Gypsum use ‘a deadly threat to farmers’

A toxic gas of the type that caused the death of Ulster Rugby star Nevin Spence poses a danger to Irish farmers who use gypsum for animal bedding, scientists have warned.

Gypsum, from waste plasterboard and other waste, is being stripped from ghost estates and construction sites and sold to Irish farmers, who may be unaware of its dangers, say scientists at the Institute of Technology in Carlow.

Calling for a nationwide ban on the product, two lecturers at the college’s department of science and health said commercial interests are promoting the sale of gypsum to farmers for use as animal bedding.