06-04-2011, 08:54 AM
There are two types of asbestos that were in common use - white and blue, the latter known as 'crocidolite', and that is by far the most dangerous. Most asbestos, such as that which used to be used on ironing boards, garages, garden sheds, rainwater good, gas boiler flues etc, is white asbestos, often bonded with cement. That used extensively for insulation purposes in electrical equipment will almost certainly have been white asbestos, and poses little danger. Personally, I'd put it in a plastic bag and chuck it in the bin without a second thought. Asbestos is in the air all around use, much of it from car brake pads and discs. It's true that people who worked extensively with asbestos in UK factories have contracted asbestosis, and indeed, their family members due to asbestos coming into their homes on dirty overalls, but that's in large quantities.
The most dangerous use of asbestos was the use of blue asbestos to insulate large boilers and large diameter pipes on commercial heating system in schoohls, hospitals, ships and the like. The slang name for that was 'monkey muck'. At 72, I must be a walking time-bomb because I worked extensively with asbestos cement pipe and sheet for the first ten years of my working life as did my work colleagues, many of whom I'm still in touch with, none of whom have yet to suffer any consequences.
I don't want to make light of a safety issue or sound dismissive or complacent, but I do think that over the years, the hazards have been grossly overstated and snesationalised - in particular, the 'one-fibre theory' that all it takes is one fibre to kill you. That may be true in itself, but we all inevitably have thousands in our lungs from the atmosphere and theres' just no way of steering clear of it.
There must be millions of garden sheds and garages made from asbestos cement sheet all over the country, and flue pipes for old gas central heating boilers. Why then does it suddenly become a really big deal when they're dismantled and taken to the local tip? (Rhetorical question).
David
The most dangerous use of asbestos was the use of blue asbestos to insulate large boilers and large diameter pipes on commercial heating system in schoohls, hospitals, ships and the like. The slang name for that was 'monkey muck'. At 72, I must be a walking time-bomb because I worked extensively with asbestos cement pipe and sheet for the first ten years of my working life as did my work colleagues, many of whom I'm still in touch with, none of whom have yet to suffer any consequences.
I don't want to make light of a safety issue or sound dismissive or complacent, but I do think that over the years, the hazards have been grossly overstated and snesationalised - in particular, the 'one-fibre theory' that all it takes is one fibre to kill you. That may be true in itself, but we all inevitably have thousands in our lungs from the atmosphere and theres' just no way of steering clear of it.
There must be millions of garden sheds and garages made from asbestos cement sheet all over the country, and flue pipes for old gas central heating boilers. Why then does it suddenly become a really big deal when they're dismantled and taken to the local tip? (Rhetorical question).
David
