itchyfruit
Hazard to Others
Posts: 231
Registered: 15-6-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Asbestos
A friend of mine recently asked if i knew how to test for Asbestos, i do realise their lots of different types and having done a bit of research found
out the most popular method seems to be to study a dyed sample under a microscope.
This got me thinking about a couple of things firstly is this the only method and secondly can Asbestos be made into any other compounds (preferably
safe ones) by chemical process.
|
|
ScienceSquirrel
International Hazard
Posts: 1863
Registered: 18-6-2008
Location: Brittany
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dogs are pets but cats are little furry humans with four feet and self determination!
|
|
The standard method is polarised light microscopy.
It is very sensitive and the fibres can be distinguished from other similar substances eg glass fibre, etc.
A review is here;
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_tabl...
The only safe thing to do with asbestos is leave it in the ground!
|
|
mr.crow
National Hazard
Posts: 884
Registered: 9-9-2009
Location: Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: 0xFF
|
|
I find it funny your name is _itchy_fruit and you are talking about asbestos
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble
|
|
itchyfruit
Hazard to Others
Posts: 231
Registered: 15-6-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Why ?
Btw does anyone know how to make itching powder.
|
|
Sedit
International Hazard
Posts: 1939
Registered: 23-11-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: Manic Expressive
|
|
Why is asbestos toxic? What is it that causes cancer and such because it does not seem to fix the bill of normal carcinogens to me.
Knowledge is useless to useless people...
"I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes. The fall of Rome, the fall of Germany — the
fall of the ruling country, the people who think they can do whatever they want without anybody else's consent. I've seen this story
before."~Maynard James Keenan
|
|
Lambda-Eyde
National Hazard
Posts: 860
Registered: 20-11-2008
Location: Norway
Member Is Offline
Mood: Cleaved
|
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#Mechanisms_which_might...
|
|
Magpie
lab constructor
Posts: 5939
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Chemistry: the subtle science.
|
|
I remember using loose asbestos fibers as a filtering medium in my quantitative analysis class in college in 1962. The fibers were placed in a Gooch
crucible as a slurry forming a porous mat. The utility of it was that it could be fired in a muffle furnace without losing weight.
A few times in my own lab I have wished that I had some available both for the above purpose and in sheet form for high temperature work.
Recently I found some 1/4" sheet at a garage sale in the form of a fireproof metal box for valuables. I estimate it contains about 3 ft^2 of sheet
asbestos:
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
|
|
NedsHead
Hazard to Others
Posts: 409
Registered: 9-12-2014
Location: South Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
I was thinking about a safe and affordable way to dispose of asbestos roofing just the other day, a property I'm interested in has a second dwelling
with an asbestos roof. I was thinking along the lines of using a propane burner under a stainless 44 gallon drum of sodium hydroxide solution and
destroying the sheets one at a time
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by NedsHead]
|
|
Sulaiman
International Hazard
Posts: 3721
Registered: 8-2-2015
Location: 3rd rock from the sun
Member Is Online
|
|
NedsHead
1) most municipal dumps (in UK, so I assume AU also) have asbestos waste facilities,
probably cheaper than your proposed plan.
2) sheet asbestos releases very little dust if not sawn, drilled, filed etc.
3) asbestos sheet can be really useful to a home scientist, keep some (safely)
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
|
|
diddi
National Hazard
Posts: 723
Registered: 23-9-2014
Location: Victoria, Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: Fluorescent
|
|
wear a mask. spray it with water to keep wet and bust it into small bits. shove it in the bin in a garbage bag a bit at a time and say nothing.
btw it is easy to identify. heres a sample of the nasty carcinogenic form from Wittenoom, Western Australia
the fluffy fibres spall constantly. this is the raw material stored out of the weather. it becomes windborne easily and the entire mining town has
been closed to the public
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by diddi]
Beginning construction of periodic table display
|
|
NedsHead
Hazard to Others
Posts: 409
Registered: 9-12-2014
Location: South Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
The cost of asbestos removal and disposal here in Aus is an absolute rort, easily running into the $10s of thousands, it's common for dodgy operators
to illegally dump asbestos in the streets to avoid the high costs.
The house needs renovating and will be getting a new roof at some stage anyway, I'm just thinking of ways to save a buck in the future.
I will absolutely keep a sheet of two for the hobby
@diddi
Edit, case in point: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-26/asbestos-dumped-south-...
I turned on the telly and this was the first news update I see, I swear it wasn't me lol
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by NedsHead]
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by NedsHead]
|
|
CharlieA
National Hazard
Posts: 646
Registered: 11-8-2015
Location: Missouri, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | I remember using loose asbestos fibers as a filtering medium in my quantitative analysis class in college in 1962. The fibers were placed in a Gooch
crucible as a slurry forming a porous mat. The utility of it was that it could be fired in a muffle furnace without losing weight.
A few times in my own lab I have wished that I had some available both for the above purpose and in sheet form for high temperature work.
[Edited on 26-5-2017 by Magpie] |
I remember the same uses (I'm class of1962), and just the other day was also wishing I had some.
|
|
Melgar
Anti-Spam Agent
Posts: 2004
Registered: 23-2-2010
Location: Connecticut
Member Is Offline
Mood: Estrified
|
|
I have a 1-cm thick sheet of something that is probably asbestos. It's from roughly the WWII era, and was used as heat shielding, so I can't imagine
what else it'd be. Asbestos is only carcinogenic if you inhale it, so I keep the pieces in a bag in a drawer. In the US, they've decided that
covering up asbestos is okay in buildings, so I guess that should work for me.
|
|
Texium
|
Thread Moved 26-5-2017 at 19:31 |