{"id":41351,"date":"2022-12-31T12:23:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T23:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=41351"},"modified":"2022-12-31T12:23:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T23:23:33","slug":"our-house-is-killing-us-hidden-risk-for-aussie-homeowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/our-house-is-killing-us-hidden-risk-for-aussie-homeowners\/","title":{"rendered":"Our house is killing us: hidden risk for Aussie homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: Sandie Foreman is lucky to be alive after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Multiple Aussies are discovering they have crushing health problems due to their homes. Now they are warning others could face a similar fate.<\/p>\n

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What started as a family home has turned into a death house for Marguerite Davoren.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While many her age are enjoying a hard earned break after a lifetime of work, the 73 year old is mourning the recent loss of her husband and getting fluid drained from her lungs.<\/p>\n

She can\u2019t drive or do the gardening anymore because she is in too much pain.<\/p>\n

And as she notices the grout crumbling in her bathroom or the old electrical sockets wearing away, she knows she can\u2019t do anything but watch as her asbestos house ages and she counts down her final days.<\/p>\n

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\"This<\/div>\n

This unassuming house could turn deadly if the walls are disturbed. Picture: Asbestos Awareness.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

She is one of a growing number of Australians being diagnosed with a life-threatening asbestos related disease after exposure in the home, with an estimated one in three houses built before 1990 still likely to contain the banned fibre.<\/p>\n

Like many in her generation, she and her husband didn\u2019t shy away from hard work. They dug the 96 pier holes that would support their home by hand and cut every sheet of fibro asbestos panelling to the right size.<\/p>\n

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\"Asbestos<\/div>\n

Asbestos was used in 3000 products before being banned in 2003. Picture: Asbestos Awareness.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ms Davoren said the popular brand of construction product didn\u2019t come with any health warnings at the time, and it was considered the most affordable yet durable option for Aussies building their homes on a budget.<\/p>\n

But after living in the home for 50 years, Ms Davoren\u2019s husband was diagnosed with mesothelioma – a cancer known to be caused by asbestos exposure.<\/p>\n

One year later he died.<\/p>\n

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A few months ago Ms Davoren found out she too had the incurable cancer – a disease where only 6.3 per cent of those diagnosed live longer than five years.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the diagnosis or the lack of health warning that has angered Ms Davoren – it\u2019s what it means for her house, the asset she worked so hard to build.<\/p>\n

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\"Asbestos<\/div>\n

Asbestos is still found in tile glue and grout. Picture: Asbestos Awareness.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

\u201cBecause the whole house is built from asbestos I can\u2019t have anything done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a powerpoint gone but I can\u2019t get anyone in to fix it because that would disturb it (the asbestos).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the bathroom, I can\u2019t get it regrouted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means my supposed asset is up the creek. Who wants to buy an asbestos house?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sandie Foreman knows what it is like to live with mesothelioma. At just 58 she was told she probably had six to 18 months left to live.<\/p>\n

At the time of diagnosis, she hadn\u2019t experienced any chest pain or shortness of breath – in fact, the cancer was only picked up because she had an X-Ray for something unrelated.<\/p>\n

Because it was early days, she was one of 8 people in the 700 diagnosed that year considered eligible for treatment.<\/p>\n

This consisted of five rounds of chemotherapy, intensive surgery where her entire left lung, the lining of her heart and part of her diaphragm were removed, followed by one month of radiation therapy.<\/p>\n

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She was so ill from the treatment her weight dropped to 45kg.<\/p>\n

Five years on, she hasn\u2019t had a recurrence yet knows she hasn\u2019t been cured.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her exposure was traced back to a place she worked at in the 1980s as a hairdresser and makeup artist where routine maintenance is thought to have released asbestos dust into the air.<\/p>\n

She was not the only worker to have developed an asbestos disease from the building.<\/p>\n

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\"Asbestos<\/div>\n

Asbestos could be lurking in your backyard. Picture: Asbestos Awareness.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

Since her diagnosis she has met countless people who were exposed in their homes and workplaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people who have not survived it and were exposed because they helped their dad do some home repairs when they were teenagers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr younger people that said, \u2018we used to break up the fibro sheeting from the shed that got torn down and use it like chalk to play hopscotch\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a mortgage broker, she cautions clients thinking of renovating older houses.<\/p>\n

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She said it\u2019s worth the extra expense to have any asbestos removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advice has always been if you don\u2019t disturb it, it is fine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the thing is – it\u2019s fine for now. There\u2019s no such thing as something that won\u2019t break down eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really want that stuff in your house with your kids?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Chair<\/div>\n

Chair of the Asbestos and HAZMAT Removalists Association Bret Baker.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

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