Posted by Flash (213.123.73.252) on October 03, 2000 at 13:23:17:
In Reply to: asbestos posted by annemarie on October 03, 2000 at 10:33:24:
Interesting stuff. I know a little about this because my father worked as a shipyard welder in the 60s. It is actually quite unusual for non smokers to be affected by asbestosis or methomelanoma. However smokers with lots of asbestos exposure are at serious risk.
You are correct in think that the latency period (especially for methomelanoma) can be quite short, I once read about a 12 year old dying from it!
Just in case you are interested this is what killed Steve McQueen. He also worked in the shipyards as a young man. The engine rooms of ships contain a lot of asbestos. Steve also smoked (allegedly) 60 a day.
However like BobP said we are all exposed to asbestos particles every day. Ten years ago the brake pad and clutch linings in motor vehicles were made out of it. Three guesses where it all ends up...
The solid stuff is basically inert as long as you paint over it with a non solvent paint. I used this plastic coating shit on some that we had in our kitchen. The stuff you really need to watch is the pip lagging. Fibres fall off it and enter the atmosphere. To protect against that you only need to wrap it up in glass wool.