The MPs expressed concern that the risk to health is likely to increase as buildings are adapted with the move to net zero and old asbestos insulation is disturbed in the process.
A new report from the Committee found that asbestos persists as the single greatest cause of work-related fatalities, despite the material being banned more than two decades ago. There were more than 5,000 deaths in 2019, including from cancers such as mesothelioma.
Many of these deaths will relate to exposures from 35 or more years ago. The available evidence indicates that cumulative exposures are much lower now for younger age groups, but more data is needed to understand the current picture.
With asbestos still present in around 300,000 non-domestic buildings and with a likely dramatic increase in disturbance from net-zero retrofitting, the Committee says that reliance on the current asbestos regulations will not be good enough. It concludes that a cross-government and ...