How to Sense Low Levels of Asbestos in Your Daily Environment
My discovery came to me by accidentally removing an asbestos
material in my home. The resulting condition of the whole house
after this accident left me with a sore chest, dry and unbearably iching skin and eyes. My wife complained of extreme thirst and my oldest son, age 14, developed severe asthma. This
all continued for five to six months. During this time I tried
desparately to determine if we were living in an unsafe level of asbestos. The material that I had removed was tested and found to
contain 20% crysitile asbestos. Air sampling proved to be unreliable because the area had been ventilated so well. But the furnishings, carpets, walls and all other personal belongings
were covered the remnants of the demolition.Everyone wanted to play down the seriousness of the situation, but, to me it was
obviously not a healthy environment.
So, I set out to try to logically deduce, with a knowledge of the physical properties of asbestos,when I encountered the substance as I attempted to clean every surface and item in every room of the house.
That was fifteen years ago. During that time, as I learned
more about where we all encounter asbestos materials on a daily basis. I made mental notes concerning my and others' reactions
to these encounters. Many situations have arisen ranging from
sore throats and skin conditions(acne and basil cell skin cancer) to asthma, pneumonia and death. I don't have clinical
proof of these claims I've made, except to say "if it looks, walks and sounds like a duck it probably is a duck". Many times clinical trials are verified by producing the same results in subsequent testing. Deductive reasoning can also be verified
in the same way. If the same results are observed again and again after low level exposure to these remnants then that is
proof to me.
Without writing a book, I wouldn't have the space to detail every observation I've made during this period, but I can assure you that no contact with asbestos is without a possible adverse health consequence.
Asbestos is a very lightweight chrystal-like material with highly static electrical properties. It often produces a static
discharge like when one is shocked by touching the metal switch plate or door knob in their home. It often leaves a bitter-salty taste in your mouth. It can stay airborne for days at a time. It absorbs moisture and produces a very dry environment (which only makes the static electric situation worse.)
The loose material may be accidentally contacted in a number of
building types and situations.
Many buildings built before 1977 have vinyl asbestos floor tile. No one can avoid walking on this, if they enter the building. This is fine if the floor is well maintained. Look out for broken or worn and never waxed tile. This applies to any
location in the building, commercial or residential. Closets are
very seldom waxed. Items stored there will accumulate certain
amounts of this substance.
Anytime an older building is renovated the possibility exists
for a number of materials containing asbestos to be encountered.
The contractor does't always do the right thing. In many instances it is cheaper to pay the fine if he is caught. So he just tears it out and throws it in the dumpster or hauls it to the dump himself. As a consequence, many newly renovated stores
have a certain amount of this dust on the shelves and new merchandise in the store.
There are many more instances of contact for which I don't have the time to detail here, but basically, with the characteristics of the material, knowledge of where you may encounter the substance and many hours of observation (I've been in construction over thirty years), you too can make the same
deductive conclutions that I have made.
In subsequent articles I intend to go into detail on the unique physical properties of asbestos and how this promotes detection in your hair and clothes. In future articles I would also like to expand on the many other health effects I've noticed, such as acne, which could benifit many young adults and a number of people who continue with this complexion problem into adulthood.
For more information on this subject see these sites:
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=25139
Rick Raymond has been a construction electrician for thirty five years. He has been married for thirty three years with three children. Science and trouble shooting have always been a welcome challenge to him.
Related Asbestos News and Articles From adzines
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Cancer is a disease in which certain body cells don't function right, divide very fast and produce too much tissue that forms a tumor. A leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women is probably lung cancer. This is the number one cause of cancer deaths surpassing breast cancer as the leading cause of deaths in women. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major types, the non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer depending on how the cells look under a microscope.
Mesothelioma attorneys It is very important to work with specialized mesothelioma attorneys. They specialize in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits based on exposure of asbestos and other related asbestos lawsuit cases.
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Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the external lining of the lungs (pleura) and the lower digestive tract (peritoneum). The disease has been linked to exposure with asbestos dust. Cancer of this kind is uncommon and rarely is a result of anything other than asbestos exposure. It is also very difficult to diagnose. Tumors of the mesothelieum can be either benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Most mesothelial tumors are malignant. However this disease is not very responsive to therapy.
Is Replacing the Lungs the Answer to Lung Cancer?
Late stage lung cancers are some of the hardest to treat, but in the future scientists maybe able to grow human lungs and simply remove and replace the damaged lung. So far it appears that major steps have been made to make this feasible for lung transplants. In the United Kingdom a specialized team of researchers at the Imperial College London used embryonic stem cells and had them grow into cells found in the lungs of adults. Lung cells, which allow oxygen to cross into the blood stream where made. Although this maybe a decade or so away, it is possible to make this procedure a simple process. It is also theoretically possible to make these tissues from other types of adult stem cells, which avoids the political stem cell debates, which have been a firestorm of controversy, between religious doctrines and modern bio scientists. Currently it is hard for a lung cancer victim to get a transplant, which is a close enough match for a viable risk of rejection, but this could change all that some day.
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Homeowners with acoustic asbestos ceiling question about the effects of asbestos contained within its materials that if inhaled would cause serious health hazards.
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