Trump's EPA Won’t Evaluate Asbestos Already in Homes | Hacker News Reader

Trump's EPA Won’t Evaluate Asbestos Already in Homes

newsweek.com

20 pointsjaffee10 comments

It is correct that asbestos that is encapsulated and not releasing anything into the atmosphere is perfectly safe. It's not like it's radioactive. The problem is when you do any kind of renovations and break up and release the asbestos particles. Unfortunately, asbestos removal does exactly that. If it's not done properly it turns a safe situation into a health risk. And proper removal is expensive. A low-cost bid for asbestos removal is more than likely going to leave you with a bigger mess than you had to start with.

IRL isn't the problem with asbestos limited to workers who come into contact with asbestos every day in an industrial setting? Busting up asbestos in the course of a remodel(or a dozen remodels) isn't enough exposure to cause any of the chronic problems asbestos is so famous for, IIRC.

This is absolutely not true and is quite dangerous advice.

The problem with workers who worked with asbestos in factories or mines is that a very high percentage of them got Mesothelioma, and within a relatively short time frame - maybe 15 - 20 years. People exposed for a short term like with house renos, typically take up to 45years for it to occur.[0]

It kills something like 90% of people within 5 years of diagnosis. And it is a painful and horrible way to die. Maybe 30% of new cases being diagnosed currently in the US are from builders or home renovators, rather than miners.

[0]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3741803/

Isn't it the job of property inspectors to make those kinds of determinations?

Why would the EPA be evaluating existing individual homes? Isn't the EPA supposed to be responsible for more general and global environmental concerns?

Asbestos hasn't been used in new homes for quite some time. Everyone already knows the risks and how special care is needed for removal and renovations. What's to research? Seems like the status quo of don't do it going forward and be careful with older properties is fine.

None of that is going away. Seems like this is being blown out of proportion. What new danger is going to happen because of this?

They aren't relaxing the existing ban on asbestos in new homes.

I'm not taking a wider position here but, in my personal experience, the statement "everyone already knows the risks" doesn't seem to be very true at all. A number of people I've come across have attempted highly hazardous removal projects on their own. When I ask them why they did it, they just sort of shrug it off claiming either (1) getting mesothelioma in 15-30 years is "too far in the future" to care about, or (2) the "whole asbestos thing" is a scam.

It seems to me that these incidents can only rise with the growing popularity of do-it-yourself home renovation (and the countless TV shows on the topic), not to mention the terribly incorrect advice I find on the web about how to do this safely...

It's sad to see people cause long-term contamination of their homes during renovation, only to raise their children in them or sell them off to some unsuspecting buyer. I can't really see how this won't end up costing lives...

(just my 2¢)

Not that I'm pro-Trump, but asbestos is indeed quite benign if not freely inhalable; and the most carcinogenic type, blue asbestos (crocidolite) has been banned in new products for many decades (that is unlikely to change.) The only type in active use is chrysotile (white asbestos), and there is evidence to suggest that low exposures to it are not so harmful:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3581056/

Inhaling fibres of anything is not healthy, but some are more harmful than others. In fact one could say the tobacco industry has done far more harm to people than asbestos.

All to the benefit of Russia. Isn’t it curious that so many of Trump’s actions benefit Russia and China?

How does not reevaluating asbestos in homes benefit Russia?

Russia is still the largest asbestos manufacturer: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/business/global/city-i... and: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-10708279/asbestos-indus...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbest

Guess who else is pro-asbestos? The Russian mob: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-30/russian-mafia-behin...

Trump is a danger to America.

What is incredible is how transparent his motivations are. As a real-estate mogul, he no doubt stands to gain quite a lot from an official policy of looking the other way with regards to asbestos.

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