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Protect yourself – and your family – from asbestos exposure
Latrobe City Council is urging residents to reduce their risk of being exposed to asbestos in their homes.
Nearly three in four homes in Latrobe City are likely to contain asbestos, which is significantly higher than the national average of one in three homes.
Asbestos is a fibrous building material that was used in many homes built before 1990 – especially in the eaves, ceilings, internal and external wall cladding, as well as under tiling and lino.
Breathing asbestos fibres can cause a range of life-threatening diseases including the cancer mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Australia has one of the highest measured incidence rates of mesothelioma in the world. Each year in Australia, between 700 and 800 people are diagnosed with the rare and aggressive cancer.