mr Fluffy refers to a widespread asbestos contamination incident that occurred in the suburbs of Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
  
  Two companies, referred to collectively as Mr Fluffy (a nickname coined in the 1990s for Asbestosfluf Insulations, and its successor J&H Insulation, the former run by Canberra businessman Dirk Jansen, the latter owned by a relative of his), imported and installed fibrous, loose-fill amphibole asbestos (in most cases brown amosite, though instances of blue crocidolite have been recorded) as an insulation by blowing the product into roof spaces of homes during the 1960s and 1970s.
  
  Additionally, the companies are believed to have sold sacks of asbestos fibre direct to homeowners to insulate their own homes, and other operators may have also used the hazardous material trying to copy Jansen’s business model. - in turn excerpted or adapted from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Fluffy as of 2018/03/11

An Australian government survey reveals a quarter of homeowners affected by the ongoing Mr. Fluffy asbestos crisis in Canberra have mental health issues, some as serious as suicide, according to the Canberra Times.

Australian readers concerned about Mr. Fluffy insulation should also see the

• Australian National Asbestos Register at https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/national-asbestos-exposure-register
  
  The agency strongly encourages you to use the online registration form, but if you cannot do this, please email enquiries@asbestossafety.gov.au to request a PDF form which you can fill out on your computer.

Does modern vermiculite fireproofing spray on in Australia contains asbestos?

Anonymous asked:

This is a query regarding a possible new purchase.

Very good site. I just wish to know if modern vermiculite fireproofing spray on in Australia contains any asbestos (or is it legislated out ) and Is it okay to sand this modern vermiculite fireproofing spray on ? On 2022-01-12 by Anonymous

Answer by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) -

@Anon:

Please note this excerpt from the page above:

Australian Regulation of Asbestos Containing Products

The use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in Australia in the mid 1980s.

Chrysotile asbestos was banned in Australia on 31 December 2003

From this you should be assured that no building product or spray or ceiling paint coating sold in Australia after those dates would be an asbestos hazard.

Watch out: that does not mean that sanding byproducts or dust from building renovations or demolition are harmless. Proper dust control, personal protective equipment, and cleanup are always in order.

Hazards other than asbestos can be found in dust from sanding or scraping building surfaces, even modern ones, such as silica dust, plaster dust, sometimes less-than-obvious mold or other hazardous materials, and in older buildings other hazards such as lead paint.

Asbestos in Australian Appliances, Toasters & Toaster Covers

Asbestos was widely used in toasters in several forms including electrical wire insulation, toaster side insulation, and heating element carriers from about 1910 through the 1970's and in some toaster appliances even into the mid 1980's.

Asbestos was also used in toaster covers (Landry 1981).

Butler (1903) patented a hand-held bread toaster (not-electric) that used or might use asbestos as one of the early U.S. patents citing use of asbestos in toasters.

Asbestos was still being used in toaster appliances in 1982 (Zim 1982) and is described in baking and frying appliances in 1984 (Matz 1984).

• Anderson, Roy J. "Electric toaster." U.S. Patent 2,548,511, issued April 10, 1951.

See details at ASBESTOS USE in APPLIANCES

Did this old 1927 GE monitor top refrigerator in Australia have asbestos?

Did the old 1927 GE monitor top refrigerator have asbestos? On 2018-03-11 by Alyssa -

Answer by (mod) - use of asbestos in GE Monitor-top type refrigerators in Australia

Here is an image of the GE Monitor-Top type refrigerator from 1927, from the Victoria Australia museum collection.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Alyssa

Possibly, but my research did not find any mention of asbestos in the description of the GE monitor-top refrigerators.

The GE Monitor Top refrigerator was a major product development for General Electric and was widely sold and is still recognized world-wide.

I searched particularly for refrigerator insulation and for refrigerator gaskets and gasket patents associated with GE from 1925 - 1930 to see if those mentioned use of asbestos and did not find that indicator.

Givens, Albert L. "Refrigerator." U.S. Patent 1,533,646, issued April 14, 1925. Original Assignee General Electric Co

Sywert, Philip T. "Gasket." U.S. Patent 1,694,291, issued December 4, 1928. I will include an image from this patent)

Griffiths, Richard T. "Packing gasket and method of making same." U.S. Patent 1,705,455, issued March 12, 1929.

Asbestos could also have been used as a refrigerator body or door insulating material, though I did not find that either (yet - I'm still researching).

Other patents from the same era such as Carrey, 1930 do cite use of asbestos in the refrigerator construction.

• Carrey, John O. "Vacuous refrigerator and method of maintaining vacuum therein." U.S. Patent 1,747,969, issued February 18, 1930. Original Assignee C & C Engineering Company Inc
  
  Excerpt from that patent:
  
  A U-shaped strip 24 of heat non-conducting material such as asbestos is placed over the bent edge 20 and a thin sheet 25 of lead is then placed over the U-shaped strip 24 and the whole is then forced into the pocket 23, and the assembled joint has the lead covering 25 bearing against the inner face of rebent edge 21 and the edge from edge 21 by asbestos covering 24.

