Alternative for Asbestos?

Hi, Yesterday we had a brand new Johnson & Starley warm air unit installed in the kitchen. The problem is when the old unit was taken out, the gas man found a sheet of asbestos which separated the unit from the kitchen cabinets to prevent the cabinets from getting too warm due to the proximity (a few centimetres) of the warm air unit. The guy said that the sheet was not dangerous, as it was in a good condition. However, the word asbestos rang all kinds of warning bells.

Are there other materials that we can use that would (a) protect the kitchen cabinets and (b) not cause health hazards?

Thanks a lot, Simulet

Reply to
simulet
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Asbestos is perfectly safe unless you breathe large quantities of asbestos dust. As the sheet is undamaged then it won't be producing dust.

If you wanted to be ultra safe, you could paint the sheet with some high temperature paint, such as car exhaust paint. This would seal the sheet and eliminate any possibility of fibres being released.

I suppose you could also label the sheet to make people aware in the future what it contains.

Our local Hospital (Which was built in the 80s) has asbestos window sills and all they have done is varnished them and attached a sticker saying "Warning Asbestos" to each one.

sPoNiX

Reply to
S P O N I X

Fireline plasterboard?

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

The legal position is that one single fibre of asbestos _could_ be the cause of asbestosis, which is why people have such trouble in getting compensation when they've worked for more than one irresponsible company.

Reply to
Sam Nelson

The product you want is Multiboard or Masterboard - basically a glass loaded gypsum.

Do be careful, the dust is IMHO worse than asbestos....

(sez he having had a realy bad cough this morning trying to rid l;ungs of yesterdays wood milling dust).

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

compensation

Not quite.

Depends upon the type of asbestos concerned and also the particular disease - there are many. quite well documented in various medical sites (the non-alarmist type) searchable on the Web.

The stuff we are talking about here is white asbestos encapsulated within cement.

AIUI asbestosis is a disease that is similar to many lung diseases related to inhaling large amounts of dust over a period of time - "farmers lung", "miner's lung" etc - to use common names. This causes mucous build up, scarring of the lungs and damage to the numerous blood vessels within. White asbestos dust can cause this, but you have to breath in an awful lot of it (tales of industry workers arriving back at home covered in white powder head to toe give some idea of the working conditions that caused this to be such a problem).

Other chronic lung diseases such as emphesymia are also a risk here. Lung cancers are also possible, but that apparently depends upon a number of other factors such as smoking (according to one source I read recently an asbestos worker who smoked was about 90 times more likely to develop lung cancer than a non-smoking one).

These are serious debilitating diseases and shouldn't be taken lightly, but the risks from small exposure appear to be small.

The real killer is mesothylioma (sp???) which is a rapidly growing fibrous growth on the lungs, eventually enveloping all of the lungs. This disease is Nasty and develops rapidly and fatally. This is the disease that is linked to a single fibre, but is associated with other forms of asbestos - blue or brown I think.

In the recent headline cases the unfortunate sufferers of this disease have spent the latter months of their lives fighting for compensation from former employers, but as the disease can be traced to the lodging of a single fibre it has been difficult to prove which fibre and where they worked at the time that this fibre was lodged. Therefore the courts determined that they could not force a particular employer to pay compensation - there was no collective responsiblity.

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

Reply to
RichardS

In theory, yes, in practice people only seem to get it when exposed to clouds of dust.

What you have to ask yourself is how much dust will be produced by removing the panel compared with just leaving it in place and sealing it?

It is quite possible that removing it will cause more problems than simply leaving it undisturbed.

sPoNiX

Reply to
S P O N I X

In article , simulet writes

Funnily enough I was looking at a web site just today which debunks some of the myths (and the ripoffs) surrounding asbestos. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of it right now, something like asbestos debunkers I seem to think.

J.

Reply to
John Rouse

I got a fireproof board from my builders merchant, its made of some form of concrete. You buy a *REEL* cheep saw, and cut it with that. You need to take your own saw if you want it cut ....... I have 1/2 a sheet if you live in N.Wales

Rick

Reply to
Rick Dipper

Thanks Rick, very kind of you, but I live in W.Sussex; so that would be an awfully long journey.

Thanks for all the info. I think I leave it where it is, get it painted with some high temperature stuff, and put a warning label.

Cheerios, Simulet

concrete. You buy a *REEL* cheep saw, and cut it with that. You need to take your own saw if

Reply to
simulet

John Rouse wrote

Is this it?

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Reply to
Peter Taylor

In article , Peter Taylor writes

J.

Reply to
John Rouse

In article , simulet writes

Johnson's of Victoria Ind. Estate in Burgess Hill (01444 243 1333)sell Fermacell (class zero fire rated), and will cut 8 * 4 board down if you only need part, but I only paid £25 for a 3 mtr by 1.2 board 15mm thick and they cut it for me too for free (and helped me load the bits into my estate car).

Reply to
Andrew

[T] Sounds familiar?

I had a 20' x 10' steel framed garage that was clad in corrugated 'asbestos' sheets.

Apparently, as a garage it was no problem.

When I took it down it turned into a 'toxic waste hazard' ?

So, I couldn't sell it and was advised at my local tip to contact the 'Asbestos Helpline' (a freephone number).

They sent a van up from Bristol to Nth London to collect and take it away free of charge!

In the paperwork they left for me it said something like 'estimated asbestos content .03%' and they described the sheets themselves as 'cement fiber board'?

So, the good news (?) is my replacement concrete garage / workshop has a cement fiber roof?

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

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