(Guest) editorial by Jan Tempelman, asbestos expert and researcher at TNO Bouw en Ondergrond. In addition to a brief review of the most important (asbestos) events in 2005, he mainly emphasizes the future: "how can we prevent exposure to asbestos and other (new) hazardous substances?" This requires a lot of effort and well-thought out policy.
As guest editor for the first "editorial" in 2006, I obviously can not escape a review of the past year. Looking back in time is unfortunately an important activity for the IAS staff. After all, after diagnosing mesothelioma in an asbestos victim, the difficult search for the employment history begins to ascertain where and when asbestos exposure occurred. Such research evokes a lot of emotions among the victims, family or relatives. The IAS also succeeded in making this procedure easier again last year. To achieve this, however, you also need to look to the future, encourage research and do political lobbying to improve the position of asbestos victims and their relatives. Research by Lex Burdorff and co-authors led to an important breakthrough. For the first time, it was indisputably demonstrated that exposure to asbestos waste in the Hof van Twente ("asbestos roads" and yards) had led to mesothelioma. The effect was great: After years of tugging, Eternit finally acknowledged its responsibility in this matter. VROM gave the green light for a major expansion of the Asbestos roads decontamination project. Although detecting of exposed data from the past had remains important, the prevention of asbestos exposure is still of great importance. Most of the asbestos victims of today are still mainly from nowadays notorious professional groups such as shipbuilding, insulation companies, etc.We see, however, a shift to occupations with more indirect exposure, for example to asbestos that is processed in buildings and installations. This also shows that exposure to exposure still requires a great deal of effort. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the development of standards to objectively determine the level of exposure in buildings and constructions. In addition, government supervision of the entire asbestos chain will be further tightened. The question often arises "how far should you go?". Too weak regulation certainly leads to higher risks in remediation and the environment. Too tight regulation, on the other hand, can lead to more bureaucracy, cost increases and an increase in illegal remediation. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has now focused on a more risk-oriented approach, which enables the policy to be better aligned with the main objective: preventing exposure to asbestos. This policy will be implemented in practice in the coming year. Researchers must remain alert to materials that are currently being developed, such as nanoparticles and a new generation of insulation materials. The time between development and large-scale industrial supplications of new materials is sometimes so short that there is hardly any time left to study health effects properly. It must be prevented that in 30 years time we will be busy with former "blessings for mankind", such as asbestos, DDT and PCB oil. Although there are always points for improvement, we are at the forefront of Europe with our Dutch asbestos regulations. Exporting this knowledge to the new EU countries and countries such as India and China can save tens of thousands of lives there. The way in which asbestos is used in these countries is shocking and comparable to the Dutch situation from 30 to 35 years ago. Finally, I wish you all a prosperous and effective 2006. Jan Tempelman Researcher TNO Building and Subsurface Sector Environment and Living Environment, Apeldoorn
As guest editor for the first "editorial" in 2006, I obviously can not escape a review of the past year. Looking back in time is unfortunately an important activity for the IAS staff. After all, after diagnosing mesothelioma in an asbestos victim, the difficult search for the employment history begins to ascertain where and when asbestos exposure occurred. Such research evokes a lot of emotions among the victims, family or relatives. The IAS also succeeded in making this procedure easier again last year. To achieve this, however, you also need to look to the future, encourage research and do political lobbying to improve the position of asbestos victims and their relatives. Research by Lex Burdorff and co-authors led to an important breakthrough. For the first time, it was indisputably demonstrated that exposure to asbestos waste in the Hof van Twente ("asbestos roads" and yards) had led to mesothelioma. The effect was great: After years of tugging, Eternit finally acknowledged its responsibility in this matter. VROM gave the green light for a major expansion of the Asbestos roads decontamination project. Although detecting of exposed data from the past had remains important, the prevention of asbestos exposure is still of great importance. Most of the asbestos victims of today are still mainly from nowadays notorious professional groups such as shipbuilding, insulation companies, etc.We see, however, a shift to occupations with more indirect exposure, for example to asbestos that is processed in buildings and installations. This also shows that exposure to exposure still requires a great deal of effort. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the development of standards to objectively determine the level of exposure in buildings and constructions. In addition, government supervision of the entire asbestos chain will be further tightened. The question often arises "how far should you go?". Too weak regulation certainly leads to higher risks in remediation and the environment. Too tight regulation, on the other hand, can lead to more bureaucracy, cost increases and an increase in illegal remediation. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has now focused on a more risk-oriented approach, which enables the policy to be better aligned with the main objective: preventing exposure to asbestos. This policy will be implemented in practice in the coming year. Researchers must remain alert to materials that are currently being developed, such as nanoparticles and a new generation of insulation materials. The time between development and large-scale industrial supplications of new materials is sometimes so short that there is hardly any time left to study health effects properly. It must be prevented that in 30 years time we will be busy with former "blessings for mankind", such as asbestos, DDT and PCB oil. Although there are always points for improvement, we are at the forefront of Europe with our Dutch asbestos regulations. Exporting this knowledge to the new EU countries and countries such as India and China can save tens of thousands of lives there. The way in which asbestos is used in these countries is shocking and comparable to the Dutch situation from 30 to 35 years ago. Finally, I wish you all a prosperous and effective 2006. Jan Tempelman Researcher TNO Building and Subsurface Sector Environment and Living Environment, Apeldoorn
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