It is a great material, but yes, nasty for humans, for sure. Lost an electrician uncle to it (probably working new construction back then).
I remember reading somewhere, long ago, that asbestos exposure wasn’t really that harmful unless you also smoked. Somehow the combination of the two is really deadly.
There was a case where someone was exposed for half a day to asbestos dust and developed lung cancer.
Same thing for people exposed to the dust in NYC on 9/11.
My grandparents’ house had asbestos siding ... very low maintenance.
My parents’ basement still has asbestos tile. My sister bought the house. Leave it alone, and it shouldn’t be a problem.
I don’t forget asbestos because I heard ads from asbestos attorneys for years. Now they are focusing on Camp LeJeune. In a few years it will be someone else who will pay a smidgen of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s damage.
Yes it will be around for a long long long time.
Generally unless it’s in airborne form, or could become airborne your best course of action is to leave it be. IE asbestos siding etc.. just cover it up with vinyl siding when it wears out.. when you disturb it, go to remove it it breaks and crumbles and introduces airborne particles that can then get into your lungs leading to cancer years later.
It was in everything for a long long time… whenever you see them demolish an old building, you are looking at a risk event for everyone who lives close by
Asbestos was so effective it was used in the World Trade towers. But not to the top. I’ve heard it was prohibited some 20 or floors below the top. Some think the substitute envirowackos forced, contributed to the collapse of the towers since the planes hit the non-asbestos floors. Steel was more exposed to the fire due to asbestos not used up there.
“An estimated 900,000 automobile mechanics have experienced asbestos exposure from brake and clutch work, typically through ‘blowing out’ brakes with an air hose during cleaning and beveling surfaces during a repair.”
https://www.asbestos.com/occupations/auto-mechanics/
Do get screened periodically. Not like colonoscopy, just a low dose x ray. You will be in and out in minutes. Lung cancer is one of the most preventable of all cancers since it typically takes years to develop and shows up on scans very early. Rush would still be alive if he got screened.
There are OSHA and EPA regulations that date back to the early 1970s, about 50 years ago.
Most people harmed by asbestos would now be at least 68 years of age.
I worked on some old asbestos tile in a church. There was no money to replace it. I stripped it, keeping it wet all the time. Then I threw several coats of sealer on it followed by several coats of acrylic floor wax. When over time it got dull looking, I scrubbed the surface of the wax with a 175-rpm rotary floor machine and threw several more coats of wax on top of it. All the asbestos was super well sealed under all that sealer and wax.
It shined so beautifully People would enter the fellowship hall soon after the waxing and touch it to see if the wax was still wet. It wasn’t. It just looked wet. Asbestos tile is only dangerous if it is disturbed by scrubbing or cutting or scuffing of shoes when it is dry and not sealed.
My Dad was a heavy commercial electrician in the ‘40-’50-’60s in industrial Bridgeport, Stratford, CT areas.
Would scrape the asbestos off of beams and columns to mount electrical panels. Was also a heavy smoker all of that time.
He’d blow off the asbestos from his clothes with a blowgun.
He’s now 89, and has asthma (plus a bunch of other stuff, incl. dementia.) But no sign of cancer or mesothilioma.
Just some anecdotal info.
Many linoleum flooring products and ceiling tiles, especially in commercial environments such as offices, factories, and schools, also contained asbestos.
On the other hand, we weren’t inflicted with dozens of questionable jabs by the time we were toddlers.
Cases numbers should be close to vanishing at this point in time. They are not, which indicates that post-1972 worker safety measures may be inadequate.
Another great invention thrown into the pit by environmentalist along with DDT, plastic straws etc.
One other mineral found usually in proximity to asbestos: talc.
See lawsuis vs Johnson & Johnson.
A town southeast of Montreal in the Canadian province of Quebec is named Asbestos. Or, at least it was ... read something a few years back that they were contemplating a name change. Not sure if it happened ... it was of interest to me because as a kid I visited the town of Asbestos with my dad.