Asbestos is banned in over 70 countries, including the UK but still lurks in our buildings, our landfills – and our water pipes. Men, women and children are still being exposed to it – and are dying from that exposure or living with very serious cancers as a result. Most of us know that inhaling asbestos is dangerous and that’s how most people are thought to be exposed. But now there is also growing concern amongst scientists and campaigners about the potential risks of water – and whether environmental exposure like this could cause another wave of preventable cancers. Our cross-border investigation team looked at asbestos in water across European countries, all the articles, collected under the hashtag, #AsbestosInDrinkingWater, and the general lack of regulation across Europe, including Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia and the UK, can be found here at Investigative Reporting Denmark.
The concerns about drinking water focus in the most part on potential
mesothelioma exposure through swallowing it, known as ingestion, with colon, stomach and oesophageal cancers being linked. Dr Arthur Frank, professor of public health and professor of medicine at Drexel University in Philadelphia, is one of the leading international experts on asbestos and wants to raise alarm bells about ingestion as a possible mechanism for asbestos-related conditions. “The evidence is getting clearer and clearer. My concern is that it is in drinking water. The risk may not be great. But it is generally accepted that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.”
I looked at the UK situation for the BBC (BBC Future) and for The Ferret, and you can read my latest findings by clicking on those links. You can also read the European overview piece, written with my colleague, Staffan Dahllöf, for EU Observer.
UK FINDINGS
There are around 37,000km of asbestos cement water pipes in the UK. Asbestos was mixed into cement in order to improve the so-called tensile strength of the material when under stress, for instance when being stretched or pulled, as well as preventing corrosion.
In the UK, they account for between 1-27% of water pipes in different companies supplying water in the UK. I sent Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests to all the water companies in the UK. The area with the highest percentage of asbestos cement pipes (27%, amounting to just 580 metres of piping) was Essex and Suffolk Water, a small company now owned by Northumbrian Water, with Severn Trent’s Hafren Dyfrdwy’s water company in the Dee Valley reporting that 22% of the pipes there are asbestos cement lined. Cambridge Water, owned by South Staffordshire Water, reports 17%, with United Utilities, in the north-west of England, reporting 15% and Welsh Water 13%, followed closely by Anglian Water with 12.6%. The lowest AC proportion was reported by the Sutton and East Surrey water company, with less than 1%.
The responses from the water companies I received all referred to UK and international drinking water guidelines, explaining that these guidelines therefore meant they did not test the water for the presence of asbestos fibres and did not need to replace asbestos cement water pipes as a programme, although some did say that if they deteriorated, they would then replace them. This means that there is no information for the public about the level of asbestos fibres in UK drinking water available.
INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES ARE LACKING
Every four years the World Health Organisation (WHO) produces drinking water guidelines that are adhered to by most countries. In the UK, those drinking water guidelines are effectively replicated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which monitors the testing of drinking water by water companies and which is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The DWI last examined the subject over 20 years ago, with its report acknowledging: “most waters [in the UK], whether or not distributed through asbestos cement pipes, contain asbestos fibres” Despite this, the DWI does not expect water companies to monitor asbestos in water, and does not do so itself, referring to the WHO guidelines.
In 2012 the International Agency for Research in Cancer, (IARC) which is part of the WHO, reviewed the evidence up to 2009, and sounded a gentle alarm about asbestos entering drinking water supplies, in its Monograph, Arsenics, Metals, Fibres and Dusts. The monograph accepts that asbestos fibres can enter the water supply from pipes, as well as from landfills, adding: “Inhalation and ingestion are the primary routes of exposure to asbestos.” and explaining further: “Exposure may also occur
via ingestion of drinking-water, which has been contaminated with asbestos through erosion of natural deposits, erosion of asbestos-containing waste sites, corrosion of asbestos-containing cement pipes, or filtering through asbestos containing filters.”
The report added that in some locations the concentration of fibres can be as high as 10–300 million per litre of fluid. “The average person drinks about 2 litres of water per day…[the level] may be especially high for small children who drink seven times more water per day per kg of body weight than the average adult.
A spokesperson for the IARC told our investigation that the Monographs work programme “does not conduct risk assessment nor risk management, so most of the questions on risk would not fall within our remit nor our areas of expertise.” The IARC added: “Asbestos has not been nominated for a re-evaluation in the Monographs, and as a result there are no plans to do a re-evaluation to consider new evidence” – although it added that parties could request it is re-evaluated.
The latest version of the WHO guidelines, published in 2021, is a little more cautious than previous versions, pointing to what they call small scale but well researched studies that do seem to suggest an increased risk of some cancers but ultimately concluding that it was not “appropriate or necessary to establish a guideline value for asbestos fibres in drinking water” – a get out clause of water companies.
Yet the report also said that as the data was limited, it was “appropriate to minimise the concentrations of asbestos fibres in drinking-water as far as practical”, adding, “As these materials fail or deteriorate significantly, the asbestos cement materials should be replaced with non-asbestos-containing materials. No new sources of asbestos fibres in drinking-water should be introduced. Where replacement or repair of parts is required, it is essential to prevent worker exposure to asbestos dust. In addition, in view of the limited data available on occurrence of asbestos in drinking-water, investigative monitoring should be considered, to provide additional information on the contribution of older A/C pipes to numbers, types, size and shape of fibres in drinking-water.” There should be no new A/C pipes or storage containers used. The report also added, that as data was so limited, “it would be useful to conduct investigative monitoring to obtain further information on the contribution of older A/C pipes to fibre numbers, types, size and shape in drinking-water.” Despite this recommendation to carry out investigative monitoring, water companies and authorities have instead used the WHO guidelines to swerve away from research or monitoring.
