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Asbestos

red750

By red750
in Politics

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red750 Grand Master

red750

Posted
Posted

I was watching the Jim Jeffries Show (Jim is an Australian with a satirical chat show on American television). Like many Tonight Show type programs, they send up Donald Trump.

 

It appears that Trump has approved production of a material containing asbestos.

 

The program showed a video of Trump saying asbestos was not dangerous, it was the best insulation known to man, and if the World Trade Centre had been built of asbestos, it would not have melted.

 

 

Old Koreelah Grand Master

Old Koreelah

Posted
Posted

It wouldn't surprise me, Red. He seems hell-bent on undoing anything achieved by Obama and any other sensible science-based administration. America's honey bees have been declining alarmingly in recent years, with one insecticide implicated, Trump overturned a ban on that chemical spray.

 

He's proudly wound back support for renewables and scientists dare not even mention climate change.

 

 

red750 Grand Master

red750

Posted
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Posted

Saw another video clip of Trump tonight. There is an Orion space capsule on the White House lawn.

 

spacer.png

 

In a speech, Trump said "..from the Wright Brothers to the shiny Orion capsicle on the front lawn.."

 

Der ... I'm not dumb!

 

 

storchy neil Newbie

storchy neil

Posted
Posted

we now have precations that need to be taken being made aware that it is dangerous as nev said years ago he did get covered in so did I never was told how dangerous it was no we wernt so if by education we can use it why not neil

 

 

Bruce Newbie

Bruce

Posted
Posted

There is so much hysteria over asbestos that I actually feel like agreeing with Trump a bit.

 

The problem is real with pure asbestos in the native form. Unfortunately this was used for boiler lagging etc and boilermakers sure died.

 

But when combined with cement, the new material is entirely different. Even cutting-dust from asbestos-cement is quite safe. People have spent their working lives cutting asbestos-cement with no ill effects. Even burning a building containing asbestos-cement does not liberate the native fibres.

 

This difference has been lost in recent years, much to the profit of those bikies who have got themselves asbestos removal tickets.

 

Another thing... asbestos is a natural part of the earth and ordinary wind-blown dust contains the stuff.

 

 

Old Koreelah Grand Master

Old Koreelah

Posted
Posted
... Even cutting-dust from asbestos-cement is quite safe. People have spent their working lives cutting asbestos-cement with no ill effects...

You sure about that, Bruce? Goes against everything we've been told- and common sense.

 

 

facthunter Grand Master

facthunter

Posted
Posted

Just because something exists in Nature doesn't mean it's safe. Stuff coming out of volcanoes is Pretty dangerous, as an example,

 

Also.the area of your lungs is about equal to that of a tennis court. Some things that settle there cannot be expelled or absorbed so form an area of irritation or scarring that eventually makes the cells change in their way of doing things ( reproducing). Their DNA is damaged and they grow abnormally. nev

 

 

Bruce Newbie

Bruce

Posted
Posted

Irrigation systems used to have asbestos-cement pipes as their main lines. There were people who spent all day at work using hole-saws on these pipes.

 

Asbestos cement sheets have been used for many years and the evidence of anybody getting asbestosis from this source is scant to non-existent.

 

Don't forget that asbestos was used in brake linings and cars then had drum brakes, and I don't know for sure, but suspect that the brake linings were not cement based and therefore likely to have raw asbestos in the dust. I remember seeing a mechanic use compressed air to blow a drum clean. It filled the garage with asbestos-containing dust.

 

Asbestos fibres bond very well with cement and form a new material. Even the sawdust from this does not contain raw fibres.

 

Some years ago, my daughter was buying a house in Brisbane which had an asbestos-cement roof. I spent some time chasing up the Qld government people, and they assured me the house was quite safe for the reasons I've said.

 

Strange, methinks, that people who see no danger in global warming, resource depletion and overpopulation manage to see danger in asbestos-cement.

 

 

facthunter Grand Master

facthunter

Posted
Posted

My kids work in construction and they do all the right things when they encounter asbestos and would rather not be anywhere near it, I can assure you. They don't work on anything that is not properly removed. If it's painted or wet or oil soaked it's safer.. I don't share your confidence about the lack of risk... Nev

 

 

Bruce Newbie

Bruce

Posted
Posted

Nev, I would encourage them to keep taking those precautions. Plus investigate getting a removal ticket.

 

Once on a contract we found that the floors we had to drill through were asbestos-cement. As this had not been mentioned in the specs, we went home and renegotiated the price and came back with masks.

 

But this was mainly about the money, we got more from the job. Personally, I found the mask too bothersome but I insisted the kid keep his on.

 

There probably is a risk in that a snapped or sawn bit of asbestos cement might liberate a bit of raw stuff. This risk would be small compared with the risk of being 5kg overweight, to name just one thing.

 

Is concentrating on a small risk while ignoring a big one a sign of insanity? Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.

 

 

facthunter Grand Master

facthunter

Posted
Posted

I believe the substance itself is very dangerous in any quantity. We perhaps differ there. People who washed overalls got enough to sign their death warrant. There are compounding factors like smoking and other lifestyle considerations. BUT there's plenty of evidence of the dangers of blue asbestos fibres in the lungs. Nev

 

 

spacesailor Grand Master

spacesailor

Posted
Posted

Blue Asbestos,

 

USED THRUGHOUT INDUSTRY.

 

Alway,s "made in Australia" boldly written on the sacks.

 

WORKERS putting hands up to elbows, into bag, to get a big handful, to add to the fire clay, for use in the blast furnace of Leys mallable casting co,.

 

Last year, a class action was brought against them.

 

No warning & NO dust mask.

 

No body ever retired from the factory floor,

 

EVER

 

spacesailor

 

 

Bruce Newbie

Bruce

Posted
Posted

Yes Marty, being 5 kg overweight ( which I am ) is twice as risky as flying. I am prepared to do anything to lose it , except for giving up booze and food.

 

 

storchy neil Newbie

storchy neil

Posted
Posted

yeh bruce I kinda agree back in the seventies I was cutting cement sheeting with asbestos in it for the wallarawang power station mob and I still smoke lunges still work fine

 

gee guys I gotta fill me pockets with stones to get 75 kgs neil

 

 

willedoo Grand Master

willedoo

Posted
Posted
both you guys are referring to raw asbestos. I say that combined with cement, it is a different material.

Bruce, my dad had asbestos fibre cement sheeting in his laundry. It would have been very old and put up around the time that sheeting first was around.

 

In corners of the sheets where there was damage, you could plainly see the asbestos fibres sticking out, very similar looking to fibreglass fibres. So are you saying those fibres are safe to breath because the presence of cement in the sheets has rendered them harmless.

 

I'm interested in the subject as I worked for James Hardie for a year when I was a young bloke.

 

 

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