For the past five years, Tony Whitston has been chairman of the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group, which has branches all over the country, including an office in Bradford’s Upper Piccadilly.

He joined the organisation after spending most of his working life in the construction industry and seeing friends die of mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer mainly of the membrane in the chest wall and lung, which is associated with white asbestos.

He says: “There is a dangerous misconception that only brown and blue asbestos are dangerous and that white is harmless.

“Although blue and brown asbestos are more dangerous, that does not mean that white asbestos is safe. All types of asbestos can cause cancer.”

Blue and brown asbestos were banned in the UK in the mid-1980s. But it wasn’t until November 1999 that the ban was extended to include white asbestos.

Since then, says the Asbestos Victims Support Group, there have been several occasions when the press, media and certain quarters of the scientific community have voiced the opinion that the dangers of white asbestos are exaggerated.

But the International Agency for Research on Cancer, says Mr Whitston, has classified white asbestos as a Class 1 carcinogen.

“As recently as September 6 this year, the International Labour Organisation reissued its warning that white asbestos causes cancer. The World Health Organisation issued yet another warning in July that all types of asbestos can cause mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

“People’s lives may depend on their understanding that there are thousands of tonnes of asbestos in buildings in the UK. That is why the Health and Safety Executive has been running its Asbestos: Hidden Killer campaign to warn trades people, especially maintenance workers, of the dangers of all types of asbestos,” he adds.

According to the World Health Organisation, the term asbestos defines a group of naturally-occurring fibrous minerals with commercial usefulness due to their extraordinary tensile strength, poor heat conduction and relative resistance to chemical attack.

This is why the substance is used for insulation in buildings and an ingredient in roofing shingles, water supply lines, fire blankets, plastic fillers, medical packing as well as clutch and brake linings, gaskets and pads for vehicles They add: “All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans, and may cause mesothelioma and cancer of the lung, larynx and ovary. Asbestos exposure is also related to other diseases such as asbestosis (fibrosis of the lungs), pleural plaques and effusions.

“Currently, about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos in the workplace. According to the most recent WHO estimates, more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from exposure at work.

“In addition, it is estimated that several thousand deaths annually can be attributed to exposure of asbestos in the home.”

Mesothelioma can affect the lining of the lungs and abdomen and the area around the heart. Although it can take up to 50 years to develop, it is a very aggressive form of cancer which can be contracted as a result of even short periods of exposure to asbestos.

The Institute of Cancer Research believes the number of people suffering from mesothelioma in the UK could rise to about 3,000 per year over the next 20 years.

Tony Whitston says: “It is unthinkable that such preventable deaths from past exposure to asbestos should be repeated as a result of exposure to asbestos today.”

In our article of November 5 we stated: “Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining around the lungs and stomach, is not associated with white asbestos products”.

It is our understanding that the British Lung Foundation states that “all types of asbestos can cause mesothelioma if you breathe in or swallow the fibres”, while the Health and Safety Executive states that “white asbestos is implicated as a cause of both lung cancer and mesothelioma.” We apologise for any confusion our original statement caused.