Environment How Serious is Asbestos?

[SizeMatters]

I don't think its as dangerous as everyone makes out. About 10-12 years ago my father, uncle, brother and myself ripped the extended shed down that was attached to the house and inside where plenty of asbestos sheets. I still remember all the dust flying up everywhere as we were all smashing the fibre sheets up inside the enclosed shed into smaller bits so we could dump it in the bins and car trailers. We had to do multiple dump trips as my father hid all the fibre inside the trailer and covered it with other junk so they wouldn't find out. I have no problem at all and in fact I used to be a very good middle distance runner before I done my knees.

I'm not doubting you can get cancer but I think its if you work around it for years.

 

[ShooterMcGavin8]

I don't think its as dangerous as everyone makes out. About 10-12 years ago my father, uncle, brother and myself ripped the extended shed down that was attached to the house and inside where plenty of asbestos sheets. I still remember all the dust flying up everywhere as we were all smashing the fibre sheets up inside the enclosed shed into smaller bits so we could dump it in the bins and car trailers. We had to do multiple dump trips as my father hid all the fibre inside the trailer and covered it with other junk so they wouldn't find out. I have no problem at all and in fact I used to be a very good middle distance runner before I done my knees.

I'm not doubting you can get cancer but I think its if you work around it for years.

Takes longer for it to affect your body if it does.

 

[Happy Mastenator]

I don't think its as dangerous as everyone makes out. About 10-12 years ago my father, uncle, brother and myself ripped the extended shed down that was attached to the house and inside where plenty of asbestos sheets. I still remember all the dust flying up everywhere as we were all smashing the fibre sheets up inside the enclosed shed into smaller bits so we could dump it in the bins and car trailers. We had to do multiple dump trips as my father hid all the fibre inside the trailer and covered it with other junk so they wouldn't find out. I have no problem at all and in fact I used to be a very good middle distance runner before I done my knees.

I'm not doubting you can get cancer but I think its if you work around it for years.

Surely you're taking the piss?

 

[SizeMatters]

Surely you're taking the piss?

I'm perfectly healthy.

 

[theyellowsash]

I'm perfectly healthy.

well, im convinced.

 

[Kram]

The cancer can take like 40+ years to finally turn up and it's meant to be a horrible, horrible death.

White asbestos whilst not good stuff might be arguably overstated as a risk, however under no circumstances mess around breaking up fibro with blue asbestos in it (the stuff from Wittenoom). It can also happen from a relatively brief exposure, iirc mountain climber Lincoln Hall got it just from building a fibro cubby with his old man as a kid over a weekend. Sure you still have to be very unlucky but it's not worth the risk...

 

[SizeMatters]

What's blue asbestos? There is a mineral called Serpentine that can have asbestos fibres in it... it was always in a sealed container at uni when I was doing my mineralogy courses and was told to never open it... I opened it haha

It was blue and if you say is true then i'm cooked for sure.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

The bad stuff is insulation, hope it wasn't behind your walls

 

[SizeMatters]

The bad stuff is insulation, hope it wasn't behind your walls

Just fibro cladding stuff. Honestly I'm worried about my future health. My brother went to a doc a few years ago and the doc said the chances of developing any problems was extremely small... I don't think he understood the shit we were dealing with haha. Thick blankets or asbestos fibres within an enclosed area and it took us 2 days to clear the mess.

 

[Kram]

What's blue asbestos? There is a mineral called Serpentine that can have asbestos fibres in it... it was always in a sealed container at uni when I was doing my mineralogy courses and was told to never open it... I opened it haha

It was blue and if you say is true then i'm cooked for sure.

Through the grey cement sheeting you can see additional blue fibers running through it, it's easy to spot and common as. My own house is cladded with it.. It's fine as long as you don't disturb it. It was banned in the 70s iirc.

Seriously though I wouldn't worry about it too much about it, you would still have to be very, very unlucky to get sick.

 

[Pykie]

Massive overreaction to most of it in this thread.

One fiber can kill you?

I don't think so.

Wear a mask, don't grind it or drill in it. Water it down when you move it.

I've taken out plenty of it.

 

[ioppolo]

No middle ground in this thread. Responses are either "don't go near it or even look at it" or "smash the shit for fun and it'll be all good"

 

[theyellowsash]

Massive overreaction to most of it in this thread.

One fiber can kill you?

I don't think so.

Wear a mask, don't grind it or drill in it. Water it down when you move it.

I've taken out plenty of it.

That's the thing though, you have to take those precautions because it's unsafe. It's too easy to break it accidentally and unknowingly inhale lots of the fibres when used in houses or other public places, which is why it's banned in those spots. It's still used in labs and things where you won't have Jonny accidentally exposing his whole family while doing some minor renovations to his kitchen.

People claiming that it's perfectly safe to roll around in asbestos dust is just absurd.

