Monday 28 January 2013

Tsunami leaves Japan with toxic asbestos legacy

Tonnes of asbestos has been found at more than a dozen Japanese tsunami sites with worrying implications for public health.

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER:

While there has been much anxiety about radioactive fallout from the Fukushima disaster, there are warnings that Japan's tsunami may have left another toxic legacy. With hundreds of thousands of buildings along the north-east coast damaged and destroyed, it's estimated that the giant waves scattered tonnes and tonnes of asbestos. The cancer-causing fibrous material was used in building materials such as sheeting, fireproofing and insulation. Already more than a dozen tsunami sites have registered asbestos levels above the World Health Organisation's safety limit. North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports from tsunami zone on the Sendai Plain in north-east Japan.

Lateline - 28/01/2013: Tsunami leaves Japan with toxic asbestos legacy

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