Terri-Ann Berry
Dr Terri-Ann Berry, Associate Professor and Director of our Environmental Solutions Research Centre (ESRC), is taking part in Brave the Shave to raise money for better awareness and support for victims of malignant mesothelioma cancers, a type of respiratory cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. She will have her hair shaved by the Coast Breakfast team of Toni Street, Sam Wallace and Jason Reeves in the Coast studio on Wednesday 25 August, as part of the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day activities.
Terri-Ann is a chemist and environmental engineer in our School of Construction and Engineering, and is leading a ground-breaking research project focused on protecting people from the dangers of asbestos, which is a fibrous mineral. Her team, in collaboration with universities in Australia and the US, is evaluating the effectiveness of using natural micro-organisms (including fungi) to degrade asbestos fibres and potentially reduce their cancer-causing ability.
Together with PhD student Shannon Wallis, Terri-Ann is in the process of creating a small-scale testing lab, in collaboration with the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, to experiment with creating conditions for bacteria and fungi to thrive and to analyse what life exists on asbestos. Establishing how the cancer-causing elements of asbestos can be removed will enable areas of contaminated land where asbestos fibres have been released and mixed in with ground matter, to be made safe once again.
Our ESRC, the first of its kind in New Zealand, was launched late last year. It is made up pf a transdisciplinary group of staff from across Unitec and partners chemists, biologists, engineers, epidemiologists, geographers and building and construction experts with industry experts from various fields such as waste management and minimisation, air quality, wastewater treatment and civil engineering.
Asbestos – a workplace killer
Conditions related to asbestos is New Zealand’s greatest workplace killer, estimated to be around 170 deaths a year. For decades, asbestos was used to strengthen building materials, provide insulation and fire resistance. It has been banned in New Zealand since 2000, following deeper understanding of the dangers of inhaling microscopic asbestos fibres, further inclusion of asbestos in any construction materials.
Nevertheless, many millions of tonnes of materials containing asbestos still exist in building and civil construction sites throughout the country.
It’s estimated that mesothelioma kills 43,000 people every year worldwide (Driscoll et al. 2005). Respiratory cancers (such as lung cancer) are the fifth highest cause of death worldwide, according to Healthline.com (2017).
Supporting the cause
Terri-Ann has been working closely with the Cancer Society and other cancer support groups as part of her research work, including the families of mesothelioma victims. You can check out Terri-Ann’s Brave the Shave fund-raising campaign here.
- Brave the Shave, Coast Breakfast studio, Tuesday 25 August, time TBC