Thread: Asbestos around the home

Asbestos didn't come into use untill about the mid 50's.
The older cement sheet didnt use asbestos.
There is an easy test!
If you can drive a pointed nail through the sheet it is asbestos sheet.
If the sheet cracks its the old (or modern) asbestos free sheet

Sorry Bob, wrong answer, asbestos was used somewhat earlier, and your test really insn't that simple..... if you can break off a corner or the like and can see ANY fibres ( you may have to use a magnifying glass) then you can bet your bottom dolar that it is asbestos. Before panicking about removal, costs etc. do some research, there is a lot on the net and if you have a sample then there are specialist asbestos companies who can identify it for you.

Just leave it there and plaster over it. It wont hurt anyone unless you disturb it.

I can remember the asbestos in my old shed was stamped on the back, but I suppose you can't see the stamp, just thought I would mention it.

WE recently had all of our asbestos removed by licensed asbestos removers. Before we booked them, we very carefully(full PPE) took small samples to the university labs where they confirmed the presence of white asb in walls and white and brown in ceiling( I think, I don't have the results on me). Each test cost $70 but we thought it was worth knowing for sure. We didin't have to handle the stuff at all after that, and we didn't have to worry about the disposal. The remainig frame was also sealed with something incase there were stray fibres around. As you are in Sydney there is no point in recommending our contractors, but it was $4800 for whole house, inside, outside, every type of room, double skin on ceiling.Amd it was 4 days I could spend on working out how to replace it all!!!!!!Don't touch it if you don't have to.

Sitting out here in the Timor Sea on an oil rig built in mid seventies. Every internal wall panel on this tub features at least 2 or 3 big red asbestos warning signs.

head butting walls is ruled out for while ing away the time then?

Originally Posted by helga

head butting walls is ruled out for while ing away the time then?

Most of the head butting is done during working hours.....5% of time spent doing geology.....rest of the time spent dealing with rig politics and peoples egos.

do you think the people who made the asbestos should assist with the disposal of it now it has been proven hazardous, or is that naive crazy talk? Kiwigeo, how far underground is asbestos found in its natural state?Do you know from which era?

Originally Posted by helga

do you think the people who made the asbestos should assist with the disposal of it now it has been proven hazardous, or is that naive crazy talk? Kiwigeo, how far underground is asbestos found in its natural state?Do you know from which era?

Interesting questions there Helga.

Do I think the people like James Hardie should help fund with disposal of asbestos products theyve produced and which have been proven to be dangerous? Yes but only because they knew it was dangerous but didnt inform customers and workers of this.

How far underground is asbestos found in its natural state? Okay trying to remember my stage I Geology lectures here. The various minerals that we call asbestos form mainly in a high pressure environment so theyd form at reasonable depth and usually along zones where tectonic plates are colliding or running against each other. A good example would be adjacent to the Alpine Fault in NZ where the Pacific and Asian plates are colliding/sliding against each other. I think there used to be some asbestos mined from the Haast Schist in the South Island of New Zealand.

Age of formation of asbestos minerals? I imagine you could have a wide range of ages here..anything from Paleozoic (or older) through to Tertiary (middle aged to realtively young). The stuff in NZ is probably about Permian through to Cretaceous in age.

As you can see the Geology is a bit rusty...dont do much hard rock geology in this job....mainly looking at wiggly lines and computer screens these days.

FYI there are 6 hydrated silicate minerals that are called asbestos in their fibrous form:

actinolite
tremolite
amosite (brown asbestos)
anthophylite
crocodilite (blue asbestos)

Chrysotile (white asbestos).

The first 5 are all amphiboles and commonly occur in low temp/high pressure metamorphic rocks. They are also the more dangerous forms of asbestos.

Chrysotile because it breaks down more readily within the human body is not considered as dangerous and is still produced in some parts of the world.

A friend of mine does this asbestos sampling and ID.

One day while at the lab doing an air con job for him I got him to show me how they figure out if its asbestos.

they just look at it for a large sample, or put it under the microscope for air samples.

Much of hardies asbestos crocodilite (blue asbestos) was mined at wittenoom in WA. It was mined from tunnels and drives. But there are a lot of open air asbestos seams in the rocks and hills of the region. Its very easy to find.

One of the asbestos companys earliest methods of treating asbestos was to seal it up by painting over it with a lead based paint...

kiwigeo not only the rigs but also the ships built in the 70's , accomodation ,lagging and joints on steam pipework that we had to sometimes grind off ...
Have lost two mates I sailed with to asbestosis ,like all the other engineers I keep it touch with get checked regularly but have been told this stuff can be dormant for over 25 years, always on the back of your mind,,


Useless infomation for the day

Cockroaches break wind every 15 minutes.