Exploring whether aging asbestos-cement water pipes are releasing fibres.
Australia has approximately 40,000 km of drinking water pipes that are made of asbestos-cement.
Although the current weight of evidence is that there is no risk to human health from the consumption of asbestos fibres in water, the World health Organization has recommended that it is useful to conduct investigative monitoring to obtain information on the contribution asbestos-cement pipes to fibre numbers in drinking-water.
With that in mind, ASSEA conducted a small-scale project at Shepparton in 2023-2024, finding no fibres in the water samples taken and analysed. The Agency is currently planning a larger scale study with sampling to be conducted of drinking water in a number of locations across Australia.
