Dennis wrote:

Horse****. Nobody, but nobody, has ever gotten sick from a commercial
asbestos product. Not brake shoes, not insulation, certainly not floor
tile. The hazard associated with asbestos is in MINING it. Over many
years.


I tend to agree up to a point.
Asbestos insulation does pose a risk as it is so friable when disturbed.

It doesn't pose a risk unless you disturb it and inhale it for 20 years
or so.


The fibers are so fine that they can be inhaled and are listed as a
cancer-causing product.

So is silica so you better not go outside.


The other sources of asbestos are really not a risk at all and of course
that's why they are NOT listed as needing a permit to remove. (Only the
friable types of asbestos are dangerous.)

Almost every substance that is a hazard is safe at some level of
exposure. Almost every substance that is safe is a hazard at some level
of exposure. The reality is that asbestos was really only a hazard to
those who had extreme and long-term exposure to it, mainly folks that
mined it, sprayed it inside ships or used it to manfacture parts like
brake shoes, however, I believe even the evidence on the latter is
pretty weak.


Matt