asbestos?

[Fred]

and dental fillings and barometers!

[Fred]

Thanks for such an informative reply.

I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek when I talked about radioactive floor tiles but I agree that both asbestos and radioactivity are perfectly safe if handled properly. The problem with asbestos seems to be that there is so much contradictory advice, people like me don't know which is correct. This thread is a good example with some people saying there is only a risk from long term exposure and other people arguing one fibre is fatal.

The consensus is that the risk from floor tiles is minimal and so, wearing a mask, I lifted them as carefully as I could. Some of them were not glued down very well so lifted whole and easily. Some were stuck firmer and snapped, which was a worry, but I have been reassured by the posts here that I shouldn't worry too much.

I have read that we get daily exposure to asbestos. Where does it come from? You mentioned the tube: do they use it in the brake linings still? What about above ground? Is it just fibres floating from natural sources and worn brake linings? I wouldn't have thought there would be any asbestos brakes left by now?

Why were the families affected: were the overalls especially dusty or was it a low exposure over a very long time that proved dangerous?

Thanks.

[Clot]

Generally dust from former and current uses. I've no idea of the relative proportions. Asbestos cement sheets in garden sheds and garages, dust still knocking about from old brakes, fireproof claddings of buildings, demolition - though this seems to be well controlled where significant amounts are identified. Any other offers?

[Clot]

Indeed; the amount generated in crematoria is calculated to rise until about

2030 and thereafter decline, I seem to recall reading in a report. Many folk being cremated today have few teeth but the proportion of folk with teeth and fillings is expected to rise until 2030.

That's only old barometers. You can't get new ones using mercury.

Emissions from coal- fired power stations.

[Man at B&Q]

[e-mail]...

MBQ

[Peter Parry]

Probably not, but that still leaves a centuries worth, you can't just Hoover the tube system.

Natural sources plus building debris. About 6,000,000 tons were imported into the UK. It doesn't degrade and it has not all has gone into landfill.

Especially dusty and long period. The roads around asbestos factories often looked as if it had been snowing there was so much waste blowing around.

[JTM]

Seem to recall a woman in Yorkshire (?) winning a compensation claim some

10-20years ago. The judgement was along the lines that a (traditional type) housewife doing her bloke's laundry when he came home from the asbestos factory, had developed an industrial disease, even though she'd never worked in a factory herself

John

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its precisely teh same with radiatioon.

One particle of plutonium lodged in the wrong place in your lungs will kill you eventually.

BUT its extremely unlikely. Unless you are regularly around it.

Its the same with any statistical stuff. It only takes one car to kill you, but if you regularly jaywalk down a motorway, its a lot more likely.

That's one aspect of the statistics.

The other aspect is that there may be a limit - like with poisons, where your body fails to eliminate the offending substance, goes down fats and gets overwhelmed

There is virtually no asbestos being used anywhere anymore. Better things exist at less risk.

yes. Its the long term exposure that seems to be the damaging thing.