Also Ballew 1925 describes use of asbestos in the refrigerator doors:

• Ballew, Neual W. "Vacuum-insulated container." U.S. Patent 1,561,769, issued November 17, 1925.
  
  The inner shells each contact with the outer shell only over a small surface at its front end. The doors 4:, where they contact with the outer shell may be lined with a suitable heat insulating material, such as cork or asbestos, not shown.
  

Asbestos Electrical Friction Materials in Australia

Asbestos is an important and major constituent of many types of friction materials. Modern industry makes use of friction materials in a wide variety of applications—automobiles, trucks, hoists, washing machines, and other moving or rotating equipment. See Figures 7.1 and 7.2 below.

Photos above: chrysotile asbestos was found in this 78” butterfly valve installed in a power station in Melbourne, Australia - discussed in more detail under Bearing Compnents

at ASBESTOS PHOTO GUIDE to MATERIALS.

Research on Asbestos Uses & Products in Australia

• 1981-1991: Australia introduced a ban on all ACM in 1991 (in-stock materials continued to be sold) [28]
• Accoflex 2005 series semi-flexible vinyl tile flooring product description; Armstrong's Accoflex is a vinyl composition floor tile. WonderFlooring, Private Bag X02, Fordsburg 2033, Telephone: 011 298 8100, Fax: 011 836 4450, National Call Centere: 0860-29-80-80, Email: info@wonderflooring.com
  
  Web search 01/29/2011, original source: http://www.wonderflooring.com/accoflex/accoflextech2.pdf Reference: Armstrong Flooring: Accotile, Accoflex & Coke Tile. Publication 333, Armstrong Flooring.
  Note on use of the "Accoflex" name:
  
  In addition to Accoflex flooring produced by Armstrong, Accoflex® is also a U.S. registered trademark used for Insulation Jackets For Industrial Pipes, Tanks and Conduits Including Flexible and Rigid Insulation In the Form of Foamed Synthetic Material Sheeting, owned by Armacell Enterprise Gmbh, Armstrong World Industries, Inc, also distributed in the U.K., Australia, & New Zealand, also in Indonesia.
  
  Armacell Australia Pty Ltd, a producer of engineered foams, (http://www.armacell.com/) was founded officially in August 2000 when the then Armstrong Insulation Products (Australia) became a separate legal entity from Armstrong World Industries group.
• ASBESTOS, WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW, Government of South Australia, web search 10.05.2010, original source: http://www.safework.sa.gov.au/uploaded_files/asbestos_whatyoushouldknow.pdf
  SafeWork SA Mineral Fibres Unit, Telephone: (08) 8303 0405
  
  Dr Joe Crea, Chief Advisor - Hazardous Substances, SafeWork SA, Telephone: (08) 8303 0207, E-mail: crea.joe@saugov.sa.gov.au
  
  Asbestos Victims Association (SA) INC, Telephone: (08) 8331 0254
  
  Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Telephone: (08) 8204 2004
• ASBESTOS, A GUIDE for MINOR RENOVATION, [PDF] Australia DEIR, includes common locations where asbestos is found in Queensland homes,
  retrieved 2018/04/05, original source: http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/asbestos/resources/pdfs/asbestos-home-renovators-trades-guide.pdf
  
  Excerpt:
  This guide, produced by the Queensland Government, is based on an original guide entitled Asbestos: A home renovator’s and tradesperson’s guide for minor work in domestic buildings.
• ASBESTOS PRODUCTION QUANTITY - includes tables of production quantities of asbestos in Australia
• Australia: SEALING, PAINTING, COATING & CLEANING of ASBESTOS CEMENT PRODUCTS [PDF], Victoria Government, Australia, retrieved 2019/08/28 original source: http://www.asbestos.vic.gov.au/in-the-workplace/sealing-painting-coating-and-cleaning-asbestos-cement-products
• Australia: SAFE PRACTICES for HOMEOWNERS REPAIRING or REMOVING SMALL AMOUNTS of ASBESTOS MATERIALS [PDF] ADRI, Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Asbstosawareness.com.au and the Australia Asbestos Education Committee - retrieved 2019/08/28 original source: asbestosawareness.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Fact-Sheet-2-Detailed-Asbestos-Management-1.pdf
• Australia: SAFE CUTTING HANDLING REMOVAL of TRANSITE PIPE [PDF] retrieved 2019/08/28 original source: https://www.qldwater.com.au/_literature_232979/Asbestos_Cement_Pipe_Cutting_Guidelines_June_2014
• Australia: ASBESTOS GUIDE for MINOR RENOVATION [PDF] Queensland Government, Australia, retrieved 2019/08/28 original source: https://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/files/document19919.pdf
• Asbestos Test Laboratories in Australia

