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Science

Asbestos-Related Deaths Up 39

Posted by michael from the in-case-you-had-nothing-to-worry-about dept.
jlowery writes "Seems that asbestos deaths have skyrocketed recently, which isn't suprising one you learn that it takes 40-45 years after exposure for peak deaths to occur. Reminds me of the time 25 years ago me and Dad were replacing the brakes on my old Datsun 510 and blew out the brake residue with compressed air. Dusty."
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Asbestos-Related Deaths Up More

Asbestos-Related Deaths Up

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  • Does anyone else remember using asbestos modeling compound in elementary school in the '60s? It was served up as a powder (!) on small plywood work boards used at our desks. We added water, mixed into a play doh like consistency, and made sculptures.

    • It's scary to think that such a commonly used and widespread material could be so toxic without anyone realizing it for so many years.

      "Does anyone else remember using asbestos modeling compound in elementary school in the '60s? It was served up as a powder (!) on small plywood work boards used at our desks. We added water, mixed into a play doh like consistency, and made sculptures."
      That sounds more like Plaster of Paris to me. I don't know, I've just never heard of asbestos used for that. In fact a Goo
    • Ahh yes, I remember it well. That stuff was called Cancerene brand modelling clay and it had a cute little dancing skeleton on the multicolored label. It was excellent stuff, and gained a lot of it's structural integrity from the asbestos fibers embedded in it. And I do remember that bugs wouldn't eat it because it had an arsenic/DDT ingredient too. The colors would stay bright for years because of the lead-based pigments. Except for the orange clay, which used uranium oxide as a pigment. Since it was a children's product, the clay smelled and tasted like bananas. Those crazy marketers sure knew what they were doing! I remember that our entire class spent a week making cute little plates, saucers, cups, and bowls out of the stuff. I still use mine to this day. Brings back a lot of memories, thanks.
    • I don't know if this is it, but I found a recall notice [cpsc.gov] for something called fibro-clay.

  • "Reminds me of the time 25 years ago me and Dad were replacing the brakes on my old Datsun 510 and blew out the brake residue with compressed air. Dusty."

    Yeah, any time you blow your nose and it comes out black, you have to wonder how much ended up in your lungs!

    Been there, done that... a lot more careful now.
  • The current building I work was built back in the 50's, it's one of the oldest buisness buildings in the whole city. When we moved in to the office we were told we were not allowed to put up pact poles for power/network cabling.

    Upon furthur discovery we found there were large amounts of asbestos in the walls/ceiling. The building management company tried to say it was contained (which it was not) and then told us not to go to the WCB by threatening us with issues with our lease. We did go to the WCB an
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • They haven't "skyrocketed recently" (Score:5, Informative)

    by HotNeedleOfInquiry ( 598897 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @02:39PM (#9782079)
    RTFA.

    The article says: Asbestos-related deaths have increased fourfold in the past three decades, according to a new CDC report.

    Three decades is not recent and fourfold over 3 decades is not a skyrocket.

    Lung cancer from asbestos is no joke. I lost my father-in-law to it and my grandfather to blacklung. Report the news, but report it honestly.
    • I stand corrected -- 4-fold increase.

      I'm not sure what how many other disease you know of that have increased 4-fold in three decades; seems skyrocketing to me, but that's subjective opinion.

      > Lung cancer from asbestos is no joke.

      It's called black humor: it's not meant to make light of a subject, that's why it's black.

  • Asbestosis and smoking (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dacarr ( 562277 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @02:43PM (#9782132) Homepage Journal
    A while back, a guy I knew who worked in insulation quipped that most of the asbestosis deaths he knew of were heavy smokers to begin with, so what he postulated was that it was more that the asbestos compounded the smoking related junk. Anyone know if there is truth to that one, or is he just...well, blowing smoke?
    • I've heard that smoking will promote asbestosis, but that non-smokers get it as well. My father-in-law was exposed to it in Navy ships' boiler rooms in the 40's. He died of asbestosis in the 80's having been a non-smoker all his life.
    • I worked in asbestos removal for a while (licensed inspector etc.) It's a bad idea to work around asbestos and smoke for a variety of reasons but most importantly the two act in synergy when determining likelihood of lung cancer. For example, if you smoke you are ~10x more likely to get lung cancer than a non-smoker. If you work around asbestos, you are ~5x more likely to get lung cancer than someone who does not work around asbestos. If you smoke and work around asbestos, you are ~50x more likely to get lu
  • When I was a kid, my grandmother's brother, who worked at the asbestos mines in, well, Asbestos, QC, Canada, gave me a bunch of small baby food glass jars filled with asbestos at all the stages of processing, from the raw ore to the stuff that the mines sent to various industries.

    I never bothered to open the jars to play with it, so it's probably a good thing.

    Incidentally, my great-uncle didnt die from asbestos-related disease, but from diabetes complications.
    • Asbestos isn't a big deal until it becomes airborne. Most of the victims of asbestos-induced cancer are mechanics who were exposed to brake dust over a couple of decades.

