5 ms·

I wish plastic were as easily manageable as asbestos. Asbestos has always been far better contained than plastics — it's basically only ever been used “behind t

I wish plastic were as easily manageable as asbestos. Asbestos has always been far better contained than plastics — it's basically only ever been used “behind the scenes” in buildings. Now that we've phased out its use, you basically only need to manage asbestos when demolishing or doing extensive work on a building, when those cordoned-off spots become exposed. Meanwhile plastics have already permeated our environment. Even if we stopped all use today, it would be practically impossible to remove every trace of them from the environment.

m3047 1y ago
> behind the scenes Asbestos was at times used in: * cigarrette filters * water filters * hair dryers * space heaters * anti-scorch pads (stoves and bunsen burners) * HVAC duct sealing * boiler, pipe, and duct insulation (buildings, machinery, vehicles) * brakes
- creaturemachine 1y ago
  floor tiles, ceiling tiles, plaster & sheetrock There were times when you could have been surrounded by the stuff in your own home. It was also boxed up in pure form and sold as artificial snow.
  - jajko 1y ago
    My father when young (60s, eastern Europe) was working as a student on road and airport runway construction, working with hot tarmac material. Used heavily-ladden asbestos clothing and gloves. Luckily no mesothelioma till now so he got lucky. It was really in many places due to its great thermal properties. But plastic permeated everything these days, thats on another few orders of magnitudes higher level.
- ethagnawl 1y ago
  * as topsoil/fill (graciously provided by Raybestos) when my hometown built sports fields in the 70/80s
- femto 1y ago
  My "favourite" one is bulk insulation for domestic dwellings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Fluffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Fluffy Just get a big tub of loose asbestos fibre and use a blower to fill the roof space. What could go wrong?
  - Havoc 1y ago
    > blower I’m officially horrified
KurSix 1y ago
And the kicker is, we're still producing more of it every year

m3047 1y ago

> behind the scenes Asbestos was at times used in: * cigarrette filters * water filters * hair dryers * space heaters * anti-scorch pads (stoves and bunsen burners) * HVAC duct sealing * boiler, pipe, and duct insulation (buildings, machinery, vehicles) * brakes

creaturemachine 1y ago
floor tiles, ceiling tiles, plaster & sheetrock There were times when you could have been surrounded by the stuff in your own home. It was also boxed up in pure form and sold as artificial snow.
- jajko 1y ago
  My father when young (60s, eastern Europe) was working as a student on road and airport runway construction, working with hot tarmac material. Used heavily-ladden asbestos clothing and gloves. Luckily no mesothelioma till now so he got lucky. It was really in many places due to its great thermal properties. But plastic permeated everything these days, thats on another few orders of magnitudes higher level.
ethagnawl 1y ago
* as topsoil/fill (graciously provided by Raybestos) when my hometown built sports fields in the 70/80s
femto 1y ago
My "favourite" one is bulk insulation for domestic dwellings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Fluffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Fluffy Just get a big tub of loose asbestos fibre and use a blower to fill the roof space. What could go wrong?
- Havoc 1y ago
  > blower I’m officially horrified

KurSix 1y ago

And the kicker is, we're still producing more of it every year