Cancer alert at asbestos museum

The Health and Safety Executive has issued asbestos warnings

Volunteer workers at a Cumbria museum have been told they may develop lung cancer after asbestos was found during a renovation.

The Haig Colliery Mining Museum in Whitehaven has been sealed off after tests revealed a mixture of white and brown asbestos was present.

While health officials say the risks of serious disease are "very low", former volunteers and local doctors have been alerted to potential long-term risks of cancer.

A local authority health inspector who visited the renovation site was given access to areas which had previously been inaccessible.

These included a basement area, which was poorly lit and full of rubbish.

The inspector saw asbestos-lagging on pipe work and alerted the authorities.

Restoration work has been going on since 1994.

In a letter to volunteers, Dr Nigel Calvert, a consultant with the Cumbria and North Lancashire team of the Health Protection Agency, warned of possible health risks.

We need to keep this in perspective. This is unfortunate, but the risks are very, very light Dr Nigel Calvert

He said: "Repeated occupational exposure to asbestos over a long period can lead to a number of diseases.

"These are asbestosis, bronchial carcinoma (lung cancer) and mesothelioma (a very rare cancer of the lining of the lungs).

"It is possible that low level exposure - such as you and your fellow volunteers may have had - may lead to these diseases.

"But the risks are very much less than for continued occupational exposure."

Dr Calvert added: "There appears to have been a very low level of exposure in this case.

"Blue asbestos is the worst kind and this has not been found at Haig.

"We need to keep this in perspective. This is unfortunate, but the risks are very, very light."

Copeland Council says the museum building will now have to be decontaminated.

That will involve washing and vacuuming all areas, and testing the air for particles of asbestos.