Health risk concerns over degrading asbestos pipes
SCOTLAND has one of the highest rates of asbestosrelated diseases in the world, connected to a history of heavy industry where asbestos was previously used. In 2014, Scotland was found to have the highest global rate of mesothelioma, a cancer of the linings of certain organs.
Now experts fear that Scotland and other nations may be on the cusp of a new wave of asbestos cases.
An investigation by The Ferret as part of a cross-border probe into asbestos in the environment looked at the legacy of ageing asbestos cement (A/C) water pipes which supply drinking water.
A/C cement pipes in the UK are more likely to burst than any material except for cast iron and we can reveal that the burst rate of asbestos cement water pipes in Scotland has increased sharply – up by 49% between 2017 and 2021, from 860 to 1280 bursts in the timeframe.
Scottish Water also has one of the highest overall numbers of bursts in the UK – 4186 over the five-year period. The high burst rate for A/C pipes was mirrored and even exceeded in only a few other water company areas. United Utilities, in the north west of England, showed a particularly sharp increase in such pipes bursting and needing repair, from only 60 in 2017 to 1460 in 2021, an increase of over 2000% in just five years. Anglia Water saw an 18% increase and Welsh Water had a 39% increase.
Experts fear that as these water pipes age, fibres can leach into the drinking water supply and could be linked to certain cancers. Using Environmental Information Regulations requests across the UK, our investigation looked at how old asbestos cement water pipes were in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland; how often they were bursting and what percentage of asbestos cement water pipes there were in each water company area.
In Scotland, nearly two-thirds of asbestos cement water pipes (62%) are more than 70 years old, with six per cent being even older, dating from the 1940s and earlier.
Scottish Water and five other companies – Anglian Water, Irish Water, Welsh Water, Severn Trent and United Utilities – own around three-quarters of A/C pipes in the whole of the UK. In Scotland, 12% of mains water pipes are made out of asbestos cement and there are 3584 miles of them in total.
One reason pipes burst is their age, according to 2020 research by the UK Water Industry Research organisation (UKWIR). Its report found that around 60% of the 31,000 miles of asbestos cement water pipes in the UK and Ireland were installed more than 50 years ago, meaning that many are reaching the age of failure.
The report also found that “their failure rate appears to be increasing”, adding: “The cost to replace the stock of A/C water mains in the UK and Ireland would be between £5 billion and £8bn.” This would come on top of the billions of pounds the Government has estimated it would cost to separate out the rainwater and sewage systems.
The Ferret’s cross-border investigation found that this landscape of ageing asbestos cement water pipes, with increasing numbers of bursts, is mirrored in other European countries as well as in South Africa, Australia and the US.
INGESTION AS A ROUTE OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS
CONCERNS about drinking water and exposure to asbestos through swallowing fibres are being voiced by a number of experts including Dr Arthur Frank, professor of public health and medicine at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
He told The Ferret: “The evidence is getting clearer and clearer. My concern is that it is in drinking water.
“The risk may not be great. But it is generally accepted that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.”
Every four years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) produces drinking water guidelines adhered to in most countries, including the UK. The latest guidelines, published in 2022, point to studies that do seem to suggest an increased risk of some cancers. But the WHO ultimately concluded then that it was not “appropriate or necessary to establish a guideline value for asbestos fibres in drinking water”.
Yet the report also said that it was “appropriate to minimise the concentrations of asbestos fibres in drinking water as far as practical”, and said that “investigative monitoring should be considered”.
In the UK, WHO drinking water guidelines are effectively replicated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, a section of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It last examined the subject in detail over 20 years ago, with its report acknowledging that “most [drinking] waters in the UK” contain asbestos fibres.
DESPITE this, the DWI does not expect water companies to monitor asbestos in water and does not do so itself, referring to the WHO guidelines. Scottish Water, like other companies, therefore does not test for asbestos in drinking water.
In 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which is part of WHO, reviewed the evidence up to 2009 and raised concerns about asbestos entering drinking water supplies in its report, Arsenic, Metals, Fibres And Dusts.
“Inhalation and ingestion are the primary routes of exposure to asbestos,” the report said, explaining that, “exposure may also occur via ingestion of drinking-water, which has been contaminated with asbestos through … corrosion of asbestos-containing cement pipes” as well as from landfills and other routes.
In October 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on asbestos, calling for regular monitoring of fibres in water “in case there is a risk to human health” and for a removal plan for the pipes. But when the resolution became law in the form of the Asbestos Work Directive in late 2023, the wording on water pipes was removed.
CONCERNED VOICES IN SCOTLAND
PROFESSOR Andrew Watterson, a public health researcher at the University of Stirling, who has seen the data, told The Ferret: “As a public utility accountable to the Scottish Government, it is to be hoped that Scottish Water is and will continue to be fully transparent about the state of its asbestos cement water pipes, their burst rates which seem to be very high in recent years and their replacement.
“This is of concern because of the potential worker health and safety, and wider environmental risks posed by materials containing the carcinogen asbestos.
“It is also worrying that the normal end-of-life replacement time for such pipes in Scotland could apparently be
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AMAJOR research project has been launched by a Scottish university to address the health inequality experienced by the Roma community.
Roma populations suffer some of the poorest health and wellbeing outcomes in the country, including lower life expectancy of 10 or more years below the national average. There is also a higher prevalence of long-term chronic conditions and increased social exclusion.
The new £1.1 million, threeyear project by Heriot-Watt University will work in partnership with community groups of UKbased Roma people, civil society organisations and public authorities across three focus areas in Glasgow, Luton and Peterborough.
“This research is urgently needed as public health bodies and government reports continue to evidence the inequalities faced by Roma people living in the UK today which is severely impacting life expectancies and creating growing social exclusion,” said Dr Ryan Woolrych, director of the Urban Institute at Heriot-Watt University.
“There is a significant evidence gap in terms of exploring what it means to age within Roma communities and the interventions needed to ensure healthy and active ageing.”
He added: “We will address this by taking an inclusive, communitycentred approach to understanding barriers faced by Roma people in accessing healthcare and other services before supporting the development of services that build on their cultural assets and lived experiences. By doing so, we can positively influence a shift in health, wellbeing and place policies and practices for Roma groups.”