      Depending on where your grandfather worked, it's unlikely that he was exposed to much friable asbestos at all.
      • well, first, he's my great UNCLE, and he was a miner. IIRC he worked at various positions, operating the diggers, driving the big-ass trucks, etc. in mines such as this:
        www.galenfrysinger.com/americas/quebec01.jp g

  • Wow, is this timely, or what? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Hallow ( 2706 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @03:58PM (#9783026) Homepage
    I'm in the process of buying an old house (built in 1905!), so I've done quite a bit of research recently on Asbestos (and lead paint).

    The epa has a pretty good section [epa.gov] devoted to it. I also found The Asbestos Tragedy [bu.edu] to be enlightening and more than a bit disturbing.

    Asbestos, the state rock of California, is a mineral fiber. It's a rock that can be woven into fabric. It's very strong, chemically resistant, and fireproof. Being a natural substance, it's around us all the time and is part of the environment - as the rocks erode, the dust containing asbestos fibers are picked up by wind. (When an asbestos containing product is releasing fibers, it's termed friable).

    It was used in a wide variety of household materials for decades. Things like heating system insulaton, vinyl/asphalt/rubber tiles, vinyl floor backing and adhesives, joint compounds, texturized paint, stove-top pads, oven mits, etc.. It was even used as stage curtains in theaters because of it's resistance to flame.

    If it's in good condition (non-friable), meaning not cracking, crumbling, on an impact surface or otherwise releasing dust, then it's usually harmless if left alone. If it's friable though there are two methods for taking care of it - encapsulation (which is a temporary solution and must be maintained) and removal. Most states specify that only a licensed contractor or homeowner (friends and relatives can help, but cannot be paid, and all regulations must be followed) can deal with it.

    When exposed to asbestos it will usually be caught by the mucus in the lining of your nose, mouth, and throat. This eventually gets swallowed (or hacked up I suppose). What's swallowed passes through you and winds up passing through and out of your digestive tract.

    All it takes however is a single asbestos fiber to get past that defense system and get trapped in your lungs to potentially cause cancer. But like most cancers it's hit or miss who will be affected.

    Oh, remember that part about it being a naturally occuring substance? It is quite possible that you could be exposed just by breathing fresh clean air.

    The worst part is that it takes 20-40 years for any signs to show up, there's no way to test for it besides using x-rays to see if there's visibly damaged lung tissue, and there's no treatment. Our house inspector has had 3 friends die in the past 5 years or so due to asbestos.

    Which brings me back to the house I'm buying - we found obvious asbestos insulation on the old radiator heating system under the house. The seller is going to have professionally removed (licensed asbestos contractor).

    But there may still be asbestos lurking in other places. The texturized ceilings in a few rooms will have to have tested (the current owners have had the place ~10 years, and don't know exactly when it was painted) for both asbestos and lead before we do anything with them. Testing runs about $25-50 per sample.

    Lead paint is much much easier to deal with. Blood levels can be monitored, encapsulation products are easy to apply (special paint,kinda pricey but much cheaper than abatement), and for wood surfaces the newer soy gel paint strippers make it much safer for do-it-yourselfers.

    Basically we're going to have to be very careful and meticulus about any work we decide to do or have done to make sure our home is safe.
    • I'm glad you're so prudent and educated about the dangers about asbestos. But as a sidenote, doesn't it make you feel a little guilty sometimes that you pay someone to clean up the dangerous shit ? I know, they have professional equipment and stuff, but usually it's people form the low end of the social ladder that do this kind of work. And as you said : it takes only one fibre to get past the defense system...

      I'm having an ethical fight with myself these days : we've removed the carpet, and now the glue
      • Are you sure there is no alternative? That's either an alternative to the very toxic product, or to removing them?
        • we tried 5 or 6 products. None of them could remove the glue. That's glue put on in the 1950's... serious stuff, and they were pretty damd generous with it (i.e. a fully covered floor) on a wooden floor that we want to get back to its orinigal wooden state. With that particular product, it goes pretty fast. But it's one damd SOB of a product :-( the only alternative would be to put carpet again. But that's not hygienic (sic?) and with kids age 1-3-5, you're asking for trouble. A kork floor would be cool, b
          • Sorry it took so long, but have your tried bean-e-doo [franmar.com]? It's a soy based carpet/linoleum adhesive remover with no fumes and that leaves no residue. I don't know if it's available where you live, or how well it works, but I've been told their soy based paint stripper is amazing (non-toxic, bio-degradeable, safe to touch, no fumes, binds lead, works fast and well).

            As far as the ethical dillema, I don't really see one. I don't know about your country or locality, but in my state licensed asbestos contractors
    • Asbestos, the state rock of California...

      The state rock is Serpentinite [about.com], which may contain Asbestos.

  • The most dangerous exposures to asbestos occurred in the process of removing it. The stuff is perfectly safe in slabs between sheetrock. When you start tearing it out you create all sorts of poisonous asbestos dust. But try telling that to Chicken Little Americans who go into hysterical panics over anything containing the phrase cancer-causing.
  • Owning a house built in 1909, I've read about asbestos and most of the people who get cancer from it (mesothelioma) were in construction, shipbuilding and other heavy industries that used a lot of asbestos. These people received prolonged heavy exposure to it, often for decades. If you haven't worked in these industries between 1900 and 1980, I think you have little to fear. The spike can easily be accounted for by the length of time the cancer takes to develop. It will probably rise for another decade

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