Editorial

On the night of the fourteenth of April, 1999, as everyone in Sydney knows, there was a hailstorm that damaged twenty thousand houses - nearly all had damaged roofs, and therefore damaged ceilings. From the next day onwards, the Lead Advisory Service received a massive influx of calls on the subject of the health effects of the ceiling void dust that was now getting into homes as a result of the hail. Our networking capabilities were working overtime as we endeavoured to find the information people needed to work out the best course of action. There were people having asthma attacks and other respiratory problems in their homes as well as thousand of contractors moving in for repair work and unaware of the dangers in the ceiling dust. Then came the problem that some insurance companies refused to pay for the absolutely necessary ceiling dust removal prior to the demolition of ceilings to be replaced.

Thankyou to the forty five people to whom I sent the drafts of the three major articles in this newsletter, and especially the two dozen people who rushed their comments and responses back to me. Thanks also to all the staff of the Lead Advisory Service (David, Susy, Helen and Elizabeth) who have given up their holidays to help rush this edition of LEAD Action News to the businesses helping in the recovery for the hail victims in Eastern Sydney. Thanks again to the volunteers of The LEAD Group, Margaret Johnston and Charis Picardo for their great typing and to Michael Marshall for computer support.