A FEDERAL Government department has admitted "potentially losing" detailed records of 1000 deadly asbestos-related disease cases required by researchers to better understand exposure risk. The details were collected in the 1980s for one of the world's most comprehensive surveys on mesothelioma, the fatal lung condition that killed asbestos crusader Bernie Banton last year. The records were recently requested by a Sydney geologist for a well-publicised landmark study to determine the number of Australians exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos at little-known, naturally occurring asbestos "hot spots". Marc Hendrickx from Macquarie University said the records from the Mesothelioma Surveillance Program were essential for the study. But the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council, part of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, says they cannot be found. "It is certainly not our policy to discard records such as these," director Julie Hill wrote in the latest Medical Journal of Australia. The records contain histories of 1000 mesothelioma cases. Ms Hill said the records went into storage in 2001 and attempts to relocate them since early last year had failed. AAP