• NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.org
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    4 days ago

    my garage, the old fence, and a good chunk of my house is asbestos.

    They’ve been standing 60 years and you wouldn’t know it.

    Damn shame we can’t use the material. Proof god hates us.

    • nsfwchill@lemmynsfw.com
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      4 days ago

      The mineral might be good but its poisonous ish. Do you want your walls to be poisonous, your roof?

      • SpongyAneurism@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
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        4 days ago

        Don’t worry. Asbestos cement is not really dangerous, as long as the concrete is intact and you don’t touch it, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

        It’s when it crumbles or you work on it, that you have to take care. The problem is Asbestos dust entering your lungs, where it’s very carcinogenic.

        But intact walls and roof are okay.

        • Abnorc@lemm.ee
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          4 days ago

          The issue is that some day someone may have to work on your home, even if it’s just getting demolished decades or more from now. I don’t know how difficult it is to work with if you know that it’s there in advance.

          • InputZero@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            How difficult asbestos remediation can be depends a lot on the situation. Regardless of the situation people working near or on asbestos require respirators, bunny suits, many vacuums, and more to handle asbestos safely. Not the best conditions to work in but definitely not the worst.

            Where the work is being done says a lot about how difficult it’ll be. As an example take a single detached house, asbestos remediation wouldn’t be too difficult. The residents can leave the home so there’s less concern about inadvertently exposing the public. It gets a lot more difficult when the work is being done in say a train terminal for example. The terminal cannot be closed for a month so work must be done alongside the public. Now a whole system needs to be put it place. It becomes a lot easier to just leave the asbestos alone, as long as it’s not turned into a dust it’s not dangerous.

      • bitcrafter@programming.dev
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        4 days ago

        This is especially a concern for those of us who keep pork chops in our walls for a quick and convenient snack!

    • flo@infosec.pub
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      4 days ago

      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.

      • Maxxie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 days ago

        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.

        • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          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.

  • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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    5 days ago

    God: “I’ll make a wonder material. Fire proof. Strong. Insulating. Just dig it up from the ground. Common a fuck. Waterproof.”

    “Then they can all get cancer the cunts”

    “Okay I’m done shit posting for now. Where’s that big tittie blonde gone”

  • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    My dad was a contractor and he had a big sheet of it in the garage that was leftover from some job. It looked kind of like a sheet of drywall, but was grey and rougher. I used to take it into the back yard with a little blow torch and and lay on it while I melted metal things. I was probably ten to twelve at the time.

    It was a different time.

  • edric@lemm.ee
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    5 days ago

    I remember as a kid we had some kind of puck-shaped asbestos bathroom deodorizer. It was also used in urinals back in the day.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    5 days ago

    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

    • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Oh my god. Blue asbestos is the worst kind, or best if mesothelioma is your thing. Every single one of the people in that picture died from pulmonary issues.

    • Monzcarro@feddit.uk
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      4 days ago

      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.

      • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        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.

      • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        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?”

        • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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          4 days ago

          When in fact yes … yes they were monsters … and there are monsters still around us today

    • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      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

      • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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        5 days ago

        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 :(

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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        5 days ago

        How do printers create microplastics? I’d think they wouldn’t be significantly different than other ways of manufacturing plastic parts. Genuinely curious.

        • TurtlePower@lemm.ee
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          5 days ago

          After printing you have to not only trim the extra bits, but you have to sand it down, whereas manufacturers use molds and only have to trim the seams.

          • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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            5 days ago

            Ah so the finishing work. Makes sense.

            E: Reading about PLA specifically, it appears to be compostable. Also burning it doesn’t produce nasty byproducts. So perhaps 3D printing with PLA isn’t that bad, of one takes care of the excess.

            • DaGeek247@fedia.io
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              5 days ago

              It’s compostable in the same way that taco bell is mexican food; you have to add a lot of qualifiers before anyone will agree with you.

              As far as regular people are concerned, pla isn’t being composted.

              • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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                4 days ago

                That was a really frustrating little factoid for me to learn. I think 3D printing can be an amazing hobby, but the safety bits aren’t really discussed until you bring up resin! If we find a good way to break down PLA, or heck invent a compostable plastic, it would go a long way.

                I still feel stupid breathing so close to my PLA printer while it was operating as I was trying to troubleshoot stuff. Gah.

                The printers can be bought for dirt cheap, but decent enclosures and ventilation are still seldom talked about and turnkey solutions seem to still require the resources of a university department or popular influencer.

  • Rose Thorne(She/Her)@lemm.ee
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    5 days ago

    "Asbestos was first synthesized by the master magi Mesothelioma. He was looking for a way to slowly poison the local villages without easy detection, and ended up creating one of the most common robe linings found today.

    Mesothelioma is remembered long after his passing, though not fondly. If you, or a loved one, has been harmed by the creations of Dark Lord Mesothelioma, Sending us today…"

  • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Treat your taste kindly with KENT, the cigarette with the NEW Micronite filter!

    ^^Micronite ^^is ^^asbestos.

    • Zyratoxx@lemm.ee
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      5 days ago

      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.

      • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        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.

        • Zyratoxx@lemm.ee
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          4 days ago

          in German they say “Für ein strahlendes Lächeln” (for a radiant/beaming smile)

        • Zyratoxx@lemm.ee
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          5 days ago

          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)

      • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 days ago

        You know what, their claim about odour being caused by bacteria, and bacteria being damaged by radiation is on point.

        I’m sure you’ll have some odour when your mouth turns into a giant weeping sore though

      • nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br
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        4 days ago

        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.

        • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Hey, how about that somewhat rushed mrna vaccine 😅

          To be fair, fuck getting covid, plus there was significant related research, so I’m vaccinated…but also…👀

    • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Asbestos is notoriously cancer causing, dangerous, EPA damning material that many, many homes, farms, buildings, etc. in America (and a few other countries) used heavily because of the properties espoused in the advertisement above.

      And many people have suffered premature deaths as a result.

      Asbestos was even used in the Wizard of Oz for the snow falling on the cast.

      I had Asbestos in my ceiling in a home I purchased and had to pay $12k to remediate it. They wore masks, had negative pressure ventilation suits on, had to get EPA certifications, checks, etc.

      It’s brutal stuff.

      • ylph@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        They wore masks, had negative pressure ventilation suits on

        I hope those were positive pressure suits, positive pressure helps to keep dust out of the suit. Negative pressure ventilation is used to help sick people breathe easier, like the iron lung for example.

      • psud@aussie.zone
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        5 days ago

        My mother grew up with her mother using asbestos heat distributors on the stove (between the flame and the pot) and they wore out regularly. Grandma was apparently very annoyed when the product was banned

        Mum died in 2021 of a cardiac cancer, caused by asbestos

    • gerbler@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      To quote Wikipedia:

      Asbestos is an excellent thermal and electrical insulator, and is highly fire resistant, so for much of the 20th century, it was very commonly used around the world as a building material.

      It was also later discovered to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and also because of its fibrous structure; it breaks into lots of tiny little microscopic needles when agitated. Those little shards get inhaled and poke tiny holes in your lungs which causes Asbestosis (kind of like Emphysema for smokers).

      • psud@aussie.zone
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        5 days ago

        Sometimes the little shards make it through the lungs into the blood and thence onwards to cause cancer in any part of the body* it comes to rest

        *Except the most protected parts: brain and gonads