Environment How Serious is Asbestos?

[Kram]

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

Years ago I remember driving into work with a young bloke about 18-19 and he was telling me about a cash job he did on the weekend where there was a sheet of fibro in the way and he said the customer just said just put a cloth over your mouth and smash through it. Which he said his response was "No way I'm not doing that, it's asbestos!!" This of course is completely sensible and correct not to touch it but I did kind of find it funny that he seemed unconcerned about the potential health ramifications of smoking at least half a pack of cigarettes a day.

 

[Doss]

There is definitely something to be said for living in clean country air.

 

[The Lemon]

 

[Doss]

Those boys died of mesothelioma at 36 and 38 respectively.

 

[theyellowsash]

Those boys died of mesothelioma at 36 and 38 respectively.

but random persons second hand anecdotal experience says they used asbestos once and are totally fine so it cant have been asbestos.

 

[_VXV]

Its in lots of stuff old lino is another it would be behind most tiles in older houses .
Luck of the draw if it gets you
Lot of stories of the wife getting it from washing hubbys clothes and him not getting it.
My cousin got it he was a builder
My neighbour got it he was a manager for BHP

Julie Bishop as a Lawyer worked for the asbestos companies

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/br...-source-of-shame/story-e6frf7kf-1226525303554

Don't forget JBs tactic of stretching out cases until plaintiffs were unable to attend anymore.
Whenever I see some media goon yucking it up with her I always think what a blackhearted campaigner she is.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Every single time I try and mention it in an Age comment section it doesnt get printed

 

[HBF]

Seem to be a few people who know a fair bit about asbestos. Just curious as to what type of asbestos was used to make thoae old roofs that you sometimes see on old buildings?

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Seem to be a few people who know a fair bit about asbestos. Just curious as to what type of asbestos was used to make thoae old roofs that you sometimes see on old buildings?

It'd be the white variety. The blue and brown stuff wasn't as structurally sound so it was either used in cement or really shitty insulation boards.

Either way, if you suspect it's asbestos assume the worst.

 

[HBF]

It'd be the white variety. The blue and brown stuff wasn't as structurally sound so it was either used in cement or really shitty insulation boards.

Either way, if you suspect it's asbestos assume the worst.

Cheers for that. Amazed its still around actually. Thought all those roofs would have been removed by now.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Where were the asbestos mines in Australia? Witennoom in WA is the obvious one and I know of Woodsreef near Tamworth. Any others people know of?

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Cheers for that. Amazed its still around actually. Thought all those roofs would have been removed by now.

If only. Unfortunately, there's an awful lot of those roofs. They used to use that cheap s**t for everything

 

[Kram]

It'd be the white variety. The blue and brown stuff wasn't as structurally sound so it was either used in cement or really shitty insulation boards.

Either way, if you suspect it's asbestos assume the worst.

Nah the corrugated asbestos roofs definitely has blue in it, it's nowhere near as strong as the the fibro outer wall sheets so it's mostly all replaced now but you do still occasionally see it around.

 

[HBF]

Nah the corrugated asbestos roofs definitely has blue in it, it's nowhere near as strong as the the fibro outer wall sheets so it's mostly all replaced now but you do still occasionally see it around.

Still see scattered around Melbourne. In fact there's alot of it just underneath the Nylex sign at the end of the Monash Freeway.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Cheers for that. Amazed its still around actually. Thought all those roofs would have been removed by now.

Every house I work in that is aged has asbestos in the kitchens and bathrooms. The owners fire up when we tell them no job until it's taken out.

 

[HBF]

Every house I work in that is aged has asbestos in the kitchens and bathrooms. The owners fire up when we tell them no job until it's taken out.

What sort of work are you in?

 

[ioppolo]

Have some lovely brown asbestos fencing at my joint. Given the house looks as though it's been renovated way after it was built I'd say the house is safe.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

What sort of work are you in?

Cabinet Maker

 

[Bollox]

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.

blue is crocilite (dont hold me to any spelling coz my mineralogy is mighty rusty) and is what is thought as the "bad" type. Try not to panic though lol. Asbestos is just a commercial name given to a bunch of amphiboles having a fibrous structure. When you see the bad stuff you'll notice a type of wooly or cottony type texture to the outside and has extremely small fibres...likley the reason it is thought of as the worst type. Most arnt like that. Most common is chrysotile (a "white" asbestos) and thats the only one that would be found in that sample of sepentinite you saw. Sepentinite is actually one of the most gorgeous stones used in architecture and you dont see it used these days much due to the stigma of it containing chrysotile...and the fact you need to cut it/polish it i suppose.. Some older buildings particulalry art deco have it in the foyer as wall...looks sort of like a dark green marble but is actually a metamorphosed olivine mafic and nothing at all like marble. Sometimes called Pilbara Jade here in oz. One of those stones that catches the eye when used in architecture but not fashionable now. If you look carefully at any dark green polished stone in old building foyers you might see ribbons of chrysotile (an asbestos) that is common in serpentinite. If i saw some i'd also be pretty confident there was gold about the area somewhere.
If you were told not to open it that was probably more for insurance purposes or OH&S reasons. It would only be the dust in the case that could pose any danger, unless you decided you wanted to grind it up and snort it...in which case there are a lot more dangerous things i could point out to snort.

