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Asbestos In New Zealand

Just before the Second World War asbestos really only found its way into New Zealand in the form of manufactured items. Since that time, the only asbestos containing products that have been manufactured in any quantity in this country were asbestos cement building material, such as roofing and wall claddings, pipes and other moulded products.
Depending on the item being manufactured, they were made of a mixture of Portland cement, sand and usually between 5 and 15 percent of either chrysotile, amosite or crocidolite --- the asbestos acting as reinforcing because of it's fibrous nature and its high tensile strength.
The bulk was the white variety, chrysotile , which was cheaper and more easily worked. Because the "best" blue crocidolite from South Africa was more expensive it tended to be used in only products requiring greater heat tolerance or strength (such as in pipes expected to contain higher pressures or temperatures).

A lesser quality of crocidolite from the Wittenoom mine in Western Australia was also used to some extent.
Amosite, or brown asbestos was imported from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Another major use of asbestos was as the raw material for insulation and acoustic products.

This saw the various types of asbestos mixed with a binder and spayed around boilers, pipes, ducts and other places where insulation against heat and noise was needed.
From the 1950's until the 1970's thousands of tonnes of asbestos were applied in this way, most notably in the power stations built in the period, but also in railway workshops, shipbuilding and maintenance and other large scale industrial applications.

Sprayed asbestos was also extensively used as a fire retardant for protecting structural steelwork. Usually the insulation was applied by contractors who mixed asbestos from the bags or sacks it had been imported in, before spraying the mixture on to chicken wire reinforcing.

Other work places where asbestos was used included railway workshops, boiler rooms, and in fact most of the countries major industrial complexes where insulation against heat was required.

Some of the industrial applications were less obvious. For example, asbestos was commonly used in the brewing industry to filter beer from the 1920's to the early 1970's, and it was dropped into wine to act as finings and clarify the finished product.
Another unusual use for blue asbestos was as a filtering component in gas masks of British Manufacture that were standard issue for troops and others from the First World War until after the Second World War.
An inner core of asbestos was surrounded by woollen wadding and the item was standard issue to all New Zealand Troops in danger of gas attack.

Before the Second World War, asbestos was not imported in its raw state in sufficient quantity to appear in the import statistics. With the beginning of local manufacturing and an increase in post war construction, more than 2000 tonnes were being imported annually by the late 1940's. This continued though out the 1950's with peaks of up to 5000 tonnes in some years. Usage increased dramatically during the 1960's and until well into the 1970's with the 5000 tonnes being a minimum amount being imported during those years, and the average being closer to 8000 tonnes.

Imported asbestos peaked in 1975 at 12,500 tonnes though as recently as 1983, 3000 tonnes were imported. Through out the 40 years asbestos was imported in large quantities, about two thirds of the amount imported was chrysotile from Canada, with the balance being made up of different types from Australia, South Africa or, to a lesser extent, the United States.
Asbestos was only ever mined in small quantities in New Zealand, as chrysotile from a single mine near Takaka from the early 1950's until early 1960's. It was of low quality and had to be mixed with imported material.
In the late 1960's a sizable deposit was found near Dusky Sound, but for various reasons these were never exploited. Since 1984 the importing of Blue and Brown asbestos has been banned
(in its raw state?)

Permission for the above information was kindly allowed by

Capital Environmental Services (2005)Ltd

Deadly building materials still coming into NZ -

report NZPA | Tuesday July 1 2008:

Building products with asbestos in them are putting builders at deadly risk,
a new report commissioned by the Department of Labour says.
The report, obtained by NZPA under the Official Information Act, says many builders would not know asbestos if they saw it.
And while local manufacturing of those products ceased in the late 1980s, builders might also be at risk of imported goods from countries where there is no such ban. New Zealand has a ban on importing raw asbestos but no ban on importing asbestos in goods as long as they are labelled, and no testing for them at ports.
The report's author is former national operations manager for Occupational Safety and Health, Mike Cosman.