This havering has not gone down well with all institutions. In October 2021 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on asbestos, mentioning decaying asbestos cement pipes and calling for a preventative approach – regular monitoring of fibres in water “in case there is a risk to human health” and calling for a plan to remove the pipes from the European drinking water network. This was not included in the final negotiations with the European and Council and Commission and did not make it into the Asbestos Work Directive, which became law across the EU in 2023. Nikolkaj Villumsen, a senior MEP from the Left, had tabled the original resolution. He told the BBC that the Commission’s Environment Directorate was “not willing to cooperate in any way [with the water section]. Parliament kept it in the final resolution, and we had meetings with DG ENV but it didn’t lead anywhere.”
Some countries are adopting much stronger measures in case of harm. In Australia, the government’s Australian Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA) released guidelines on how to manage asbestos cement water and sewer pipes last year, to minimise or reduce the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres from asbestos cement pipes. Estimating that there are more than 40,000km of AC water and sewer pipes, the agency says that the pipes are entering the end of their usable lifespan and that the pipes can be hazardous when fibres are released into the air or soil. The guidelines give information about controlling asbestos risks, managing pipes left in the ground, training workers in the safe removal of asbestos, clear signage alerting the public and workers to asbestos being present; there should be air monitoring; decontamination of clothing and the area, and if not possible, safe disposal; and other rules.
Just as in the UK, there is no routine monitoring of water but the agency says: “it is known that the deterioration of AC pipes can result in asbestos fibres being released into water supplies” and makes reference to the WHO updating its guidelines. Repairing or removing AC pipes is classified as ‘high risk construction work’. Any tools or equipment used can only be used if they are enclosed or used in a way that captures the fibres. Air monitoring may be required and the work area, tools and workers must be decontaminated immediately after completing any such work. It will cost around $4bn. The state of Victoria, which is home to 70% of the country’s A/C cement pipes, is now replacing the pipes, leaving them in the soil, but with no water flowing through them.
UK WATER COMPANIES – A POSTCODE LOTTERY
Analysis of the my Environmental Information Regulation requests also show huge divergence between water companies in terms of how many asbestos cement pipes they own. UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) carries out collaborative research on the UK and Ireland’s water sector, publishing in-depth research reports. In a 2020 report, analysing the deterioration of AC water mains and shedding light on failure prediction, estimates that are 50,000km of such main pipes in the UK and Ireland, 60% of which were installed over 50 years ago and saying, “their failure rate appears to be increasing”, adding, “The cost to replace the stock of AC water mains in the UK and Ireland would be between £5 and £8 billion.” This would come on top of the billions of pounds needed to separate out the rainwater and sewage system – although if the whole system was modernised, this would be an opportunity to replace all asbestos pipes at the same time.
Six companies own 75% of AC mains in the UK: Anglian Water, Scottish Water, Irish Water, United Utilities, Welsh Water and Severn Trent (which includes Bristol and Irish Water). Respectively, in terms of their mains length, the investigation found it accounts for 26% of Anglian Water’s mains pipes, 11% of Scottish Water, 10% of Irish Water, 10% of United Utilities, 10% of Welsh Water and 5% of Severn Trent. Yorkshire Water has 4% AC mains and Thames Water just 2%. AC cement has the highest burst rate for any material except for cast iron. Increasing property density may be a factor, with the UKWIR report also saying: “Burst rates are higher in areas with higher property density…increases in traffic loading as care use expanded has contributed to” deterioration. Burst and repair analysis obtained by the BBC in its EIR requests shows a postcode lottery.
In terms of bursts of pipes, my investigation found that Anglia Water made over 4100 repairs to AC pipes between 2017-2021, a percentage increase of 18% over just a five year period, with Welsh Water repairing pipes 5867 times in the same time period, of which 1136 pipes were repaired more than once, a 39% increase in repairs. United Utilities saw a sharp rise in repairs to such pipes, from only 60 in 2017 to 1460 in 2021, the biggest percentage increase, of 2333% over the same five year period and Scottish Water saw a 49% increase in bursts.
Asbestos pipes are ageing, and therefore bursting more frequently. Anglian Water’s AC pipes are almost all from the 1950s (83%), with Scottish Water reporting 62% from the same decade, and Northern Ireland Water 40%. United Utilities reported 28% of its pipes were from the 1950’s, with 21% from the 1960s. All water companies reported pipes dating from the early 1900s onwards, with some as old as the 1900s-1920 (Welsh Water reporting 9%, Scottish Water 2%). This widespread picture of old pipes falling into disrepair is echoed elsewhere.
Back at the WHO, a committee is starting to look at the 2026 guidelines for drinking water. Yet again, they will inform the guidelines for water companies and other authorities across the world. The committee formulating the guidelines has representatives from the worlds of business, science and medicine. Previously, there has been suspicion that the guidelines have not been strengthened due to lobbying by interested parties. Will 2025 be different – and asbestos cement pipes finally consigned to history?
This investigation was part of a cross border project looking at the legacy of asbestos, supported by JournalismFund.
Katharine Quarmby 