miguel@aclcb.purdue.edu (Phillip) (06/11/91)
In article <cwV531w164w@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us>, craig@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Craig Webster) writes: >Hi. I was wondering whether anybody on this net would be willing to give me >information dealing with asbestos and its effect on the body. How does it >cause cancer? What are the statistics on its rate of cancer causing? Since >when has this been known? How dangerous is it in regard to other >carcinogens? Would anyone have information on this subject or could you >refer me to some source? > > Thanx > -Craig JDW I don't know much about this subject outside of what I've read in a book called _Asbestos and Other Fibrous Materials_, H. Catherine W. Skinner, Malcolm Ross and Clifford Frondel, Oxford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-19 -503967-X. I am also interested in the answers to the questions you pose. On the chemical side, asbestos is not a well defined term referring to only one substance. Rather it is a general term for "fibrous varieties of naturally occuring silicate minerals of the amphibole or serpentine group". As far as cancer and other health effects go, from the above reference (p. 150-151): It is postulated from epidemiologic studies that fibrous materials are also [in addition to causing asbestosis] carcinogenic or cocarcinogenic. Lung cancer and mesothelioma (cancer of the pleura) have both been linked to occupational exposure of fibrous materials... Both natural and synthetic fibrous materials were shown to induce fibrosis and carcinogenic responses in animals. Some fibers, such as chrysotile, appeared to be generally more biologically active, although amphiboles and fibrous glass of a variety of sizes, some coated with different compounds, showed responses even in short-term experiments... Epidemiological studies conducted over the past 25 years in many countries on workers exposed to asbestos minerals or glass fibers have documented occupational hazards from asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma to dermatitis... After a thousand years of use, asbestos is being replaced by other, often fibrous, materials. It remains to be seen whether the substitutes will be as successful, commercially and financially, or more or less hazardous. We are certainly not going to do without fibrous inorganic materials nor expunge them from our environment. How this assessment of the dangers of asbestos to those occupationally involved in its mining or manufacture translates into its difficult and expensive removal from grade schools, etc. is unclear to me. I especially wonder about the above mentioned replacement of asbestos with "other, often fibrous, materials." I use commerial fiberglass cloth to make the non-flameable wicks of juggling torches for myself. Would anyone care to suggest whether this would be more or less hazardous than using (white) asbestos cloth? I'm sure that in the process of juggling the flaming torches that fibers of glass slough off the wick and are lifted by the heat of the flame into the air and are inhaled, to one extent or another, by me. It seems less of a problem with high temperature fiberglass (good for temps up to 3000 oC) than the normal stuff which I have seen melt/combust(?) when I use an ethanol/lithium perchlorate solution(around 3 to 5 Molar) as fuel. I believe that commercial juggling torches are kevlar/nomex embedded with brass but this burns too easily for me to use. I hope those with more knowledge than me on this subject will correct or add to the information I've provided above. ___________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the juggling listserv! email LISTSERV@INDYCMS.BITNET the text: SUB JUGGLING John A. Doe with "John A. Doe" replaced by your name. _ _ __________________________ _ (_) ________(_)________________________ Phillip SanMiguel _/ \ / \ Purdue University Juggling Club miguel@aclcb.purdue.edu (_) \ / | *Juggling*Unicycling*COMBAT* _ | x _ | Box 616 Stewart Center ________(_)______________ \_ _ / \ _(_) _West_Lafayette,_Indiana__47907____