Anyone who knows if "Asbestos" has been used in Chiangmai as a construction material and how to find out if this "asbestos" indeed has been used ?

Of course it's been used and used quite a bit. It's cheap! Just take a look at any of the corrigated roof panels, gray in color, and they are most likely made of asbestos. The positive to this is that particular use of asbestos catagorizes it as "captive asbestos" and doesn't provide a source of free asbestos that will get into your lungs. Of course if someone is cutting a sheet or grinding on it, then it becomes a danger.

I think you're only safe in assuming anything illegal or banned in other countries is available and used in Thailand. DDT, asbestos, Dioxins, etc., etc.

With virtually no inspections or law enforcement of any kind, what can you reasonably expect to have happen?

Yer' on your own here.

Why do you think the gray corrugated roofing tiles are asbestos? My understanding is that they are cement board. Just curious if you have any proof as they are ubiquitous. Seems like asbestos would be alot more expensive than cement board.

As for DDT, well, check out this article. It is from 2000 but I like this guy's attitude

Since 1949, DDT has been the predominant compound used: however, its public health use has continued to decline as a result of perceived operational difficulties, political issues and environmental concerns

Here is the link: Malaria and DDT in Thailand

And here is the article in full:

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2000 Jun;31(2):225-37.  Related Articles, Links

    Status of malaria in Thailand.

    Chareonviriyaphap T, Bangs MJ, Ratanatham S.

    Division of Biology, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. [email protected]

    Despite decades of control success and a competent network of country-wide health infrastructure, malaria remains an important health threat in rural Thailand. All 4 known human malaria parasites have been reported present, with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax predominant. The expansion and intensity of multi-drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum is the most serious development to occur the last several decades. Members of 3 anopheline species complexes, Anopheles dirus, Anopheles minimus, and Anopheles manculatus, are considered to be primary malaria vectors in the country. Representatives within all 3 taxa are difficult or impossible to separate morphologically from one another, and insufficient information exists about population genetics between sibling species and vector status. Vector control in Thailand has been the primary means of malaria control, mainly by the use of routine residual insecticide spray inside houses. The use of DDT in vector control has resulted in measurable successes to interrupt malaria transmission in many parts of the country. Since 1949, DDT has been the predominant compound used: however, its public health use has continued to decline as a result of perceived operational difficulties, political issues and environmental concerns. The increased use of pyrethroids to impregnate bednets and for intradomiciliary spraying are generally more accepted by rural populations and are rapidly replacing the use of DDT. Organized malaria control activities have reduced malaria morbidity from 286/1,000 population in 1947 to 1.5/1,000 population by 1996. Despite encouraging trends in dramatically reducing malaria, the rates of disease may be re-emerging in the country as evidence from an increased annual parasite index from 1.78/1,000 in 1997 to 2.21 in 1998. The possible reasons for the apparent increase in incidence are discussed in terms of the technical, operational and social obstacles in malaria control in Thailand.

    Publication Types:

        * Review

        * Review, Tutorial

    PMID: 11127318 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Why do you think the gray corrugated roofing tiles are asbestos?  My understanding is that they are cement board. Just curious if you have any proof as they are ubiquitous. Seems like asbestos would be alot more expensive than cement board.

It is well known that the roofing tiles are made of asbestos cement board. I believe the asbestos is used to strengthen the board. But asbestos cement is not a health hazard as long as it is handled properly and not ground up into powder.

DDT is still common in the rural areas. If you travel in such areas you might notice some numbers on the side of a house. These represent the last date the government came in unannounced and spraid the domicile. I have seen this happen to my home and trust me, nobody is going to listen to the pleas of the only Farang for 15Km to not spray the house.

On the other hand, as the earlier post noted, the rate of malarial infections has dropped dramatically over the past several decades. In some areas, it is rare to meet any elderly folk who have not contracted malaria at one time. Today, in those same areas, it is rare to find a younger person who has had malaria.

Another aspect of the malaria issue often ignored is that thalassemia is quite common in the population. If you come from a population that is also at risk, such as a Mediterranean population, and marry someone from Southeast Asia and plan to have kids it might be worth to get a genetic test. (There is even a very small residual population of thalessmia in the UK from the time of the Roman advance.) The Thalssemia gene will show up first as a slight abnormality in your kids blood iron count. My son carries both alpha and beta thalassemia genes.

Having worked as part of a design team responsible for asbestos abatement, I know a very little bit about the material. Not much mind you, as it is not my specialty, but from what I understand, the asbestos is not used as a strengthening material for concrete board, but as an insulator. Remember those bunson burner pads from high school chemistry? Well, those are asbestos impregnated. Asbestos is an excellent insulator so it makes sense to use it in both roof and wall panels. It was (at least in the States we can use the past tense) also used in the manufacture of square vinyl tile and the mastic used to apply it. I can only assume that this was for thermal insulation of the floor surface.

Generally it is not a danger unless significantly disturbed, i.e. you can walk on it all day and scuff it with your shoes and it is not a danger. Once you start tearing it out, there is the possibility that fibers will be released. It, perhaps, should be considered dangerous at this point. I say perhaps, because all of the research that I have seen on asbestos and the resulting asbestosis, was conducted in the 1940's. This research was mainly conducted in shipyards where workers were spraying asbestos fibers within the enclosed hulls of ships. With milloins of fibers in an enclosed space, the chances of significant absorption in the lungs is significantly increased. In your home, if adequately ventillated, the minor distruction of a small bit of asbestos containing materials does not pose a significant health risk. Most post war houses constructed in America contain asbestos materials and there have been no significant problems. Again, I say significant because there are always exceptions.

As a general rule of thumb, just exercise some common sense. That seems to be the best advice I can give here. There may be specialist abatement contractors in Thailand if having asbestos containing materials really bothers you, but I tend to think that the cost of removal would outweigh any benefit. If you are involved in a renovation/construction project, I would suggest adequate ventillation and perhaps the use of a quality dust mask. Also, I would try to remove all construction waste as quickly as possible; at least daily.

Thanks for the info, I always understood the problems from asbestos came mainly from people breathing asbestos fibers and couldn't really see how that related to the roofing tiles that everyone uses. Personally, I hate them because they shatter so easily (living in coconut country, that is) and then my poor husband has to climb onto the roof (usually in a rain storm so they are nice and slippery) to replace the entire piece.

It's interesting that the two largest producers of asbestos are Russia and Canada (where it's use is, of course, illegal).