Online searches for information on asbestos and its removal were up by 438% in London in the past year, according to new data.
Experts have said that increased media coverage over the years has led to the rise in awareness of and resulting interest in the subject.
Research conducted by the demolition contractors SunDemolition revealed searches for ‘asbestos removal near me’, and 244 related keywords, increased from 5870 in the year 2023/24 to 31,610 in 2024/25.
Just last week, a story was shared nationally about the discovery that asbestos was present in children’s play sand sold by craft retailer Hobbycraft.
In June, lawyers were asked to investigate the asbestos-related cancer death of 75-year-old John Brown, following claims that he may be among at least six former University of London workers diagnosed with the disease.
Andrew Paten, co-founder of the non-profit UK National Asbestos Register (UKNAR), said: “There’s been a lot of national media coverage about asbestos and a lot more awareness recently.
“It’s been building over the years and that’s a good thing because asbestos remains in three quarters of all, more or less, schools, hospitals, public buildings, and still kills thousands of people a year.”
Lynne Squibb, co-founder of asbestos disease support charity HASAG, said: “The news is getting out there and people are taking heed of that and checking before works are carried out.
“For years, people thought that asbestos related disease was a thing of the past. We don’t use it anymore, therefore, we’re all safe and that’s not the case at all.
“It’s just important to get this information out there to as many people as possible and to stop this thing of the past where people say, ‘oh, it won’t happen to me, I worked with asbestos for years and I’m fine’.
“Those kind of statements are really not helpful.”
The former key component of insulation and other building materials has been banned in the UK since 1999. As a result, asbestos may be present in any home or building built before 2000.
Experts are concerned younger generations, who haven’t been immediately impacted by the dangerous affects of the material, are less aware of the potential damages – to their detriment.
Paten said: “One of the problems that exists has been that younger people are less aware of asbestos than the older generations who’ve seen their friends die of it.
“It’s a definite challenge to make sure that younger people are aware and don’t just think it’s something from ancient history, which is what we’d all love it to be, but unfortunately, clearly, it’s not.
In March of last year, the law firm Slater and Gordan released data which found that 30% of high risk workers were unaware of the dangers of asbestos.
The firm also discovered the most informed workers were in the education sector, with 87% aware of the material’s dangers, which is essential considering 75% of UK schools are estimated to still contain asbestos.
Paten continued: “The reason asbestos kills people is just ignorance. They don’t know it’s there, and they don’t necessarily know if it’s dangerous if disturbed.
“Really, as soon as you can get those two messages out, you’re 80% of the way there.”
Featured image credit: Lulu Goad
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