Asbestos in yer water...

[Roger Hayter]

Which points out, inter alia, that talc and asbestos are not similar, but the latter used (up to 1970s) to contaminate the former because they are found in the same places.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No. its what every bird in the middle east does.

Their fannies don't smell of stale gorilla fart either

[harry]

It is asbestos cement and painted with bitumen. Asbestos cement becomes dangerous due to weathering effects when the fibres are released Asbestos is dangerous when inhaled, you can eat as much as you like.

It has to be disposed of somewhere where it the fibres aren't likely to get into the general environment.

Even somebody as thick as you should understand such simple stuff.

[harry]

They ARE identical chemically and often come from the same place. They have different crystalline structures.

And asbestos contamination of talc has been a problem in the past.

[Brian Gaff]

The problem with asbestos is that its a mineral that does not degrade over time and is most dangerous if it gets into the lungs. You can eat it and it will get passed through your digestive tract unchanged. The asbestos cement is less dangerous as its not in fibre form. Its ground down into very tiny pieces.

Brian

[Mark Allread]

That is either the dumbest or the smartest question I've heard - but I like it!

[Martin Brown]

Chemical formula wise they are *very* similar indeed the difference is in the exact crystalline form being blocky/amporphous or needle like.

And it still does if you look carefully enough at least for the non-cosmetic grades of industrial talc. H&S are now requiring dust masks for workers handling industrial grade talc which invariably does contain traces of asbestos. I suspect it is present in cosmetic grade too since you can only look so deep with a light microscope.

[Richard]

You know this, how?

There's an achievement to be proud of.

[Chris Hogg]

I think the producers of cosmetic grades of talc are well aware of the problem, and are sufficiently well resourced to have their own analytical facilities, which would include scanning and transmission electron microscopes, more than capable of identifying tremolite in their products. Not all talc contains tremolite.

A company I used to work for was at one time interested in working talc deposits on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, until they discovered it contained traces of tremolite, when they dropped it like a hot potato.

Chrysotile asbestos (the white and less harmful stuff with shorter fibres) can be found in narrow veins and in pebbles on the cliffs and beaches of the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall.

[Handsome Jack]

Chris Hogg posted

This certainly used to be done until the 1970s at least. One of my worst ever jobs then was to carry asbestos lagging removed from old ships' boilers and pipework, and tip it into the holds of other ships, which then took it out into mid-Atlantic and dumped it.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, Brain, it isn';t.

Its used to reinforce cement to give it tensile strength like glass FIBRES are used in fibreglass.

Because its is fibres, its lends strength. Being ground up, it wouldn't add anything except bulk and sand is is just as good for bulk.

[The Natural Philosopher]

How do you think?

To them it is normal.

[Richard]

With my brain. YMMV, of course. Again, how do you know "its what every bird in the middle east does."?

Sniffing gorilla farts is normal? Whatever floats yer boat.

[Scott]

Pretty old report if you look at the date. I wonder if regulations have changed since then.

[whisky-dave]

Is this the first evidence of an apprentice with a functioning brain ?

[whisky-dave]

What's Stratford got to do with it :-)