sMoreMail

Toast your Inbox.

Join the mailing list for notification of new features.

The Industries

Cat Breading


Asbestos - The legendary Lawsuit

Asbestos is a mineral that has been mined for thousands of years, but it is not until the last 200 years that the heat dissipating properties of Asbestos have made it a target of chemical and material scientists and engineers looking for awesome materials for the modern times. The ability to withstand intense heat has obvious applications in fire fighting, but beyond that in fire resistance and survival. Also used in many building materials and in homes.

Many know of Asbestos use in brake pads, a practiced that has mostly been eliminated due to EPA concerns. when broken down, friable asbestos becomes airborne and the nature of hooks in the fiber creates a significant hazard when inhaled. It can stick in the lining the lungs almost indefinitely and is now linked to many medical conditions including cancer. Surprisingly, the use of asbestos like materials is still used in brake pads, look for 'natural' type markings on the pads as an indication that this type of material is still in use.

In some of the most legendary lawsuits, Asbestos was found to be included in baby powder - normally made up of a white mineral talc - a household supplier had not done due diligence with suppliers and the mining process included amounts of the asbestos mineral. Talc is usually applied in moisture reducing applications, in an airborne process, a dispenser with holes is shaken like a big salt shaker to apply the material, releasing not only talc, but the trace asbestos particles. once airborne, inhalation is inevitable for both the parent and the baby without particle filter respirators and companies have yet to release a suitable infant sized respirator and mark the product with suitable warnings. Faced with potentially Billions in lawsuits, talc now on the market is processed with an acceptable process to prepare the powder and remove the hazardous asbestos contaminant.

In buildings, ceiling tiles that contain asbestos from the 70's can be removed when found to deteriorate, and the popcorn ceilings often contain the material. When found, it is often acceptable to leave them as is, if the material is not crushed and airborne, it is still considered inert. When abatement process is required, full containment with negative air pressure can be constructed in the structure to reduce the airborne particles from being distributed outside the work zone. workers with full respirators and protective suits remove the material and can we work zone to reduce the airborne powder, but often do not as they are fully contained. Inspections check the area when work is completed for a minimum amount of material to standards, but this does not guarantee 100% removal. Often hidden areas like wall zones, crawl spaces, attic spaces, and utility zones have a minimum amount of work as inspectors often will not subject themselves to full audits of these areas due to the complexity of accessing these areas. Skinny skilled workers can fit many more places than larger inspectors, but even they skinny workers can't get everywhere.

It is not just the things you can see, its often the binders that include asbestos that you may miss. Mastic, the glue that holds those ugly tiles down often contains the material. It's a decent adhesive and removal is a laborious and expensive process. When faced with abatement alternatives, many dwelling owners look to cover up the problem literally as an acceptable process of reducing the hazard. surprisingly, this is acceptable by agencies as a suitable plan, and can even be used in schools where minor warning signs are placed for grade schoolers to just not mess with the tile. If you are working or going to school in an older structure, look closely at the maintenance plan, if asbestos was found, the abatement plan, and follow the plan to reduce the likelihood of you or your child’s exposure. Many Maintenance teams fail to nominate an asbestos contact person as is required per the they plan they are operating under. In most cases where asbestos has been identified, you have the right to read the plan and review that you understand and are comfortable working in the premises, so ask to see the plan!

These asbestos abatement plans are often created by third party contracting agencies using boiler plate templates, but if you flip through the report you can see where samples were taken, what labs were run on them, and the result of the lab tests. These lab tests are often costly to the property owner, so they will run as few as possible in most cases.

Alternatives to asbestos in heat protection methods have been a slow process. For large stationary objects like fire safes - the walls are now literally filled with slate rock to REDUCE the time to fire ignition (not eliminate the potential) but this is obviously not practical in other weight sensitive applications. Aerogel, an emerging new material is an interesting material that can greatly deflect heat like the salt tiles on the now decommissioned NASA Space Shuttle, but the aerogel is much lighter, a translucent material that you can practically see through. The downside is that is an exceptional material in weight, but mechanical robustness, particularly to shock and strength limit the application to specialty areas.

Modern ceramics are now created for brake pads and discs, but are often extremely expensive and only used in more expensive luxury performance vehicles.

if you think you have been exposed to asbestos, remove yourself from the suspected area immediately. Seek medical review and if exposure was a result of negligence seek guidance from a qualified lawyer. Many lawyers will consider your case without any money required from you due to the popularity of this type of case against large corporations.