Now a consultant, Mr Cosman said he knew of several unlabelled imported products in recent months that had tested positive for asbestos.
They included roofing materials, flooring and even tape.
But he said there was no way of knowing how much was coming into the country at the moment.
Much of it is from southeast Asia, where there are no constraints on manufacturing with asbestos.

"There is little rationale for not introducing a ban as safer alternatives are available for the vast majority of uses."
New Zealand factories stopped making building products containing asbestos in the mid-1980s after the fibre became clearly linked with respiratory illnesses and cancer.
Asbestos is deemed safe if intact. But builders and home renovators are still vulnerable to exposure if they unknowingly disturb old housing materials with asbestos in them.
Mr Cosman's report also found low awareness of asbestos in the construction industry.

"The older workers tended to think asbestos was yesterday's problem, that it had all been sorted in the 80s, and younger workers, of which there were an increasingly number in the industry, know nothing about it. "The Department of Labour said it was carrying out a wider review of asbestos handling in the workplace, which might include a ban on imported asbestos products.
In late April, a cancer researcher said he believed one in 10 Australian carpenters born before 1950 would die of a fatal asbestos-linked cancer, mesothelioma.

Professor Julian Peto said the use of brown asbestos or amosite, and blue asbestos or crocidolite, in building products in Australia and Britain until the 1980s had been completely uncontrolled.
"Carpenters would chop it up with power saws without much concern at all."
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has called for a national inquiry to examine ways of eliminating asbestos from workplaces and homes .

January 2011

I have inserted my own comments during this page,
so anything coloured and in italics is from me

Products containing asbestos are still allowed to come into
New Zealand with absolutely no HSNO approval from ERMA being required.
There is no comprehensive list of the products that contain asbestos
that may currently be imported into New Zealand
I believe most New Zealanders who know how dangerous asbestos is,
also believe that the import of raw asbestos was banned in NZ

( IDIOTS !
IDIOTS !
THAT'S WHAT WE ARE
AND THE SAD THING ABOUT IT,
IS WE JUST NEVER LEARN .
HOW CAN THAT BE TRUE
WHEN THERE IS A PROVISION TO
OBTAIN AN APPROVAL from ERMA)

The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
requires anyone wishing to import raw asbestos
to first obtain an approval
from Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA).

New Zealand Customs Service

Prohibited imports

The following schedule sets out a brief explanation
of the import prohibitions and restrictions that the
New Zealand Customs Service enforces at the border.

Goods:
Controls on the Importation of Hazardous Substances.
|
Asbestos in its raw fibrous state
|
Hazardous substances
including explosives, and certain toxic substances

Purpose:

Control the importation of
asbestos in its raw fibrous state
|
Controls on the Importation of Hazardous Substances.

       Authority:

Environmental Risk Management Authority

        Legislation:

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996

1999
CUSTOMS IMPORT PROHIBITION (ASBESTOS) ORDER 1999 023
Commenced: 4-MAR-1999
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This note is not part of the order,
but is intended to indicate its general effect
This order continues the prohibition on the importation
of asbestos into New Zealand imposed in 1984.
There are 2 changes from the 1984 order.
First, chrysotile, in its raw fibrous state,
has been added to the list of prohibited imports.
Second, the Minister for Enterprise and Commerce
has replaced the Minister of Health as the Minister
who may give consent to the importation of asbestos
and who may impose conditions on the importation.
------
Issued under the authority of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989
Date of notification in Gazette: 4 February 1999.
This order is administered in the New Zealand Customs Service.

   Office of Hon Dr. Nick Smith
      MP for Nelson
      Minister for the Environment
        Minister for Climate Change Issues

        Minister for ACC

2 2 OCT 2009

Dear Deidre vanGerven

              Thank you for your email of 1 August 2009
to the Prime Minister regarding health risks from asbestos. I am responding on behalf of the Prime Minister as the issues you raise touch on a number of Ministers' portfolios.
I am sorry to hear of your distressing first hand experiences and I agree with you that managing the potential effects of asbestos is important.
I can assure you that both the mining of asbestos in New Zealand and the import of any form of raw asbestos
fibre into New Zealand has, for all practical purposes, been prohibited.

