Veteran BBC presenter Esther Rantzen fears her lung most cancers could have been brought on by publicity to asbestos within the studios the place she labored for many years.
The Times of London studies that the 82-year-old former British host of That’s Life! – one of many BBC’s hottest exhibits that ran from 1973 to 1994 – remembers workers commonly strolling previous piles of white mud at Lime Grove Studios, and even termed one hall “asbestos alley.”
Rantzen was identified with stage 4 lung most cancers earlier this yr, and her illness shouldn’t be the sort linked to smoking. She advised The Times she couldn’t ensure what brought about her sickness however stated: “It is important that asbestos is faraway from buildings in every single place as quickly as potential.
“I worked in the BBC’s Lime Grove studios for at least 35 happy years from 1965. Some time in the late-Eighties or early-Nineties, workmen wearing white spacesuits arrived to take down walls and ceilings along the corridors where I wrote our scripts to remove the asbestos, which did not surprise any of us since my team called our regular route to the canteen ‘asbestos alley.’”
Separately, The Times studies, the BBC has paid out £1.64 million in damages, following the deaths of 11 former workers who died from most cancers, with 18 totally different areas being talked about in studies. These embrace two musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra who each died in 2021, whereas the newspaper lists different musicians, set builders, engineers, make-up artists, producers and studio managers who’ve additionally suffered.
Jo Laverty, nationwide organiser of the Musicians’ Union, advised the paper the organisation had been “seeking robust answers” about asbestos at Maida Vale since 2017.
Asbestos kills greater than 5,000 individuals a yr within the UK, inflicting mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung most cancers.
A BBC spokesman stated in response it couldn’t touch upon particular person instances however added: “We would like to extend our continued sympathies to the families of all those affected. The health and safety of BBC staff and all that use BBC buildings is a primary concern. The BBC manages asbestos in accordance with applicable regulations and statutory requirements.”
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