A worker handles a material known as fibrolite – a mixture of cement and asbestos (which acted as a binding agent). Fibrolite was made into roofing, wall boards and decking boards. When it is cut, the dust releases dangerous fibres that cause asbestosis, a lung disease that can kill people decades after exposure. It is no longer manufactured in New Zealand, but the term fibrolite is still used for modern cement sheets, and these contain no asbestos.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, John Dobrée Pascoe Collection (PAColl-0783)
Reference:
1/4-000378; F
Photograph by John Dobrée Pascoe
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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