From: Paintball Plus (pball@csionline.net)
Date: Mon Jan 20 2003 - 15:14:55 PST
Hello Witold,
I partially agree with what you are saying but, my education taught me
differently than what you are saying. This is not a lecture, and I don't
intend to preach on the morbidity of things like smoking, excessive
drinking, etc., but is important that the correct information is
available to the people on this list, who have a much greater propensity
for contact with asbestos related material than the general public.
Please note that I did not bring up the subject on the forum, although I
did chime in when the subject was broached.
Witold, since you cited your education as a reference for your expertise
on this subject, I will give you a very brief glimpse of my background
as it relates to asbestos related disease. In the eighties, before I
received my medical degree ( I am not a pulmonologist, and my specialty
is skin related diseases) I traveled the US and Canada to lecture
specifically to Government agencies and the military on diseases caused
by asbestos as they relate to vehicle mechanics. No other members of the
general population were part of my discussions. So a brief clarification
of your points are in order.
As you alluded to, it is most abundant in confined spaces as in ship
building, mining and garages, where traveling from point a (product) to
point b (lungs) is not very far. Most people do not develop asbestosis,
or other asbestos related cancers. In fact, there are few people who
actually develop the disease. Although you can bring asbestos fibers
home on your clothing from your work environment, and it could be
transferred from cloths to cloths, most of the asbestos fibers are lost
en route, and the remaining majority are removed in the wash. In fact,
it would be a rarity to find that the transfer of asbestos fibers caused
second hand asbestosis; possible, but very much improbable. As for the
mining town populations not being affected, the fact is that asbestos
does not travel for miles as airborne particles. This would explain why
people who lived in mining towns were not dropping like flies.
What is important here is the fact, and I repeat - fact, that asbestosis
is deadly. If you are diagnosed with asbestosis you are probably in your
late 60s or even 70s, if you have lived that long, and need to get your
affairs in order and your ducks lined up in a row. It takes years and
years to develop to the point where it can be diagnosed, and most people
have moved, and/ or changed jobs, and often even changed families.
Because of the almost always underlying need to have damaged lungs
(smoke, most often or bronchitis, asthma, etc.) for asbestosis to
develop, most people have died from causes other than the asbestosis.
You almost have to be a smoker who worked with material in a confining
environment to develop asbestosis. Again, simple fact.
Why increase the chances of contracting a fatal disease? Precautions go
a long way toward prevention. No condom, skip the hooker on 42nd St.
Then again, if you like to play Russian Roulette after heavy drinking on
Saturday nights, you probably will have a longer life expectancy as a
smokin' mechanic, working in a brake shop that restores older vehicles.
Bruce
Witold Grzymala-Busse wrote:
>In the mid to late 80's there was a well run media campaign about the evils
>of Asbestos.
>Like the silicon breast implant fiasco and the Y2K scare alot of
>misinformation was spoon feed by the mass media to the public. This dribble
>only contained half-truths and was ment as a vehicle to boost network
>ratings.
>
>Lets get several things straight about Asbestos. Asbestos is not a specifc
>mineral, rather it is a familly of minerals.
>To be specifc fiberous silicates. Like in any familly there are black
>sheep. In the asbestos familly only about 5% of all the silicates are
>considered dangerous!! 95% are pretty much harmless.
>Before the ban, asbestos was mined from the earth, in places that mined the
>asbestos there was a high asbestos dust content in the air, people from
>these mining towns were not dying like flies from asbestos, much to the
>chagrin of the mass media!
>One of the several occupation groups (there are very few!!!) that did have
>asbestosis, where ship insulation installers in WWII, They applied asbestos
>in huge quantities to victory ships.
>
>If you are wondering why I know anything about asbestos I took a Mineralogy
>class to finish my geology degree.
>
>As for MV content- how hard is it to replace a drum break on a deuce, I need
>to change on of my shoes, a TM with a chapter reference will work.
>
>WGB
>
>
>===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
>To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: <mil-veh-off@mil-veh.org>
>To switch to the DIGEST mode, send e-mail to <mil-veh-digest@mil-veh.org>
>To reach a human, contact <ack@mil-veh.org>
>
>
>
-- Bruce KalinUSMC MTA MVPA North Jersey MTA South Jersey MVPA
USMC M35A2C W/W M2 50 cal, TVS-2 Night Vision Scope M16 x 2 RT-246, PRC-77, VIC/1 Deep Water Fording Kit
M105A2 w/ rust :-)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Wed Apr 23 2003 - 13:25:02 PDT