Thread: Asbestos

Originally Posted by ATH

I've just remembered while rereading this thread that a lady at work approx. 10 years ago died from asbestos fibres from her husbands overalls.
All she did was launder time.
AlanH.

Happened to a good friend of mine as well.

He was a carpenter at QBuild,started his apprenticeship in 1961,and says, during most days they couldnt see from one end of the workshop to the other for the asbestos dust.
In those days Qbuild built most of the schools and other Govt buildings,many made almost entirely from asbestos,all the walls,the roof,and on it goes.

He survived,still around now,yet many of his workmates are long gone.

My sister's husband spent most of his working life in Hardie's asbestos factory in Sydney. He died in his mid eighties from a heart attack not related to asbestos - his wife (my sister) died in her late eighties from complications of dementia, again, not related to asbestos. A close friend of mine died in his late seventies from mesothelioma, probably related to his national service in the RN where he was a fitter - he claimed that when under way at high speed the aircraft carrier he was on had the propeller shaft tunnels filled with a mist of asbestos, and one of his jobs was regularly entering it to check bearings for overheating.

Without suggesting at all that asbestos is not dangerous, I wonder sometimes whether it is treated as a greater danger than it is. Consider that mesothelioma was a rare disease, and still is, despite the fact that for at least sixty years almost every motor vehicle on the road has asbestos brake linings which were converted to dust and distributed along the roads.

I suspect that part of the answer is that the word "asbestos" is used for a number of minerals. In Australia, the two commonly encountered are chrysotile and crocidolite, sometimes referred to as white asbestos and blue asbestos.

The former has much more flexible fibres than crocidolite, and has always been the preferred fibre for most uses, but crocidolite has been found in larger quantities in Australia, although it only came into widespread use as demand increased but supplies of chrysotile remained restricted. Because the fibres of chrysotile are much more flexible, they tend not to break into very small particles in general handling, and so do not find their way into lungs. Crocidolite fibres are brittle and do break into very small particles, which are not trapped in the nose. Both minerals will be reduced to very small particles when ground, for example by a cutting wheel in an angle grinder, and both are known to cause asbestosis and mesothelioma. The recent "epidemic" of mesothelioma is closely related to the change from cutting asbestos-cement sheeting using a special hand guillotine tool to using an angle grinder, although some also is related to a short lived practice of using loose asbestos as ceiling insulation. Before this epidemic, both asbestosis and mesothelioma were considered occupational diseases where prolonged exposure was needed to cause illness.

I worked for a company in the UK as a maintenance fitter moons back and they are the subject of many claims for both diseases. They made corrugated steel roof sheeting covered with an asbestos and bitumen coating. Where I normally worked wasn't too bad as it entailed working on the steel forming machines and presses, guillotines etc with not much asbestos around. But I often on late shifts had to go into another area where the raw material was put through hammer mills and crushed ready to be made into a range of other products such as guttering, downpipes and even window boxes for plants.
That was a dirty area and the 2 blokes who worked there all the time were both showing trouble breathing although one was a heavy smoker so that didn't help.
AlanH
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I believe it was Rolf Harris who described being in the bagging room at Wittenoom and everyone looking like lamingtons with the amount of fibers floating in the air.
Cheers

Fibre glass sheets have a similar effect with the glass floating in the air and the needles sticking in the lungs

Had a friend who worked in one of the asbestos mines towards the end of their life. They were given safety gear and breathing masks. Most did not wear it as was hot and not pleasant to work in. Management did regular sweeps to check gear was being worn however was removed as soon as they were gone. Said it was his fault when died in late fifties from lungs as the gear was provided he was the one who refused to do as told

Originally Posted by 3toes

Fibre glass sheets have a similar effect with the glass floating in the air and the needles sticking in the lungs

There is a critical difference - glass fibre, while thoroughly unpleasant, is not carcinogenic. In addition, because unlike the minerals discussed above, it does not have regular cleavage planes, it does not tend to break into particles that actually get into the lungs, or at least not in the same quantities.

Worth comparing the effects of another mineral - silica on lungs. This has been known to cause permanent lung damage for over a century, but is not carcinogenic. Historically those affected have been affected by operations that involve dry crushing of rocks that include silica, but there has recently been a rise in cases involving the making of concrete kitchen benches where cutting or polishing has been done dry.

Another comparison is black lung in coal miners - again, destroys lung function, but is not carcinogenic. Almost completely restricted to coal miners as far as I am aware.

There are a few things that are bad for the lungs.
My wife's brother, a baker of 55+ years, has a debilitating lung disease. Never smoked.
It's from inhaling different substances used in the day to day running of a bakery. Masks are perhaps worn, these days.

Getting back to asbestos, one of the strangest places I have seen warning signs, is on the wrecks at Tangalooma, on Moreton Island.

Now, these wrecks are submerged but have signs placed on them stating, "No Snorkelling as Asbestos in This Area", or similar words.

Then there is the case in this area, I can't remember just where, I think near Blayney, where there was considerable angst a few years ago when it turned out that roadworks had exposed substantial quantities of naturally occurring asbestos - which was also exposed in surrounding paddocks, but less obvious than where a cutting was made. This only came to light when a passing geologist stopped to look at the rocks exposed in the cutting and reported it. I can't remember what was done about it, but I seem to remember it was expensive!