Asbestos in storage heaters

[ban-all-sheds]

Then it'll be delicious roasted and served with hoi sin sauce, cucumber and pancakes?

And probably involve cruel production methods.

 

[securespark]

Nom Nom!!

 

[Jerry Holdcroft]

Interesting. I presume that work has been done on the fibres themselves, to (hopefully) confirm that they don't have the same carcinogenic potential as asbestos ones?

Kind Regards, John

Unfortunately the research to date has been limited, I understand ceramic wool in particular has the 'ability' to release fibres of the same size and shape as the lethal amphibole fibres 0.5 microns to 10 microns, bigger fibres get trapped in mucus or the bodies own defence mechanisms, smaller fibres are simply breathed out or coughed out.
Bearing in mind asbestos related diseases have a latency period of up to 40+ years, it's difficult to duplicate the process, the slow penetration of the lung walls leading to plaques, asbestosis, mesothelioma, in a shorter time.

Regards Jerry

 

[JohnW2]

Unfortunately the research to date has been limited, I understand ceramic wool in particular has the 'ability' to release fibres of the same size and shape as the lethal amphibole fibres 0.5 microns to 10 microns, bigger fibres get trapped in mucus or the bodies own defence mechanisms, smaller fibres are simply breathed out or coughed out.

Indeed, it is the size of the fibres that is critical in determining whether or not they remain in the lungs, but what harm they do depends upon the nature of the fibres.

Bearing in mind asbestos related diseases have a latency period of up to 40+ years, it's difficult to duplicate the process, the slow penetration of the lung walls leading to plaques, asbestosis, mesothelioma, in a shorter time.

Although asbestos-related problems in can have a very long latency in humans, the time course is much shorter in small animals, which can therefore be used as models. In the case of rats, asbestosis, mesothelioma and other tumors (both benign and malignant) (i.e. the same spectrum of pathologies as seen in man) can, and do, arise quite soon after exposure, so the same might be true of other problematical inhaled fibres. As an example, I happen to have the abstract of a pertinent research paper in my computer ....

The Effects of the Inhalation of Asbestos in Rats.
Two experiments in which SPF Wistar rats were exposed by inhalation to dust clouds of the UICC standard reference samples for periods of between one day and 2 years are described. All the samples of asbestos produced asbestosis which continued to progress after removal from exposure but only a little fibrosis was observed in control rats. Lung tumours, ranging in severity from adenomata to squamous carcinomata, were produced by all samples but in the controls there were only a few adenomata and none of the more serious tumours. Of the 20 tumours which metastasized, 16 occurred after exposure to one or other of the 2 chrysotile samples. In addition, a total of 11 mesotheliomata occurred, 4 of which were with crocidolite and 4 with Canadian chrysotile. Two of the mesotheliomata occurred with only one day's exposure to asbestos. There was a positive association between asbestosis and lung tumours.

The abstract does not incate how early the problems arose but, of course, rats do not live for all that long!

Kind Regards, John