Asbestos Cement Water Pipes: The Unknown/Forgotten Legacy*
Julian Branch, Prevent Cancer Now
Asbestos cement, or Transite pipes contain approximately 20% asbestos. Research shows the lifespan of the pipes, on a good day, is 50 to 70-years. Recent studies have shown the rate of breakage of asbestos cement water pipes has increased greatly in recent years, and that when the pipes do break, they tend to do so in a catastrophic fashion. Government of Canada studies show severely deteriorated asbestos cement pipes can leach fibres into the water, causing a “health concern.” Those same studies show that in some circumstances, hot, dry weather can exacerbate the problem of pipe breaks, due to shifting soil.

As previously mentioned, in 1995, the EPA said swallowing asbestos from old water pipes could cause cancer. The current EPA website has downgraded the health concerns associated with ingested asbestos to an increased risk of developing benign intestinal polyps. Yet the American Cancer Society continues to highlight swallowing asbestos and asbestos cement water pipes on its website. Canada does not regulate asbestos in water. Health Canada maintains there is no evidence that ingested asbestos is hazardous. New research is coming out of Europe that is raising concerns. Researchers in Italy are working on a theory that ingested asbestos is behind increasing rates of cancer.

How and when did ingested asbestos stop causing cancer in the United States, and what is being done about the hundreds of thousands of old asbestos cement pipes that still deliver water to millions of Americans?