They still call it the hidden killer, although we've known for years that it exists in our schools, homes and hospitals. But asbestos also happens to be a slow destroyer of lives, as cancer sufferer Ann Macpherson bitterly reflected after winning a £110,000 pay-out, writes REG LITTLE.

The case of Mrs Macpherson, 57, of Banbury, stripped away any illusions that we have nearly finished paying for the ignorance of the past when it comes to asbestos.

She contracted asbestosis from tiny quantities of the killer dust unwittingly brought home on the clothes of her husband Derek, who began working in aluminium processing for Alcan International in Banbury in 1962.

The typically long delay between first exposure to asbestos and death is seldom less than 15 years and can be as long as 60. And health experts now believe that asbestos-related illnesses have still yet to peak.

People dying now probably breathed asbestos dust in the 1950s and 1960s.

Many of those who will die in the years between 2010 and 2025 will have been exposed to the killer in the 1980s and even 1990s, with ignorance no longer an excuse for the loss of life.

For all the warnings about asbestos dust, the existing levels of 3,000 deaths a year could reach 10,000 a year by 2010.

Health and safety inspector, Liz Baird, said: "If you have been exposed to asbestos, you simply cannot put the clock back. You can't change it," she said.

"There are no blood tests or X-rays to show whether someone will become ill. You don't know until it takes hold." The three real killers resulting from exposure to asbestos are: asbestosis, which involves the scarring of delicate lung tissue; mesothelioma, a form of cancer which affects the linings of the chest and abdomen; and lung cancer.

A glance at recent deaths in Oxfordshire shows the victims are not confined to any one occupation or lifestyle.

Frederick Kent, of Didcot, died from mesothelioma, decades after helping to remove asbestos from Didcot Power Station.

Last year, Brize Norton widow Ivy Gerrard-Smith, 64, mounted a campaign against the Ministry of Defence after her husband, Dennis, died from the same disease. He had been an electric and instrument technician in the RAF since the age of 16.

Chemical workers, a former production worker at the Cowley car works and bricklayers have also been victims. Mrs Macpherson's case shows that even those who have no direct contact with the dust can be at risk. For only tiny quantities and very short exposure times are necessary to cause fatal health damage.

Oxford city council's asbestos technician, Steven Stansfield, believes the most vulnerable groups today include refurbishment workers, carpenters, plumbers and engineers who regularly drill into potentially lethal tiles.

For huge quantities continue to exist in buildings in need of repair and in some cases demolition.

Last year contractors wearing protective clothing were called to strip asbestos from wards at Witney Community Hospital.

Ceiling tiles in two wards and the kitchen were found to be made of white asbestos and had been there since the hospital opened in 1981.

Asbestos also posed a problem during demolition work got under way at the Bhs store in Queen Street, Oxford. The Government is now in the process of tightening regulations covering asbestos, as Governments have done in 1987 and 1994.

But the UK Government appears to be blaming Brussels for dragging their heels over a Europe-wide ban on white asbestos, the most common form found in homes.

Campaigners for a total ban now also want a national register for people exposed to the dust.

Mrs Macpherson, whose case was settled out of court, this week joined the calls for a ban. "It is a time bomb ticking away that can strike years later," she said.

Preventing exposure to asbestos is the only way to eradicate the cruel asbestos diseases.

But for thousands who do not yet know it, the bans and regulations are already far too late.

A COSTLY PROBLEM

There are an estimated 3,000 uses for asbestos.

Unhappily, many of the most common are within the home.

It is found in roof slates, wall claddings, gutters, airing cupboards, window boxes, pipes, water cisterns, storage heaters and wall partitions - to name a few.

But any householder will find it is a costly business to rid themselves of risk - it almost appears that in Oxfordshire the rules encourage us at best to do doing nothing - and at worst to dump it illegally.

Because asbestos is not counted as household waste, Oxfordshire County Council will not collect asbestos materials. It can be taken to the dump at Ardley Fields, north of Bicester. District councils content themselves with offering advice, with only Cherwell offering a collection service. Otherwise, if you want have asbestos removed and collected you have to pay a specialist waste contractor anything up to £400.

County waste project manager, Becky Jolly, said: "This is not a situation that we as a county council want. It has happened because asbestos is now classed as special waste and has therefore been taken out of our remit." THE FACTS

*Asbestos is a natural mineral made up of many small fibres, easily breathed, which penetrate deep into the lungs

*There is between one and two million tonnes of processed asbestos in buildings in Britain

*It becomes dangerous when asbestos materials are damaged and the fibres are released into the air in dust. It can also be released in hot air heating systems

*Asbestos materials in good condition should be left in place. They should never be broken, drilled or scrubbed. Paint can be used to stop dust escaping

*It is commonly bonded into cement for garage and shed roofing. Ceiling tiles and thermal pipe insulation are other potential danger areas in the home

*Asbestos was once regularly used in cookers and ironing boards.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.