  In Australia the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia, maintains lists of accredited service providers. Search the NATA website given below for "Asbestos Testing"
  
  see ASBESTOS TEST LABS in AUSTRALIA at NATA - http://www.nata.com.au/nata/

• Barton, Ruth. "Household technology in Western Australia 1900-1950." Oral History Association of Australia Journal, The 7 (1985): 108.
  Excerpt:
  In East Fremantle, about 1910, they heated their iron on a flat piece of asbestos laid over the top of a primus stove rather than on ...
• Cementious siding materials such as JAMES HARDIEPLANK® FC SIDING (also see Hardie's Fibrolite™ or Fibro where used in Australia) and cementious roofing materials such
  
  as ASBESTOS & FIBER CEMENT ROOFING
• Donlevy, Neil & Jefferson Gibbs, KPMG, "VALUATION of Asbestos-Related Disease Liabilities of former James Hardie entities (“the Liable Entities”) to be met by the AICF Trust" [PDF], (2016)
  
  Executive Summary Excerpt:
  
  This valuation report (“the Report”) has been prepared by KPMG Actuarial Pty Ltd (ABN 91 144 686 046) (“KPMG Actuarial”) in accordance with an “Amended and Restated Final Funding Agreement in respect of the provision of long-term funding for compensation arrangements for certain victims of Asbestos-related diseases in Australia” (hereafter referred to as the “the Amended Final Funding Agreement”) between James Hardie Industries NV (now known as James Hardie Industries plc) (hereafter referred to as “James Hardie”), James Hardie 117 Pty Limited, the State of New South Wales and Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund Limited (“AICFL”) which was signed on 21 November 2006.
  
  This Report is intended to meet the requirements of the Amended Final Funding Agreement and values the asbestos-related disease liabilities of the Liable Entities to be met by the AICF Trust.
  
  This Report is not intended to be used for any other purpose and may not be suitable, and should not be used, for any other purpose. Opinions and estimates contained in the Report constitute our judgment as of the date of the Report..
• Higgins, Caire, ASBESTOS DISEASES COMPENSATION BILL 2008 [PDF] Parliament of Victoria, Research Service, Parliamentary Library, Department of Parliamentary Services, D-Brief No. 5, 2008
  
  An examination of the Asbestos Diseases Compensation Bill 2008, the history of asbestos use in Australia, and law in other jurisdictions.
  
  NB: Readers should note that this paper was prepared prior to the passage of the Asbestos Diseases Compensation Bill 2008 through the Victorian Parliament. It was passed by the Legislative Council on 13 November 2008. Readers interested in this Act as passed should visit the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website @ http://ww.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au.
  
  Excerpt:
  Asbestos is a broad term encompassing several fibrous mineral deposits. Of these, chrysolite (white asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos) and amosite (brown asbestos) were mined or used in Australia.
  
  Prized for its lightweight, heat resistant qualities, asbestos was used in Australia from about 1900 to 1987 in commercial manufacturing and construction, as well as in domestic environments. Consumption of asbestos products peaked in Australia around 1970, and it has been argued that Australia had one of the highest consumption rates per-capita in the world.
  
  Much of the asbestos fibre used in Australia during this period was imported from South Africa and Canada.19
  
  A small number of asbestos mines operated in Australia. Blue asbestos, the most deadly form, was mined at Wittenoom in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Established by Lang Hancock in 1938, the mine was taken over by a subsidiary of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) in the 1940s, and closed in 1966.
  
  Other mines included Baryulgil and Woodsreef in New South Wales, which both produced white asbestos for James Hardie Industries and operated until 1976 and 1983 respectively.
  
  James Hardie was the largest producer of asbestos products in Australia.
• Hills, B. (1989) Blue Murder: Two Thousand Doomed to Die – The Shocking Truth About Wittenoom’s Deadly Dust, South Melbourne, Sun Books.
  
  

  … in the mill it [level of airborne asbestos dust] was blinding. One hundred-watt light bulbs hanging from the ceiling of the tin shed looked like candles, one worker recalls. When you walked in, you had to get within a couple of feet of a man to recognise him, because their faces were coated with dust like pancake make-up.

• Johnson, Nathan, "Made in China (with asbestos): MBA raises alarms" [news article], 2015/02/26 - retrieved 2017/03/24, original source: http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/made-in-china-with-asbestos-mba-raises-alarms
  Excerpt:
  
  Master Builders Australia (MBA) have released an alarming media release warning the Australian design and construction industry to be wary of imported Chinese building products “laced with asbestos”.
  
  MBA reported that Australian border-security officials have admitted to a limited capacity to stop contaminated goods entering Australia and that the Abbott government has conceded it is unable to guarantee Chinese imports are free of asbestos, amid some evidence of its use in the car, mining and building industries.
• Musk, Arthur W., Nola J. Olsen, Alison Reid, Tim Threlfall, and Nicholas H. Klerk. "Asbestos‐related disease from recycled hessian superphosphate bags in rural Western Australia." Australian and New Zealand journal of public health 30, no. 4 (2006): 312-313.