9 ms·
Well given that asbestos were known to be cancerous almost a century before we ban it, I'd say it's just the way we usually do things: use what's convenient unt
by sametmax 9y ago
Well given that asbestos were known to be cancerous almost a century before we ban it, I'd say it's just the way we usually do things: use what's convenient until the cost is too high.
- IshKebab 9y agoAsbestos is still manufactured and sold in some countries. Crazy I know.
- karlkloss 9y agoAs it's a naturally occuring mineral, you can't avoid it completely. https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/asbestos-found-nevada-and-arizona-roadblock-and-potential-health-hazard https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/asbestos-found-nevada-...
- forgotmypw 9y agoWell then, if it's a naturally occurring mineral, we might as well just spread it around all over the place!
- SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago> As it's a naturally occuring mineral, you can't avoid it completely Isn't that also true of Lead?
- _emacsomancer_ 9y agoOnly until we figure out how to transmute it to gold.
- Erlangolem 9y agoWe already know how (bombard it with Calcium-48 in a particle accelerator, or stick it in a nuclear reactor), but it’s not cost effective.
- forgotmypw 9y agoActually, there is a startup that's about to make it cost-effective through blockchain-based crowdsharing:
- whyenot 9y agoSan Benito Mountain in central California has naturally occurring asbestos levels that are so high that no public access was allowed for years (historically, it was a popular off-roading area). More recently, public access is allowed, but you are only permitted to visit the site 5 times per year (the BLM keeps track).
- londons_explore 9y agoLava is naturally occurring... Yet I do a pretty good job of avoiding it.
- userbinator 9y agoChrysotile "white asbestos" is the only type still legally allowed, because various studies have found it to be far less carcinogenic than the other types --- AFAIK crocidolite ("blue asbestos"), the most carcinogenic, has been banned completely. https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos#notbanned https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos#notban...
- falcolas 9y agoWant to feel a bit concerned? Carbon fiber particulate (such as what you get from sawing or sanding it) is as bad as asbestos. We love carbon fiber these days. Most of the time it is sequestered safely away in resin, but it's absurdly simple to free it.
- ams6110 9y agoCan you point to a study backing up this claim?
- falcolas 9y agohttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-danger/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-nanotube-d... Second link in a search containing solely "carbon fibre asbestos". It's a fairly well known problem. The problems with carbon fibre (and asbestos, for that matter) is not that it's somehow poisonous, but that the particles are so fine and long and strong that they cause problems with your lungs. They can't be absorbed, they can't be expelled; their structure makes them an irritant that can't be removed by the body's natural processes.