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Let's not put asbestos like fibers in everything please: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-danger/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/a

Let's not put asbestos like fibers in everything please: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-danger/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-d...

stephengillie 10y ago
Would the nanotubes become airborne if the battery exploded?
dzhiurgis 10y ago
They are already all around us, from the coal plants. Asbestos was a construction material that was often exposed to mechanical forces. Battery cathode is the furthest from that.
- eveningcoffee 10y ago
  And? It does not follow that we should make the situation worse given that we already messed it up badly by our previous ignorance.
  - adrianN 10y ago
    Well, if carbon nanotubes give us much better batteries, we might be able to shut off the coal plants and diesel engines sooner.
    - eveningcoffee 10y ago
      Yes, but if this happens by increasing the risk of serious contamination of the environment? I think that we should not just ignore this. The same thing happened with the CFL bulbs that contain mercury - how many of them were disposed correctly? Luckily for us these will be replaced by LED bulbs very soon.
      - ZenoArrow 10y ago
        I don't know why you're being downvoted, we should consider potential side effects in using a material, even if just so we can minimise potential downsides.
      - kevhito 10y ago
        ... as compared to the known, ongoing and serious contamination of the environment due to coal plants, of course. Do you have a citation for the CFL concern? I'm not expert in this area, but my quick checking only reveals this [1]: > Even if the mercury contained in a CFL was directly > released into the atmosphere, an incandescent would > still contribute 4.65 more milligrams of mercury into > the environment over its lifetime. Basically the same info from the EPA as well, here [2]. [1]: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/a1733/4217864/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/a1733/4217864/ [2]: https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/fact_sheet_mercury.pdf https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_lig...
        mrfusion 10y ago
        But we're not talking about the atmosphere. That mercury goes directly into landfills.
      - kalleboo 10y ago
        In his specific examples, it's grid-scale and cars, and neither of those are really disposed of the same way lightbulbs are (especially for grid-scale you can really crank up the regulation) Putting them in phones would be a problem though.
sp332 10y ago
Asbestos is only a problem if you inhale a reasonably large amount of it.
- arnoooooo 10y ago
  "there is no 'safe' level of asbestos exposure for any type of asbestos fiber." [https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/ https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/]
- threeseed 10y ago
  Asbestos is similar to cigarettes i.e. it's based on chance. You can get lung cancer as a non smoker. Or you can not get cancer whilst smoking a pack a day for 80 years. Each cigarette and similarly exposure to asbestos merely increases your chances.
- posterboy 10y ago
  Surely, that amount would be unreasonable in any case.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  There are two (main) kinds of asbestos, what you write is true for one of those two, the other kind you should not be exposed to at all if it is airborne, it is super dangerous (the other is dangerous as well but not nearly as much). Never ever grind/saw/sand/drill anything made with asbestos in it, just take it apart gently while wearing respiration gear and pack it in plastic, then deliver to a facility set up to handle it (where I live that is the municipality). If you're dealing with sprayed on asbestos then let a professional company do the demolition, it is not worth lungcancer to save a few bucks and those people will have all the right equipment and will be able to remove it without releasing it into the environment.
vorotato 10y ago
If you inhale battery dust it's not going to end well for you, nanotubes or not. There's a difference between lining your walls with a foot thick of the stuff, and having a small amount in batteries. FYI we still use asbestos today, and it's a good idea as long as you're careful with it.

Let's not put asbestos like fibers in everything please: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-danger/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-d...

stephengillie 10y ago

Would the nanotubes become airborne if the battery exploded?

dzhiurgis 10y ago

They are already all around us, from the coal plants. Asbestos was a construction material that was often exposed to mechanical forces. Battery cathode is the furthest from that.

eveningcoffee 10y ago
And? It does not follow that we should make the situation worse given that we already messed it up badly by our previous ignorance.
- adrianN 10y ago
  Well, if carbon nanotubes give us much better batteries, we might be able to shut off the coal plants and diesel engines sooner.
  - eveningcoffee 10y ago
    Yes, but if this happens by increasing the risk of serious contamination of the environment? I think that we should not just ignore this. The same thing happened with the CFL bulbs that contain mercury - how many of them were disposed correctly? Luckily for us these will be replaced by LED bulbs very soon.
    - ZenoArrow 10y ago
      I don't know why you're being downvoted, we should consider potential side effects in using a material, even if just so we can minimise potential downsides.
    - kevhito 10y ago
      ... as compared to the known, ongoing and serious contamination of the environment due to coal plants, of course. Do you have a citation for the CFL concern? I'm not expert in this area, but my quick checking only reveals this [1]: > Even if the mercury contained in a CFL was directly > released into the atmosphere, an incandescent would > still contribute 4.65 more milligrams of mercury into > the environment over its lifetime. Basically the same info from the EPA as well, here [2]. [1]: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/a1733/4217864/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/a1733/4217864/ [2]: https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/fact_sheet_mercury.pdf https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_lig...
      - mrfusion 10y ago
        But we're not talking about the atmosphere. That mercury goes directly into landfills.
    - kalleboo 10y ago
      In his specific examples, it's grid-scale and cars, and neither of those are really disposed of the same way lightbulbs are (especially for grid-scale you can really crank up the regulation) Putting them in phones would be a problem though.

sp332 10y ago

Asbestos is only a problem if you inhale a reasonably large amount of it.

arnoooooo 10y ago
"there is no 'safe' level of asbestos exposure for any type of asbestos fiber." [https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/ https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/]
threeseed 10y ago
Asbestos is similar to cigarettes i.e. it's based on chance. You can get lung cancer as a non smoker. Or you can not get cancer whilst smoking a pack a day for 80 years. Each cigarette and similarly exposure to asbestos merely increases your chances.
posterboy 10y ago
Surely, that amount would be unreasonable in any case.
jacquesm 10y ago
There are two (main) kinds of asbestos, what you write is true for one of those two, the other kind you should not be exposed to at all if it is airborne, it is super dangerous (the other is dangerous as well but not nearly as much). Never ever grind/saw/sand/drill anything made with asbestos in it, just take it apart gently while wearing respiration gear and pack it in plastic, then deliver to a facility set up to handle it (where I live that is the municipality). If you're dealing with sprayed on asbestos then let a professional company do the demolition, it is not worth lungcancer to save a few bucks and those people will have all the right equipment and will be able to remove it without releasing it into the environment.

vorotato 10y ago

If you inhale battery dust it's not going to end well for you, nanotubes or not. There's a difference between lining your walls with a foot thick of the stuff, and having a small amount in batteries. FYI we still use asbestos today, and it's a good idea as long as you're careful with it.