 

[hoianbulldog]

I don't think its as dangerous as everyone makes out. About 10-12 years ago my father, uncle, brother and myself ripped the extended shed down that was attached to the house and inside where plenty of asbestos sheets. I still remember all the dust flying up everywhere as we were all smashing the fibre sheets up inside the enclosed shed into smaller bits so we could dump it in the bins and car trailers. We had to do multiple dump trips as my father hid all the fibre inside the trailer and covered it with other junk so they wouldn't find out. I have no problem at all and in fact I used to be a very good middle distance runner before I done my knees.

I'm not doubting you can get cancer but I think its if you work around it for years.

Geez I hope you are still posting on BF in 30 years time.

 

[hoianbulldog]

I do not understand how it is STILL not banned in Canada.

It was even still mined there until 2009 or 2010, believe it or not.

I had no idea........unbelievable. I found this on youtube.

 

[Doss]

This might sound too clever by half...but in people who've inhaled just a few fibres and they've lodged say in the lungs, would it not be possible to remove them before they do enough damage to cause asbestosis and/or mesothelioma?

 

[Kram]

It's been ages since I read about it but I think it might be the tiny ones broken up into the air that aren't even visible to the eye that get down deep into the lungs which are the main problem.

Also bear in mind pretty much every human would have breathed in some very tiny amount of it somewhere.

 

[theyellowsash]

It's been ages since I read about it but I think it might be the tiny ones broken up into the air that aren't even visible to the eye that get down deep into the lungs which are the main problem.

Also bear in mind pretty much every human would have breathed in some very tiny amount of it somewhere.

yeah it would be pretty much need to slice up the lungs and look with a microscope to find the fibres. it just isnt possible without completely destroying the lungs anyway. a full lung transplant would be more viable. who knows, when they can grow organs maybe that will happen.

 

[scotslad]

I know someone who deals with asbestos. You may not understand how it ,aye affect you but in 20-30 years down the line. Don't take it for granted.

 

[AFLOnline]

Massive overreaction to most of it in this thread.

One fiber can kill you?

I don't think so.

Wear a mask, don't grind it or drill in it. Water it down when you move it.

I've taken out plenty of it.

This.

I've removed hundreds upon hundreds of old asbestos Telecom pits. And the older guys in the company I worked for had worked with it for decades before that. Nothing wrong with them. There is definitely an element of health risk there, sure, but it is significantly overstated imo (typically by nuffies who have nfi about the world outside their cushy offices, no offense to anyone who that might include.)

In saying that, I always still treat it with caution. It doesn't hurt to wear appropriate PPE when handling it. Much like in a car. You probably won't have an accident, but you wear your seat belt anyway.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

What's blue asbestos? There is a mineral called Serpentine that can have asbestos fibres in it... it was always in a sealed container at uni when I was doing my mineralogy courses and was told to never open it... I opened it haha

It was blue and if you say is true then i'm cooked for sure.

Most common is "white asbestos" or chrysotile, which is mined from the mineral serpentine. More than 90% of manufactured asbestos contained this form, which is used for asbestos cement products (e.g. sheeting) and also brake linings and gaskets.

Next most common is "brown" asbestos or amosite, which is most commonly used as insulation backing behind tiles and in asbestos rope lagging.

"Blue" asbestos or crocidolite was mined at Wittenoom prior to the mid-1960s. About 20,000 people worked or lived in Wittenoom and there have been 2000 reported cases of asbestos related deaths from this small population. It was used in a wide range of insulation materials as well as ceiling tiles.

The other three types shown below are not common in Australia.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

This might sound too clever by half...but in people who've inhaled just a few fibres and they've lodged say in the lungs, would it not be possible to remove them before they do enough damage to cause asbestosis and/or mesothelioma?

The fibres can be in "bundles" which make them visible to the naked eye, but individually they can be microscopic and certainly the most dangerous ones are these smaller ones. If inhaled, the fibres become lodged inside the lung tissue and aren't easily removed.

 

[SizeMatters]

Most common is "white asbestos" or chrysotile, which is mined from the mineral serpentine. More than 90% of manufactured asbestos contained this form, which is used for asbestos cement products (e.g. sheeting) and also brake linings and gaskets.

Next most common is "brown" asbestos or amosite, which is most commonly used as insulation backing behind tiles and in asbestos rope lagging.

"Blue" asbestos or crocidolite was mined at Wittenoom prior to the mid-1960s. About 20,000 people worked or lived in Wittenoom and there have been 2000 reported cases of asbestos related deaths from this small population. It was used in a wide range of insulation materials as well as ceiling tiles.

The other three types shown below are not common in Australia.

Cheers. We had Amosite at uni then. So Brown asbestos although I remember e are told it was Serpentine so strange but from those images it was definitely the Brown variety. Honestly though I'm probably cooked anyway with all the asbestos I've breathed in over my life... I've heard all it takes is 1 fibre.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

the shit people breathe in you'd think asbestos wouldn't be your only worry.

 

[HBF]

the shit people breathe in you'd think asbestos wouldn't be your only worry.

That's a fair call.
Whilst asbestos is a dangerous product, think of all the fumes from motor vehicles we breath in every day.