Australian federal politician Sharon Grierson has been forced to retire from her New South Wales seat of Newcastle due to her father being diagnosed with mesothelioma.

The Australian Federal Labor backbencher described the decision to retire at next year’s election as “difficult”, as she has served her New South Wales seat of Newcastle for 12 years.

This is a reminder that mesothelioma can affect anybody. Not only will this terrible condition affect Ms Grierson’s father, it has resulted in an experienced backbencher retiring from federal politics.

Many Newcastle residents in the past have suffered from asbestos related conditions such as mesothelioma. Unfortunately, many persons who worked in and around Newcastle during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were exposed to asbestos during their employment and as a result, some of these persons have developed asbestos related conditions.

There have been numerous asbestos compensation claims in NSW following persons being exposed to asbestos in and around Newcastle.

Mesothelioma is a rare disease which may be caused by exposure to asbestos. Australia had the highest use of asbestos per capita between 1950 and 1980, and as such, asbestosis and mesothelioma compensation is common.

In Australia, asbestos compensation in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, including mesothelioma compensation in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, are assisted by state legislation.

Lifetime TV has recently announced the arrival of an upcoming television series that is dedicated to raising public awareness of rare diseases such as the asbestos related disease mesothelioma.

The six-part miniseries, ‘Roulette Wheel of Rare and Genetic Diseases’, will be presented by The Balancing Act and starts in October this year. The producers are partnering with the Rare Disease Advocacy Research Education Project to create a series which, according to the press release, aims to “raise awareness of genetic conditions, rare diseases and treatments while helping to inspire Americans to take a more active role in getting to know and understand their genes”.

Although the show is based in America, Australia’s medical community hopes the message will cross borders and raise awareness about asbestos diseases such as pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma in Australia. The series will focus on providing information about clinical trials and new drug therapy research in the treatment of mesothelioma and other rare diseases.

With the occurrence of asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis expected to peak in 2020, Australians need to be aware of the dangers of asbestos, as Australia once had the highest per capita use of asbestos worldwide.

Mesothelioma treatment in Australia is always being evaluated and is specific to the individual. If you have mesothelioma and you are seeking mesothelioma treatment, it is important to speak to your specialist. Treatment of mesothelioma in Australia for one person may be completely different to the treatment than that of another Australian with mesothelioma.

With the occurrence of asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis on the rise, it seems impossible not to be aware of the dangers of asbestos. However, the long latency period between asbestos exposure and the development of an asbestos caused disease sheds light on some of the incomprehensibly dangerous ways asbestos has been used in the past.

One such use of asbestos was as a filter, first during World War II in gas masks and atomic energy plants, and later in cigarettes in the early 1950s. In 1952, the Lorillard Tobacco Company introduced the Macronite, a new Kent cigarette that was released in response to emerging research about the dangers of smoking, aimed at providing a filtered product that promised to be safer than its non-filtered rivals.

Ironically, the filter used actually contained 30 per cent crocidolite asbestos, also known as blue asbestos.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen that is banned from use in Australia, with many experts believing that crocidolite asbestos is the most dangerous out of the six types of asbestos. However, back in the 1950s, the asbestos filtered Macronites were very popular, with an estimated 13 billion sold in America before the product was removed from the market in 1956.

Since asbestos related diseases such as asbestos related pleural disease and malignant mesothelioma can be developed from only minimal, short-term exposure to asbestos, anyone who smoked Kent cigarettes from 1952 to 1956 are at risk, as well as workers employed at the Lorillard Tobacco Company factories.

Australia asbestosis compensation claims are common. Asbestos compensation claims in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia regularly allege asbestos exposure of small quantities have led to the development of asbestos conditions like malignant mesothelioma. Such asbestos litigation in Australia is well developed.

An independent occupational hygienist has warned that asbestos poses a huge threat to the public at Rozelle’s former Callan Park Mental Hospital, despite the site being approved by NSW WorkCover.

The Sydney grounds, which are ironically owned by NSW Health, have undergone numerous measures to ensure the asbestos-ridden site is contained from the public, including air monitoring, a hazardous materials survey, and the subsequent boarding up and locking of a number of buildings.

However, the occupational hygienist (who refused to be named in the Sydney Morning Herald report) believes that these steps are not enough to adequately protect the public from asbestos, especially as open bags of asbestos tiles were found by children at a nearby public park.

He said asbestos fibres are flaking off roofs, and severely contaminated and unsafe buildings have still not been sealed off from the public.

The asbestos fibres found at the site have been tested with laboratories confirming that they are chrysotile asbestos, which is now banned in Australia.

Concern for the safe confinement and removal of the asbestos is due to its dangerous nature. Even very low amounts of exposure to asbestos can cause asbestos related conditions such as asbestos related pleural disease, a pleural effusion, peritoneal mesothelioma or pleural mesothelioma. There have been mesothelioma compensation claims in NSW as a result of persons being exposed to low amounts of asbestos. Similar asbestos compensation claims have occurred throughout Australia.