"Ground-breaking" asbestos finding.

[feebs]

some insurances compaines stopped insuring asbestos workers in 1918.

It is a tradegy that we kept using it to such an extent, ships, houses, space suits, cars. etc. there was no substitute product for insulation,, and probably still isn't.

In wa there are entire suburbs with asbestos houses/ fences and schools.. not to mention a town that has now been stricken off the map.

Many goldfields nickel mines have a level of asbestos contamination.. but this level is lower than being in the middle of the cdb on a calm day (or at least it was in the late 80's).

[Hunter]

feebs, there's quite a few alternatives to asbestos but as I said, cost is the biggest factor in why it was used for so long after they found out about its ill-effects.

There are places it can be used safely but the widespread use of it in a civil setting was what caused us this huge problem.

What I dislike most is ignorant builders and home handymen who deliberate ignore local laws and put their neighbours at risk by doing their own asbestos removal. Its just plain stupid to do.

[GT-E]

When I was doing my Mechanics apprenticship in 1987, we were taught to wash down the brakes with water or brakeklene and not to use compressed air. The mechanics in the workshop continued to blow them off creating a huge cloud of dust. They told me it was not harmful as it was heated by the brakes and that only roof aspestos was bad.
I look back now and wished I had insisted they do not blow the brakes out as I remember the huge clouds of dust in the workshop.

I guess I am also waiting to get aspestosis.