Seven more public sites in Sydney, including a school, sports hub and supermarket, were exposed to asbestos, authorities said on Monday, as the contamination of the toxic material widened and officials rushed to remove it from public spaces.
Traces of bonded asbestos in mulch have been found in 41 spots scattered across Australia’s most populous city since early January when it was found in a playground.
In response, the New South Wales state government has set up an asbestos task force to give more resources and support to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), in one of the agency’s largest probes in decades.
Authorities have so far cordoned off areas in parks, some in popular tourist spots, and closed two schools. Contaminated spots in other sites have been blocked from the public.
Yeah, I’ve seen this cropping up over the last few days and was wondering.
A quick look through a few news sources suggests that it is related to an artificial ground mulch made from recycled materials. This mulch was used in a bunch of parks. It came from a recycling company that claims all its mulch has tested negative for asbestos. Again, although it is referred to as ‘bonded asbestos’ which means it has been combined with another building material, it doesn’t say what. Up until the 90s asbestos was used in concrete, under lino, and in drywall.
… I don’t know who the fuck would use ground up construction materials for playgrounds mulch. Pretty sure the school near me (in Canada) users ground up tires, so I’m not walking too tall here. I suspect that’s going to be it’s own thing in a few years. (Tires are pretty fucking toxic. They very optimistically thought they could make artificial reefs from them in the 80s. No. Nothing will grow on them.)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/19/asbestos-mulch-locations-sydney-sites-near-me-nsw-map-full-list-when-where-found-schools-parks-epa-news
We already know that car tires are a top contributor to microplastics in the environment (through the tread being worn down during regular use) so I’m sure shredded tires aren’t the best to have kids playing in.
Super toxic. To the point that when they are shredded as sports field padding, the soccer goalkeepers are getting rare cancers from diving and breathing the dust.