Peter Parry wrote:
On 1 Aug 2005 11:20:54 -0700, wrote:


It made me think that I am allergic to the material they used.

I'd apply for a Nobel prize then, you have just discovered proteins
in fibreglass.

snip

is it safe in the long run ?

It is perfectly safe in both the long and short run.

Does this material in time become "friendly", ie not causing itchiness
and wheezing to the chest.

It can cause skin irritation when disturbed or handled, the other
symptoms are mostly psychosomatic.


interesting....

This subject has somewhat concerned me for years, but only around the
times I've been installing it or working in an attic. (IMHE it never
properly settles - even a minor disturbance stirs it up again). Then I
forget about it... until you see the subject on uk.d-i-y....

My concern is the comparison with asbestos - I've known 2 people who
died of asbestosis. My (limited) understanding is that asbestosis (&
isn't there a similar lung-choking complaint that coal miners get?) is
that its primary cause is breathing asbestos dust into the lungs.
Presumably the dust (a) congests the airways but also lingers and
interacts over a long timespan with the cells lining the lungs to cause
mutation into cancerous cells. No allergic reaction there SFAIUI, but
horrible consequences.

Why doesn't this happen with fibreglass/rockwool? The first stage of
breathing in the dust & feeling choked off is the same. Why is it
certain that the next stage(s) don't follow, as in asbestosis?
Asbestosis may take decades to show up - why won't possible ill-effects
of fibreglass be the same?

Is the skin itchiness dues to fibre size or shape or both?

BTW what is the difference between fibreglass and rockwool? Aren't
these essentially the same thing -just different tradce names - made by
melting sand and spinning it, like sugar in a candyfloss machine?