Dust a post-earthquake hazard

Richard Cosgrove/Fairfax NZ

DEMOLITION: Dust swirls around central Christchurch after the implosion of Radio Network house in August 2012.

OPINION: Professor IAN SHAW looks at why demolition dust might be harming our health and explores whether the risk is worth worrying about.

I'm sitting in my office watching a building being deconstructed (the new euphemism for "demolished") with clouds of dust floating on a warm nor'wester towards my open window.

My first thought is "Close the window!", quickly followed by "I hope the deconstruction people have thought through the dust- associated risks."

So, what are the risks associated with dust and why has it become an issue? After all, we've been exposed to dust forever and it's done us no harm. Or has it?

Looking back into the annals of human health risk discoveries, the one that marks a significant change in thinking was Richard Doll's discovery in the 1950s that smoking is associated with lung cancer.

We all accept this now, but in the 1950s it was rather controversial.

If you look at the geographical mortality statistics for lung cancer in the UK it is clear that more people died of lung cancer in Lancashire, Manchester, Newcastle, Yorkshire and parts of Cornwall and Wales.

The common factor for these areas was mining.

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Dust a post-earthquake hazard