Asbestos-Linked Illness Wave On The Way

[Jose]

In these "remote" parts of Thailand, you can find broken asbestos roof tiles everywhere. The locals use broken asbestos tiles to cover the surface of dirt roads - asbestos dust is everywhere in the environment here, as not a single roof tile is buried safely. I often see children playing with asbestos, and locals even try to burn this hazardous material along with plastic waste as part of their daily cleanup.

The biggest problem I see with asbestos is the complete lack of safe disposal - why bother to spend time and energy on this, when it can be left to break up on site or dumped on the beach?

Welcome to Koh Pha-Ngan - one of many Thailand's Chernobyl...

[rucus7]

Asbestos is a natural silicate mineral, this means if you go outside you have a potential exposure. Comparing asbestos roof tiles to Chernobyl is absurd.

[Jose]

Asbestos dust is everywhere here, outside and inside. At the high levels found here it is not a naturally occurring phenomena.

And I'm not comparing asbestos tiles to Chernobyl - comparing the asbestos dust environmental disaster in the making with another man-made one, both widespread, and both which will linger on for generations to come.

[ronz28]

She provides the estimate based on the fact that the country imports more than 100,000 tonnes of chrysotile asbestos a year.

Just curious as the name of the companies and the countries that have been exporting this carcinogen to Thailand.

[Jose]

Just curious as the name of the companies and the countries that have been exporting this carcinogen to Thailand.

Canada (where it is mostly illigal), Russia, Greece...

Asbestos in Thailand PDF

Asbestos can cause cancer but "it's cheap"

[Jose]

"According to a research study by Mahidol University, 2.1 of every 10,000 people living in buildings made from cement containing asbestos are liable to develop lung cancer."

I'd like to bring up something that may only be obvious to local expats:

Most studies on the hazardous nature of asbestos are based on statistical studies which are themselves based on "average" conditions, i.e., environments where most asbestos material is sealed or contained in some way. There is nothing "average" about dumping 200Kg of asbestos tiles on a busy shared dirt driveway to make it more durable - the concentration of asbestos dust generated by cars crushing those tiles into fine deadly particles is way off the stats scale. Something to think about the next time one gets a mouthful of dust from a passing truck.

[ronz28]

Sure enough, Canada and Russia make money off of deadly exports of Asbestos to mostly third world countries.

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/deadly-cn.htm

They know they are causing cancer for the countries they export it to.

Scumbags! They ought to be ashamed. I guess I am scratching Quebec off the list of places we want to vacation to.

[BigC]

Sure enough, Canada and Russia make money off of deadly exports of Asbestos to mostly third world countries.

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/deadly-cn.htm

They know they are causing cancer for the countries they export it to.

Scumbags! They ought to be ashamed. I guess I am scratching Quebec off the list of places we want to vacation to.

price annd demand., both countries are to blame. the exporters and the importers. this is quite serious though. specailly when people are building 60 million baht houses. u would think that they cannot afford to not use the stuff.

oh well better get some health inssurence in the next few years for my future lung canser. my grandad died from asbestos poisoning. they used to use it in england yearss ago.

[screamingeagle]

As long as you don't live in a house with asbestos, for an extended period of time, you will be OK. As far as I an aware, it takes prolonged exposure to asbestos before you succumb to lung desease

[samuiseagull]

Was thinking about this the other day. When renovating our place a few months ago we found an old piece of tiling that indeed looked dodgy and I asked our builders at the time to dispose of.

However, living in a building that I would say is about 15 years old, how are we to know if we are being exposed to any asbestos like material??

Are there any reputable like people on Samui that are able to check and give buildings a "once over" to confirm all ok???

[susquosh]

Was thinking about this the other day. When renovating our place a few months ago we found an old piece of tiling that indeed looked dodgy and I asked our builders at the time to dispose of.

However, living in a building that I would say is about 15 years old, how are we to know if we are being exposed to any asbestos like material??

Are there any reputable like people on Samui that are able to check and give buildings a "once over" to confirm all ok???

I know I am getting old but when I was at school we were exposed to asbestos in every chemistry lesson we ever had.

[Jose]

When renovating our place a few months ago we found an old piece of tiling that indeed looked dodgy and I asked our builders at the time to dispose of.

It's now sitting somewhere in your garden or at the bottom of your driveway - that's what "disposal" means to the locals.

Are there any reputable like people on Samui that are able to check and give buildings a "once over" to confirm all ok???

Goodness... I doubt you'll be able to find anyone that understands what asbestos is really about.

The problem is not living under the asbestos roof found on 90% of houses/bungalows - it's the loose stuff out there that breaks up into the atmosphere.

It's your neighbour 100m upwind drilling and grinding his new asbestos tiles.

It's that local dumping his leftover tailings on the dirt road, getting pulverized by every passing vehicle.

It's the lazy builders dumping their leftovers on the beach or on the side of the nearest road.

It's that old woman out back who has been burning everything for the past 60 years, and believes asbestos can be made to "disappear" if burned.

Every single asbestos tile and fiberboard out there will sooner or later end up as deadly dust in the environment.

Not one single asbestos piece will be buried safely, and that's just a fact of life around here. No amount of "education" will change this attitude, at least not during this or the next generation.

There are thousands of tonnes of asbestos sitting on people's roofs, waiting like a time bomb. All of it has nowhere to go but into the environment.

[BigC]

When renovating our place a few months ago we found an old piece of tiling that indeed looked dodgy and I asked our builders at the time to dispose of.

It's now sitting somewhere in your garden or at the bottom of your driveway - that's what "disposal" means to the locals.

Are there any reputable like people on Samui that are able to check and give buildings a "once over" to confirm all ok???

Goodness... I doubt you'll be able to find anyone that understands what asbestos is really about.

The problem is not living under the asbestos roof found on 90% of houses/bungalows - it's the loose stuff out there that breaks up into the atmosphere.

It's your neighbour 100m upwind drilling and grinding his new asbestos tiles.

It's that local dumping his leftover tailings on the dirt road, getting pulverized by every passing vehicle.

It's the lazy builders dumping their leftovers on the beach or on the side of the nearest road.

It's that old woman out back who has been burning everything for the past 60 years, and believes asbestos can be made to "disappear" if burned.

Every single asbestos tile and fiberboard out there will sooner or later end up as deadly dust in the environment.

Not one single asbestos piece will be buried safely, and that's just a fact of life around here. No amount of "education" will change this attitude, at least not during this or the next generation.

There are thousands of tonnes of asbestos sitting on people's roofs, waiting like a time bomb. All of it has nowhere to go but into the environment.

is it ok under the ground in the irrigation system. where do they normally put in. is in inside the jipsome

[Jose]

Asbestos is Ok anywhere except where it may be exposed to the atmosphere (and eventually lungs).

Gypsum is very different and is the safer alternative to asbestos.