When is asbestos dangerous? Is it the highly charged fibres that are dangerous?

Answer 1

Asbestos is completely safe if undisturbed. When airborne, the fibres have little barbs on them so if you breath them in they get stuck in the tissue of your lungs. The only one you are allowed to remove yourself is the white cement board type with correct H&S gear and disposal procedures. Other than that it has to be a registered company.

If you have the cement board type, you can reuse it by law. Say, knock a garage down but use the boards to make a shed.

The next worst thing to asbestos is MDF. I believe it's banned in America, if I have been informed correctly.

Answer 2

There is a lot of deliberate mis-information about the danger of asbestos. The fact is that only what is known as blue asbestos is a carcinogen. The reason is that if you look at magnified particles you will see it is faceted. It looks like it has sharp points all over it. It sticks in the lungs and can cause disease. The white asbestos is inert. In the U.S. blue asbestos was almost exclusively used in ships. People who worked building ships may well have been exposed to airborne particles.

Unfortunately, most States have laws that consider all asbestos to be a hazard. This means you must hire a licensed asbestos removal company to get rid of it. It is one of the biggest scams of all time. I used to work for one of these companies. We removed asbestos from businesses. The funniest part was that when we would start the removal near the end of the regular office day and people would still be in the building, we would wear head to toe white suits complete with full face masks and respirators. Once the office people were gone, we took off all of that uncomfortable equipment and just yanked all the asbestos down. We put on quite a show.

Answer 3

If you are worried about asbestos, then its illogical to throw out the one person that can determine if it is actually in the air in your apartment. Now you have no way of knowing if there is a problem. You should call the property manager and have them explain the sources of asbestos in your apartment and also have them monitor your air for a day or two. Make sure to run the vacuum the way you do during normal cleaning while the air monitor is running. If asbestos is found and the asbestos source cannot be permanently sealed off, your only choice is to stay and breathe in asbestos or move somewhere else.

Answer 4

The problem is that the dust from blue asbestos gets deep down into your lungs and can't be got out again. It messes up your lungs for good.
White asbestos is chemically completely different and is basically just the same as talcum powder so no problem there.
However, there are a lot of unscrupulous companies making a fortune by charging huge amounts of money for removing any type of asbestos regardless of whether it's justified or not.

Answer 5

There are two types of asbestos fibers:stiff and curly. America doesn't distinguish between the two when making policies, but Britain does. The stiff kind is more dangerous because, when inhaled, the points are able to get stuck in the tissues of the lungs, making respiration pretty hard eventually. The curly kind can't get stuck in lung tissue as easily. Asbestos in old buildings becomes more of a problem when the building is torn down or the asbestos is disturbed by workers attempting to relpace the "contaminated" parts because then it is let loose to float through the air and be inhaled.

Answer 6

Both my parents died of cancer caused by inhaling microscopic particles of asbestos. None of it is safe and hence the use of it is now banned in UK, it is also illegal to re-use it or sell it second hand. The effect can take 10-30 years to show and some people are more at risk than others but no-one knows why yet. Even car brake linings have had to be changed because of the extreme risk.
For the record it is a very painful and distressing way to die, it is in no way quick and really, it is not worth taking any chances, life can be short enough eh?

Answer 7

There is no such thing as a highly charged asbestos fiber. That makes no sense. Asbestos is dangerous when you breath it.

Answer 8

It becomes dangerous when u over exposed and breath with it every days..so for precaution ' Dont use asbestos'..he..he:)

Answer 9

asbestos is dangerous when you break it (particles in the air) there is also different types of the stuff i think its blue and white and one can give you cancer (blue i think)

Answer 10

its the dust that gets breathed in and caked to our lungs