World has become a bit paranoid about asbestos and it is still highly likely that you need prolonged exposure to the tiny fibres of the bad types for it to be an issue. Some occupations however involved that prolonged exposure hence the issue rightly grew over time. Its just another example of something we learn over time to be dangerous to our health...add it to the millions of other things we have learnt can be bad for us.

Lead is another. This country is blessed with two of the biggest lead/zinc deposits in the world (B.Hill and Mt Isa) and the ore galena was once one of the most commonly handled ores in a classroom. But as long as you wash your hands afterwards it poses no problem. Put in perspective, handling chicken for tonights dinner is probably more dangerous coz you could get a guts ache and go to hospital then get a hospital super bug and die. I've seen someone say you shouldnt handle galena, but every fisherman in the world will handle lead everytime they go fishing,..then maybe eat a sandwich straight afterwards.

Over the centuries we simply learn not to over expose ourselves to certain things. Asbestos being one. It has been found prolonged exposure can cause a rare form of cancer. If you dont need to put lead in paint or petrol why do it ? If there are suitable substitutes for asbestos why use it ?

We eat with utensils containing chromium which is highly toxic in certain forms. The humble gemstone aquamarine contains beryllium which is toxic as hell. The mercury in cinnabar is stable but i wouldnt handle it regularly or sleep in the same room. In crystalline form just about eveything is stable/harmless. Its right to be cautious handling asbestos, however i'd be just as concerned about my kids eating the humble daffodil in the garden, or maybe throwing some peach wood or treated fencing timber on the fire. If something represents a prolonged exposure then it is simply best got rid of when they are proven to be nasty over time. Do we go around sniffing or eating rocks ?...asbestos is just another to be aware of and easily substituted so get rid of it.

 

[Pie eyed]

My understanding is that it only takes one fibre to lodge in your lungs for the damage to be done so a one off exposure can be lethal if you're unlucky. Prolonged exposure means that you increase the number of times you could get something lodged in your lungs

It's like a reverse lotto - if you never buy a ticket you'll never win but if you buy a ticket every week you're no guarantee to win you just have more chances to do so

My old man was a builder and my brother and I would play with asbestos offcuts back in the 70's - used to make little piles of the fibres and use them as pillows. Got away with it so lucky I guess

Good analogy.
I spent many years ripping out old asbestos and "fingers crossed" no issues yet.
I seems, as you say, to be a Lethal Lotto.

 

[Pie eyed]

typical builders response would be "its cheap and not everyone has side effects so lets just use it and not tell anyone". not that they would admit it, but you would be shocked or even scared of some of the things builders do because they're lazy or trying to be cheap. not that this liberal construction authority is the way to prevent it though.

I really vehemently doubt that your "typical" builder would in any way react in the way you have claimed.
The cost of asbestos removal is borne by the owner in a renovation situation and you would have to spend an inordinate amount of money to illegally import an asbestos product to use it to "save money" in any case.

In a few cases builders have been misled as to the content of asbestos in some imported products which you will find were specified by architects.

 

[theyellowsash]

I really vehemently doubt that your "typical" builder would in any way react in the way you have claimed.
The cost of asbestos removal is borne by the owner in a renovation situation and you would have to spend an inordinate amount of money to illegally import an asbestos product to use it to "save money" in any case.

In a few cases builders have been misled as to the content of asbestos in some imported products which you will find were specified by architects.

i work in the construction industry. importing counterfeit products from china is very common, cheap and affordable, and you would be horrified by some of the things they will try to do if you let them. Its also not the on site laborers that would know anything about it, its the money grubbing penpushers behind the scenes that get alternatives without telling anyone.

as an example those fires in the docklands towers happened mainly because they substituted a non-flammable paneling called alucobond, with a chinese knock-off called alucobest made with a highly flammable foam. whats worse is the pathetic courts and building regulation system means that the owners have to pay to replace a material that was illegal to use in the first place.

 

[Power Raid]

My dads a ceramic tiler and was telling me in the 90's some tile adheasive bags came out saying "now asbestos free". ****in arseholes never said it was in there in the first place.

Oh and thats a bit of a warning to those renovating houses. Its not just the sheets on the walls it could be in.

I think they used it as a base for carpets and of course insulation

 

[raskolnikov]

A friend of mum's died the other day from mesothelioma. She lived in an asbestos mine area in WA back in the 70s.

 

[GeelongFTW]

In both cases road-trauma is much more likely to be a cause of death than asbestos-related disease.

i think the problem is the understatement of the dangers of road-travel than anything.