New Zealand factories stopped making building products containing asbestos back in the 1980s.
The focus now is ensuring the appropriate management and handling of historic asbestos products that are still in use or have been disposed of.
This is mainly achieved through the Department of Labour
(which manages asbestos in places of work)
and through local authorities, who manage landfills and other sites where asbestos has been disposed of. Further, although some products containing asbestos are still able to be imported, suppliers of products containing asbestos must ensure that the products are labeled as such, so that adequate precautions may be taken.
( A lot of imports are coming from
countries that have little or no regulations on the use of asbestos
Do you really believe that a country
is going to put labels on saying
there is asbestos in their products,
when they don't have any rules and regulations
for the safety of their own workers,
Come of it.
That's called "Putting you head in the sand"
I bet there is no one taking regular samples
of these products and testing them for asbestos
The only way you can police this sort of trade
is a total ban on any asbestos
in any form being allowed into New Zealand
Regular testing of products from the countries
that do not have any appropriate regulations
set up on the control
and use of asbestos in any form )
As the use of asbestos-containing products is decreasing internationally, the government does not consider that further regulation of imports is required at this stage.
The Department of Labour is the department that manages the potential risks from asbestos, through the Health and Safety in Employment (Asbestos) Regulations 1998 and the Guidelines for the Management and Removal of Asbestos. I suggest that you contact them directly with any further concerns.

Yours sincerely

on Dr Nick Smith
Minister for the Environment

The following letter was sent by me.
Deidre van Gerven,
Sent:
Thursday, 22 October 2009 4:39 p.m.
Subject: Emailing:

Thank you for your reply to my letter.
I hear you say that you are sorry to hear of my
distressing first hand experiences of this product.
But unless you have gone through it yourself
you cannot imagine what it was like for me, my family, my husband's family
and all those people that have either already died
from this product or in the near future will do so.
It is bad enough that the products that were made
with or from asbestos are still in existence
and will most likely be forever in our environment,
but to knowingly still allow products to
be bought into NZ is criminal. There are no excuses.
Surely the Minister for the Environment
should be doing something about the law
to change this from happening. Or, as usual the game of
" pass the buck" still happens.
It's easier to say "it is not their responsibility."
The sad thing is if they say it long enough
they actually start to believe it.
Of course it is their responsibility.
Why do they think they were put in their positions.
If they can't do the job they were given , then
I believe they should stand down and give it to
someone else who morally thinks
the existing laws are wrong.
Does this minister really think that people
read labels on products to see if they have asbestos in them.
Most people believe that because the import of raw products
have been to all practical purposes prohibited;
the normal person in NZ
believes that means all asbestos products.
Not just the raw product.
In your second paragraph you say
1. That the import of any form of raw asbestos fibre into NZ has,
for all practical purposes, been prohibited.
So when you say "for all practical purposes"
are you saying that some of this raw product is
still being imported for impractical purposes.

2. What products that contain asbestos are
still being allowed into NZ.
I WOULD LIKE TO BE GIVEN A LIST OF THESE
TO ADD TO MY WEB SITE.
3.The use of asbestos is not really decreasing.
It is still being sent to countries where
the bulk of the people are not educated enough
to be aware of what is being done to them by unscrupulous countries..
4. As far as the Department of Labour being involved
in the safety issue.
That has nothing to do with the problems
I am asking about.
They are not the people responsible for the change of laws.
That is the responsibility of the Members of Parliament
who are paid by the people of New Zealand
to do their job and do it properly.
So far I do not see any evidence of this happening.
The word Honourable placed before a name of anyone
needs to be deserved in my opinion.
I have seen no evidence to do so
for any person who allows this to be happening,
yours sincerely,
Deidre vanGerven

