It is a fantastically useful material, except for all the mesothelioma.
Seriously, except for the horrific issues with the stuff, it would be an essential material for various applications.
Its resistance to fire, heat transfer, etc would do wonders for insulation and construction.
Makes me wonder if it could be treated in some way to make it not-so-inhalable. Though maybe we have better synthetic alternatives by now.
As I’ve understood it, the problem is primarily for the people having to manufacture products using it, and at rest it’s supposed to be inert.
Doesn’t burn, really hard to wear out, you can just dig it out of the ground, easy to shape and repair.
Except it kills people, and it hurts the whole time they’re dying.
“If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation…”
We are in Australia. The company that mined the stuff was found negligent as they kept selling it for decades after they knew it was deadly dangerous
I also hear that so many times thanks to one of the Brain Blaze (on YouTube) editors
Lead in gasoline was a stop-gap solution. If I remember correctly , it was added because we didn’t have the technology at the time to refine gas sufficiently to get the octane levels necessary to prevent pre-ignition of fuel (which causes rod knock) at a reasonable cost. Tetraethyl lead effectively increased the octane level/resistance to pre-ignition. As a side benefit, the lead slightly lubricated the valves and valve seats so that they lasted for tens of thousands of miles, instead of needing to be reground every few thousand miles.
It was a stupid stop-gap though, esp. since the dangers of lead were well known by then.
You’re mostly correct. It was an additive to raise the octane rating and did lubricate. However, it wasn’t a gas refinement issue that caused the need. An octane boosting additive has been needed ever since, right up to today. Now the octane booster used is ethanol, mostly.
Race cars and many airplanes still use lead. We’re still making people dumber. Just at a lesser scale.
I had to reinsulate my attic a few years ago and I found about five different types of insulation up there (I have an old house) … I had to do a bunch of research on this stuff and figure out what I had … thankfully I was ok but I found this in my search online
My grandparents old farm had an asbestos carpet under their current carpet. I’m very very happy I was around to spot that, and for having audited a lot of abatement companies.
It also had asbestos roofing, but at least we weren’t about to rip that up by hand
The first time I learnt about my asbestos I was about 12 and my mum was going off at my dad about it. This was after we just took a load of roofing off an old shed without masks or gloves.
Thinking of it. He also give me fucking tinnitus when I was like 22. Really should have fucking learnt my lesson by then :(
To make people believe it was safe. They knew it wasn’t, so they manipulated public opinion with marketing stunts.
“Of course it’s safe! Look how safe it is! It’s fun for the whole family! What do you think we are, monsters?”
Wittenoom was an asbestos mining town, it was the whole reason for the towns existence. They believed at the time that not only was asbestos safe but they would spread blue asbestos out on the ground around their houses and paths on purpose (for some reason, i forget why exactly, might have been as an insect deterrent or something).
So this wouldnt be that weird for them, like a coal mining town digging buckets of coal.
Our house is about 150 years old and we dug down to the dirt floor in one of the downstairs rooms. We found suspicious white bits, and had to send a sample off. Luckily it came back clear. It was unlikely anyway, as asbestos wasn’t in widespread use here in the 19th century.
However, we do have corrugated asbestos roofing on our “scullery” but it’s in one piece so can be left until we renovate that part, then disposed of safely. It’s pretty common to find it on sheds and outbuildings here.
Treat your taste kindly with KENT, the cigarette with the NEW Micronite filter!
^^Micronite ^^is ^^asbestos.
Oh oh, I’ve got one too. It’s not containing Asbestos but Thorium (or Radium respectively) tho.
“Doramad radioactive toothpaste”
“Creates natural freshness in the mouth!”
“Special biological healing effects by radium rays. A thousand times medically prescribed and recommended.”
“What does Doramad do? Through its radioactivity, it increases the defenses of teeth and gums. The cells are charged with a new vigorous life energy, which inhibits bacteria in their destructive ability. Hence the exquisite prevention and healing effect on gum diseases. Polishes enamel to the softest shiny white. Prevents tartar approach. Good foam, new taste, pleasant, mild and refreshing. Use extensively.”
Quick disclaimer: The last two quotes can be found on Wikipedia but they are not backed up with sources.
The irony is that production was only stopped after Hiroshima and Nagasaki as nobody wanted to buy radioactive toothpaste any more. So the US which developed nukes against the Germans actually saved the Germans from radioactive poisoning by dropping said nukes on Japan.
One could say it left a bitter taste in some German’s mouths. ^(I couldn’t resist)
It’s because of that kind of thing that I’m always skeptical of startups bringing new and shiny things, that weren’t properly studied or tested, and promising to revolutionize something.
Weapons grade teeth…you should only have 20 teeth left at adulthood to safely use this product with a 90% chance of having no chain reaction events.
Oi, Kent! Oi, Kent! Cancer’s here, some there, it’s every-fuckin’-where!!
They’re going to say the same about plastic
Plastic is not very reactive. This property makes it generally not directly harmful to organic health, but also notoriously slow to decompose, causing huge amounts of pollution. I think it’s misleading to compare it to asbestos.
From what I gather, asbestos is also very stable and not reactive. Asbestosis is caused by tiny fibers physically tearing your lungs.
It’s unlikely that plastic is as dangerous (we’d seen it by now) but its buildup can likewise cause some condition.
To be clear, asbestos is less reactive than plastic (particularly most thermoplastics) by a wide margin. One burns, the other will not. Asbestos is closer to glass. It requires incredibly high temperatures to turn it into glass as a matter of fact, as that’s about the only way to dispose of it permanently.
