Thousands of people who lived in asbestos-ridden or "Mr Fluffy" homes in Canberra face a higher risk of cancer than previously known, researchers say.
A project examining the link between different cancers and almost 17,000 residents who had lived in these homes, from 1983 to 2013, has released fresh insights.
The ACT Asbestos Health Study's second edition comprised more recent data - up to 2020.
Researchers' main conclusion was the risk of mesothelioma - the main type of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos - had increased, specifically in men.
The rate at which mesothelioma occurred in about 8000 male residents during this period was said to be two to three times higher than the rest of the ACT's male population.
"Even though we did see a higher rate of mesothelioma in males, we didn't see that in females," co-author of the long-term study Professor Martyn Kirk said.
The updated study reported about 12 mesothelioma cases among men from affected homes between 1983 and 2019. Fewer than six cases were reported in women.
Men more at risk of asbestos-related cancer
Researchers also found both men and women who had lived in a Mr Fluffy home had a 24 to 46 per cent greater risk of developing colon cancer compared to the rest of the ACT population.
Additionally, the risk of lung cancer for female residents was said to be 39 per cent higher than the rest of the female population.
Researchers attributed the reason for higher rates of mesothelioma among men to a higher likelihood of men working in industries where exposure to asbestos was common.
"Males were more likely to get up into the roof space or go in the subfloor areas where there's more likely to have been asbestos insulation," Mr Kirk said.
Affected areas in Canberra
The name for all the affected houses came from a company called Mr Fluffy which used raw amosite and crocidolite asbestos to insulate homes in ACT and NSW.
In 2015, a taskforce estimated 30,000 people had lived in more 1000 ACT homes which had loose fill asbestos insulation.
In the same year, after obtaining documents through freedom-of-information requests, The Canberra Times published a list of all the streets in the ACT which had the asbestos-affected houses.
Hawker Street in Torrens had the most number of Mr Fluffy homes while 45 streets across various suburbs contained four or more such houses.
The ACT government said it spent $268.3 million removing or appropriately remediating more than 97 per cent of all known affected properties before the asbestos response taskforce closed in 2022.
Message to former residents
Both editions of the ACT Asbestos Health Study were published by Australian National University researchers from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.
"One of the reasons why we've updated the study at this time, is there would still be more cases [of cancer] that occur after [2013]," Mr Kirk said.
He said the risk of mesothelioma was rare but those who had lived in Mr Fluffy homes should look out for signs of respiratory problems.
"If [past Mr Fluffy residents] notice respiratory symptoms, a persistent cough, that type of thing ... they should see their GP," Mr Kirk said.
While the risk for mesothelioma and lung cancer had increased as a result of recent data, researchers were not confident there was a link between living in the affected homes and increased risks of the other cancers.
Reasons included residents' potential past exposure to asbestos in the workplace (rather than at home), smoking habits or socioeconomic status.
The study's new data, collected until 2020, included links between Medicare enrolments, registered Mr Fluffy home addresses, the Australian Cancer Database and the National Death Index.
