can this be harmful way down the road?
so ive ben reading alot about asbestos and silica and dust and long term exposure causing lung disease and death
well, the A/C unit in my part of the house is VERY OLD ,and is SOOOO dusty…alll of te "grilles" ,the white metal bars where the air comes out always has alot of dust around it, espeically under it, and the ac unit closet itself is really dusty, so it leads to think that dust is constantly being blown by the A/C
to make matters worse, i think the duct is made out of abestos
ALSO…i think the duct may pass through the attic which is full of white wool, glass wool, rock wool, or something. the ac duct is right above my bed(and theres a second not far off)
is all that dust abestos(if it is actually asbestos) im breathing in now going to affect me later in life? and kill me? im 17, ive lived in this house for 14 years.
my questions are
-what is this stuff, abestos,what?
-if im 17 now, will it really last into my 80s?
-health risks?
-signigifcance of exposure?
-is there a lung test i can do, to see if i have these pieces?
the house was built in the 1920s or 30s, but obviously it has been redone many times. i do think the A/C duct is asbestos though; wouldnt the dust got blown in my room?
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2 comments
Live to Ski on May 22, 2010 at 1:17 am
It could be harmful but…
1) I doubt the ducts are asbestos.
2) Why don’t you clean up the dust? Use a vacuum cleaner.
3) The A/C unit has a filter. Replace it regularly.
4) Call a duct cleaning service. If you’re a renter, see if your landlord will pay for it.
grayure on May 22, 2010 at 1:17 am
I’m 42 now, so i was a child before asbestos was banned. We had a bathroom tiled in asbestos, an asbestos ironing board cover and an asbestos coaster for the kettle, among other things. We also had asbestos on our show and tell table at one of my schools, along with other things like bark and so on. On another occasion, i walked through a cloud of asbestos fibres when there was a fire at a nearby factory. Nasty stuff of course, and i don’t know what the future holds, but it was pretty normal for this sort of thing to happen in the 1970s. I have extremely healthy lungs, with a peak flow of 700.
I’m pretty sure an important factor in the risk is smoking, another thing which was far more prevalent in the ’70s. This is because it paralyses the microscopic hairs in your lungs which clear the breathing tubes out. I don’t know if any studies have been done, but i’d be very interested in knowing if any studies have been done correlating passive smoking and asbestosis risk, as well as eliminating other kinds of air pollution.
Some asbestos is in the form of boards stuck together and covered, so it’s not harmful unless it’s sawn or broken somehow. It may be that the ducts you mention are like that.
Chemically, it’s usually a hydrated silicate of magnesium with very long, flexible crystals. It harms the lungs because the fibres stay in them and can’t be gotten rid of, so it’s like having lots of splinters in them that can’t be removed. This causes scarring, which interferes with the ability of the lungs to breathe in and out properly and absorb oxygen. I don’t know why the cancer happens, but it’s generally common for cancers to start where there’s long term low-level irritation which never gets resolved properly, so that’s probably part of it. It also seems there’s no way for the lungs to rid themselves of other carcinogens in the air, so that may be it too.
I’m afraid i can’t help you with the rest. Try not to worry: that won’t help.