ASBESTOS was once regarded as a miracle material. Cheap and fireproof, it was an all-purpose insulator used to lag buildings, railway carriages, even ironing boards.

Now it is viewed as a serious health hazard. Asbestos fibres have caused thousands of deaths in Britain. Scores of people in York, mostly ex-carriageworkers, have died of asbestos-related diseases.

It is inevitable, therefore, that former employees at the Monroe factory will be worried by news that they might have been contaminated by asbestos dust in the 1980s. But those workers have a right to know of this potential risk to their health.

Parent company Tenneco said today it had been looking into ways of informing former staff. Some workers had already heard rumours about asbestos dust discovered at the factory.

Our report brings the facts out into the open, where they belong. It informs Monroe workers of the situation, which is not only their right but also appears to be Tenneco's wish. At the same time, our report puts the risk into context.

York knows all too well the devastation wrought by asbestos-related diseases. We have carried the harrowing stories of people struck down by mesothelioma and related conditions.

Only last week we revealed that the TUC had pinpointed York as a blackspot for asbestos-related illness.

This tragic legacy is inextricably linked to the city's carriage building tradition. In the Holgate Road factory in the Sixties and Seventies, asbestos fibres were so abundant and considered so harmless that workers would use them for "snowball" fights.

That contrasts sharply with the situation at Monroe. The exposure to asbestos dust was on a far smaller scale, and the chances of workers being affected is reduced proportionately. Nevertheless, a small risk still remains. Workers will be concerned. Tenneco and the unions must work together to provide them with all the information available.

With luck, fears raised by the discovery at Monroe will prove to be groundless. We earnestly hope that is the case.

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, May 03, 2001