Why is asbestos still killing people?

In California there&#x27;s a large asbestos deposit near the town of Coalinga. Two of the mines were cleaned up under the EPA &quot;superfund&quot;. The surrounding area also contains a toxic mercury mine called New Idria. The whole region is remote and favored by hunters, campers, and motorcyclists.<p>The funny thing about this site is how polarizing it is. The EPA claims victory in cleaning up the mines, but geologists point out that tectonic activity and erosion liberate and transport millions of cubic yards of asbestos. The BLM says the area is closed, but motorcycle clubs still trespass. Some people say that the local asbestos isn&#x27;t dangerous because it&#x27;s fluffier&#x2F;shorter&#x2F;longer&#x2F;curlier than others that are dangerous. Rural people say the closure is a coastal, liberal conspiracy. Complete opposite opinions are expressed in apparently respectable peer-reviewed scientific journals.<p>I don&#x27;t know what to believe. Maybe the rednecks are right, it&#x27;s a perfectly good place to tear it up on your dirt bike. Or maybe it&#x27;s insanely dangerous, and the uncertainty is caused by industry disinformation campaigns. Who knows.

Australia, which was a big miner and user of asbestos, has the highest per capita rate of new mesothelioma cases in the world and it is still rising. These new diagnoses are considered the &#x27;third wave&#x27; of casualties. First wave was the miners, second wave were people who worked directly with the material, and the third wave are people with incidental exposure - DIYers, women who washed their husbands&#x27; clothes etc. [1]<p>Bans on the use of asbestos began in Australia in 1967 and the material was finally fully banned in the country in 2003. [2]<p>[1] <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/still-breathing-the-devils-dust-20130618-2ogk9.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theage.com.au&#x2F;national&#x2F;still-breathing-the-devils...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#Australia" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Asbestos#Australia</a>

What a fascinating article. I think everyone in my age group should read this as a lot of people don&#x27;t really know the history behind asbestos &amp; why it&#x27;s so bad. It&#x27;s just not discussed.

I wish i wanted anything else to happen. Yesterday i thought, if anything about mesothelioma would be on top news in hn ever, as my mother diagnosed with mesothelioma stage 1 last month, however no cure exists for now unlike other cancer types with the same stage. Everyday i&#x27;m searching google if any curative treatments&#x2F;clinical trials started in the last 24h. We think she has exposed to aspestos from paintings of the house wall in her village, as it was spread to use &quot;white lime&quot; for that purpose.

<p><pre><code> Fibre cement is a composite building and construction material, used mainly in roofing and facade products because of its strength, durability and fire-resistance. Invented in the late 19th century by the Austrian Ludwig Hatschek. Principally he mixed 90% cement and 10% asbestos fibres with water and ran it through a cardboard machine. </code></pre> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_cement" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Fibre_cement</a><p>Many factory workers, roofer, etc. died of cancer or will die in future :(<p>Many houses in central Europe and elsewhere have fibre cement roofing made of asbestos. Since ca. 1990 all fibre cement shingles are 100% asbestos free.

They are still building with it in Goa. When I was there the &quot;Environment Minister&quot; of Goa was saying it was anti-indian people in the West saying it was posion

At the University of Washington dorms, the older ones at least, there are still exposed pipe coverings with asbestos fibers and a big fat warning sticker saying to avoid creating dust... I imagine it&#x27;ll be a nightmare when they finally tear them down.

This article talks about asbestos being identified as carcinogenic in the 1920&#x27;s, but the ancient Greeks knew not to buy slaves from the asbestos mines.

Asbestos dust is certainly a terrible thing to breathe in, but I think there&#x27;s a lot of over-hype on the dangers of asbestos. I worked closely with contractors last year, and they all said the same thing, that asbestos fears were largely overblown.<p>The government and real estate agents treat it as if it&#x27;s nuclear waste, but being around asbestos isn&#x27;t guaranteed to give you lung cancer. It&#x27;s only when you create a dust from it by grinding it, and if it gets airborne. There are main mitigation techniques that can control asbestos pretty easily. Having it in your house isn&#x27;t terrible as long as you deal with it properly.