Reynolds Soil Technologies (RST Solutions) has launched “Asbestoguard”, a “spray-on material binding agent” that works to seal off harmful asbestos fibres at contaminated sites.

The spray assists with safe removal and disposal of asbestos, which has become a problem due to its extensive use in old Australian buildings.  When broken up, asbestos produces an extremely harmful dust, but Asbestoguard utilises a special cross-linking polymer emulsion to hold those particles together.

It is a hardy solution that stands up to all weather conditions after a sole application, and has been tested by the University of Newcastle to withstand wind speeds of more than 100km/h.

Dissolved into water, it can be mixed to produce just the strength required, and can be applied using any watering system.

“In many areas across Australia, particularly in major capital cities experiencing land shortage, developers are demolishing older style buildings to make way for new developments,” said RST Solutions operations and technical director David Handel.

“A lot of these buildings contain asbestos contaminated materials which release dangerous fibres into the air when disturbed or broken down.

“The RST Solutions team specialises in the control and suppression of dust particles and saw how this knowledge could be applied to create a solution to aid in stopping the release of fine asbestos particles from contaminated materials.

While most of the demand for this solution is from the construction industry, our aim is for Asbestoguard to be a leading safety solution in any industry where asbestos contaminated material is present at the worksite.”

RST Solutions’ head office is located in Queensland’s Burleigh Heads.  The company has an additional office in Carlisle, Western Australia, and also operates internationally.