   Office of Hon Dr Nick Smith


      MP for Nelson
     Minister for the Environment
       Minister for Climate Change Issues
        Minister for ACC

Dear Deidre van Gerven,
Thank you for your email of 22 October 2009
regarding the use of asbestos in New Zealand.
In your email you query the importation
of raw asbestos and request a list of the products
that contain asbestos that may be
imported into New Zealand
The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
requires anyone wishing to import raw asbestos
to first obtain an approval
from Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA).
No-one has applied for an approval to import raw asbestos.
(" The fact that no one has applied for an approval to import raw asbestos is neither here nor there."
"There should be no option for them to even think about importing it into New Zealand ")
Should anyone do so,
they would have to undertake a full assessment
and convince ERMA that the positive effects of importing raw asbestos
outweigh the adverse effects.
Hence my earlier comment that the
importation of raw asbestos has,
for all practical purposes,
been prohibited. The situation with asbestos-containing
products is different.
No HSNO approval from ERMA is required.
( "Either it is banned or it is not banned
If it is banned then there should be no provision to allow it to be imported into New Zealand for any reason.")

( NONE WHATSOVER. !!!!
YOU CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.!!!! )
However, these products are usually
used in a work situation where the
provisions of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 apply.
In some cases, their use is necessary because alternative
products are not available.
There is no comprehensive list
of the products that contain asbestos
that may currently be imported into New Zealand. However,
I can advise that the types of products
that may contain asbestos are cement sheets,
friction materials and articles
such as clutch pads and gaskets.
The government continues to support
international efforts to control the production
and export of asbestos,
including placing chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention.

( How can they be supporting anything ?,
when they are still allowing these products to come into
New Zealand !!!
So obviously, it's okay to import but not to export.
Some one is finding it hard to understand the words.
"ASBESTOS IN ANY FORM KILLS YOU JUST AS DEAD,
WHETHER IT'S THE RAW PRODUCT OR BEING CONTAINED IN A PRODUCT ."
I hope this Minister of the Environment is not thinking of removing
any asbestos related claims from ACC
After all he is also the Minister of ACC .
Is he is going to stand up and be counted,
for allowing these products containing asbestos to
still be imported into New Zealand,
which is only going to prolong the incidences of
asbestos related diseases here.
Or is he going to put more money into ACC
to help those poor victims to die,
knowing their families will be taken care of.
Nobody can use the excuse any more
that they did not know that
exposure to asbestos is dangerous,
There's got to be something
terribly wrong with how they think
if they do.

However, as I noted in my previous response,
the government does not consider that further
regulation of imports of asbestos-containing products
into New Zealand is required at this stage.
( No, of course not.
That might involve doing some work,
HOW TIRING !!! )

Yours sincerely
Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for the Environment

NEW ZEALANDERS TRYING TO SNEAK PRODUCTS CONTAINING ASBESTOS INTO AUSTRALIA.
What next ?,

Safety and Health Alert March 2010
Asbestos gaskets in imported plant Incident
Items of plant were recently imported
into Western Australia
and found to contain bonded asbestos gaskets.
The plant was imported from New Zealand and Thailand
for installation at a major industrial site.
Workers at the site were unaware
that any gaskets contained asbestos..

Contributing Factors
• All forms of asbestos containing materials have been
prohibited imports in Australia since 31st December 2003

• Gaskets containing asbestos are still manufactured in
some other countries.

• Plant was imported that included temporary shipping gaskets

It makes me feel ashamed
that our country stoops this low.
I have not been able to find any more
information on this subject,
but I hope both offenders were heavily fined
As far back as I have been able to research
it appears to me
that asbestos is the greedy mans treasure.
The profit that has been made from this
deadly material is astromonical.
And if you also add the deaths world wide
the figures go through the roof.
I hope those responsible
for these figures have accepted
what they have done.
Once it was known of the dangers
to mankind that asbestos caused,
then to proceed with the manufacture
and sale of this product
is tantamount to murder