4 ms·
I think it was particularly lethal to miners and factory workers. One of my great grandfathers died years after working in a factory that made mittens out of a
by liability 6y ago
I think it was particularly lethal to miners and factory workers. One of my great grandfathers died years after working in a factory that made mittens out of asbestos. Any process that disturbs the asbestos is going to be risky.
- sandworm101 6y agoThe Navy. It was used to insulate pipes and stop fires from spreading. Ships are basically one giant confined space full of pipes and fire barriers.
- liability 6y agoIt's sadly ironic that a fireproofing material meant to save lives has killed so many (a great deal more than it plausibly ever saved.)
- dekhn 6y agoI don't know what the actual rates of lived saved by asbestos vs lives taken in. It's one of the classic risk evaluation problems: fires are big, scary and dramatic, people know who died in them, and so a tool that prevents it is welcome. On the other hand, asbestos being dangerous really only came into being after people noticed a pattern of increased early death in asbestos mining towns. We just don't process the risk of a statistically significant increase in early death, compared to the obvious risk of not using fire insulation.
- dylan604 6y agoI like being able to stop my car when I hit the brake pedal. https://www.brakepartsinc.com/raybestos.html https://www.brakepartsinc.com/raybestos.html
- liability 6y agoI don't have a citation for that claim but mesothelioma kills tens of thousands a year. I think it's a safe guess that asbestos fireproofing hasn't been saving that many lives, at least not per year.
- throwaway0a5e 6y agoCitation please.
- joezydeco 6y agoThe first 40 floors of the World Trade Center, both towers, had every steel beam covered in asbestos. The collapse released 2,000 tons of fibers into the atmosphere on 9/11/01.