Thread: Asbestos asbestos

Originally Posted by Meken

But just 1 fibre in your lungs may kill you 30 years later

- however it does seen overkill for one small piece that could be removed without the risk of breaking - in Queensland you don't need a licence to remove something like up to 10m2 - you still need to follow the recommendations (wet the board, protective gear breathing apparatus correct disposal (not just in skip) and keep people away from work area.

Yep,like I said you'd think it would kill you on sight. Pat

Well..... I can cheerfully say I've never **** myself after putting a holesaw through the ceiling in an older house while installing smoke detectors and discovering the plug of material left in the holesaw had the telltale heavily dimpled texture of asbestos sheet....

Originally Posted by PAT303

You would think asbestos will kill you dead on sight considering how much people carry on over it,the stupidity of it boggles the mind. Pat

It is insidious stuff. You think it is ridiculous, until it gets you or someone close.

A bit like the activity of Rolf and others. It hits you years later. The damage was done at the time.

Originally Posted by PAT303

Yep,like I said you'd think it would kill you on sight. Pat

Which would you prefer, being slowly strangled to death in front of your family for years, or being killed at work by a major gas leak?
Watched my mates grandfather who used to look after us as kids go from healthy mobile retired electrician , to being barely able to breathe. He used to work with the stuff in a power station.
Asbestos producers, and hardie knew from the 1950's that it was a toxic product, that's why the factory in sydney was known as the old mans factory. They had a policy of employing only older workers over 45 as the effects took in most cases 20-30 years, they could blame it on age.
The problem is some people react quicker than others, so you may be fine for 30+ years after drilling or cutting the stuff out of a power board, or roof cavity, but the child who walks through that dust could be hit by it in 5 to 20 years or as has happened in many cases your wife doing the washing could inhale the dust putting your gear in the wash.
As to " we used to use it" we also used to use DDT to weed, people used to use mercury as a medicine and women used to use ground up lead as part of their make up.

Originally Posted by frantic

As to " we used to use it" we also used to use DDT to weed, people used to use mercury as a medicine and women used to use ground up lead as part of their make up.

Or the "Radium Girls" [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls"]Radium Girls - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

My first job was as a junior hardware assistant in a general store in the southwest of WA, one of the jobs I had was helping unload asbestos sheeting from our truck (picked up from the goods rail) and sliding them into the racks, sheet by sheet, in 5 ton loads, in those days (late 50's) it was a normal thig to do.

I worked there for around 3 years.

The next job I had in Perth was similar but not as much exposure to asbestos. However I did numerous trips to James Hardie in Welshpool WA to pickup asbestos.

Following that, throughout my life until I became aware of the dangers
(around the 70's), I had some exposure through fences and some minimal house renovation.

3 years ago due to some throat and upper lung problems I visited the doctors and Xrays showed a thickening of the Bronchial tubes which may have been a precursor to Mesathelomia (think thats how it is spelt), so a visit to a lawyer who sent me to a specialist in those instances a further Xray revealed that I was clear.

I now believe my condition is genetic as my mother and sisters had/have bronchial problems.

Mesathelomia is a disease that when you become aware of it, it is too late

I am glad I gave up smoking over 40 years ago

If asbestos is so dangerous why don't we have people dying in major cities from inhaling all the asbestos dust from all the cars driving around?,three years ago a test in Perth still found it floating around,you don't see all the street traders dying off,funny thing about it is people jump up and down about it yet quite happily smoke. Pat