15 Aug 2025 Recently, in the course of my work, I was required to attend a 4-hour training session on asbestos awareness. We learnt that asbestos is a collective name for a group of naturally occurring minerals that form silicate rocks, and that its use can be traced right back to the Stone Age. James Hardie Industries began importing asbestos into New Zealand in the 1930’s and it quickly became the miracle product of its time. This resulted in thousands of tonnes of the product been imported from the 1940s until the 1980’s. Asbestos fibres, whilst microscopic, are incredibly durable, they are flameproof, waterproof, and resistant to chemicals and electricity. The product was malleable and was an excellent product for insulating boilers and engines, and for building and binding things together. At the time it was used in almost every industry from railways, building, shipping, and sawmilling in a huge range of products from flooring tiles and adhesives, through to wallboards, insulation, roofing, and electrical panels. Then we were told that asbestos is a killer – which we already knew. Released asbestos fibres are easily inhaled and carried into the lower regions of the lung. Once its fibres enter the body they can’t be removed or broken down. Even today asbestos related diseases kill approximately 170 people in New Zealand each year, with many people being diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma up to 40 years after their exposure events. Anyone who has worked with asbestos is at risk and today anyone who comes across asbestos is required to follow the strict Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 regarding its handling, removal and disposal. Failure to comply can result in fines of $2,000 to $10,000 for individuals or $10,000 to $50,000 for any other person. As I sat listening to this, I couldn’t help but think ‘are we not in the same position today with plastic?’ Should we not be concerned that plastic – the miracle product of the 21st century – is going to be the asbestos of the future? Yes, I determined, we should be greatly concerned. Unlike asbestos, which caused (and continues to cause) harm to those who handled the raw material or the many end products, today plastic effects all of us in our normal daily lives. Plastic is in the air we breathe. Research by the University of Auckland published in Environmental Science & Technology, found seventy-four metric tonnes of microplastics in Auckland’s atmosphere, the equivalent of three million plastic bottles per year. Its recently being reported that Americans, on average, swallow a credit card’s worth of microscopic plastic particles every week. Plastic is well established in our food chain. The vast majority of commercially caught fish contain microplastics. It is also now known that nano plastics, the smallest particles, can potentially enter human cells, cross the blood-brain barrier, and may build up in organs such as the testicles, liver and brain. Plastics have already been detected in the placenta. It is still unclear what the longer term environmental and health impacts of plastic will have on animals and humans. It’s not yet known how plastic in our body will affect us. Most probably, as was the case with asbestos, it will only be when people start dying of plastic poisoning that action will be taken. And no amount of legislation or safety gear will protect us. We simply don’t get a choice. What is clear is that if we continue to allow plastic into our food chain then it will most definitely become the asbestos of the future. Lean more here:- Asbestos in Aotearoa New Zealand | WorkSafe Share this page
