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Comment by simonebrunozzi | Hacker News Reader

From Wikipedia: "... Asbestos use dates back at least 4,500 years"

I didn't realize that humanity has been using it for so long.

In Italy (where I'm from) it's called Amianto, but also Eternit, the name of a Swiss company that used to produce it. There was a big scandal and a lawsuit in the 80s against that company, and then the Asbestos was banned from use. [0]

[0]: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/lawsuit-...

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I lived in a house with asbestos-cement roof, and an apartment with asbestos-cement drywall when I was living in Russia.

Didn't die, or anything, just as much as nearly all ex-USSR states population. That stuff was everywhere there.

I believe the stuff is largely benign depending on asbestos having larger fiber sizes, and being weathered, or painted over.

It is largely benign when left alone. The problem is working with and disposing of it, it's a hazardous material and so can be expensive to deal with in many developed countries.

There was discussion here a while ago, that effect is genetically affected as well. Some people have traits which makes them weak against asbestos, some go without problems.

Link/citation?

Yup. When I was renovating my 100 year old house I discovered that behind the weatherboards/clapboards was a layer of old, mostly broken asbestos panelling. I called a specialist disposal firm and they quoted two prices - one for internal removal (I was only renovating the inside) and the other for external. External is a lot cheaper - for internal removals they have to seal off the rest of the house and place air quality monitors and check them for some time after the removal to make sure that there are no loose particles floating around. So it was cheaper to finish redoing the plasterboard inside the house, then remove all of the external weatherboards, have them come and do an external removal, and then rebuild with new weatherboards. The price difference made it worth it, even including buying all new weatherboards!

While its largely begin if properly sealed and left alone, keep in mind that it can take 10-40 years after exposure before bad things happen.

I still live in a house with an asbestos cement roof. built in the 70s, germany

I didn't realize eternit contained asbestos. This stuff is all over village roofs and garden sheds.

they still make it, now without asbestos in it, but most of it around you probably does contain asbestos if it's older than ~50 years

People believed that asbestos was salamander fur dating back to Aristotle and Pliney the Elder.

https://www.wired.com/2014/08/fantastically-wrong-homicidal-...

I first learned about this doing background reading of _Fahrenheit 451_ where the firemen's logo is the burning salamander as well as their fire truck being called a salamander.

http://self.gutenberg.org/eBooks/WPLBN0100000519-Fahrenheit-...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_salamander_in_popula...

There's also a popular cooking appliance used in commercial kitchens which is basically a stand-alone broiler that's referred to as a salamander,

Same in Australia - there was an ongoing law suit for years with James Hardie Industries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hardie_Industries

Eternit is still available in a new form without Asbestos. Parts of our house are covered with it. I find it really interesting that they are still using the old name that is associated with Asbestos. I mean you would not call a new tranquilizer Contergan.

They also sell flower pots. Seriously considering buying one now just to be able to tell guests: “see that flowerpot? it’s from Eternit!”

How about Coca Cola, named after cocaine and kola nuts?

What about it?

They haven't changed the name either...

Yeah but why would they? People avoid using asbestos in the name because it kills you. Coca Cola is still made from.....Coca beans. It's not named after cocaine you know.

Its named after coca leaves, the same thing cocaine is named after (and is obtained from), and used to contain cocaine.

Coca cola is named after coca leaves, which is where cocaine is derived from. Coca cola still uses extract from the leaves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola

> The drink's name refers to two of its original ingredients: coca leaves, and kola nuts (a source of caffeine).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca

> Coca is known for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.

They still use coca leaves to make the syrup, just with the cocaine removed.

Where does the cocaine go? Is it sold separately? :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company

The short answer is the cocaine is used for medicine.

I think the brand name says "quality product" more than "asbestos". We installed corrugated roof panels from Eternit and another cheaper, generic brand. The Eternit panels felt more sturdy and were easier to handle. One thing I don't see anymore though is those Eternit water tanks.

https://www.eternit.si/en/about-the-company/history/

It's a pretty remarkable material when you think about it. Flexible, fire resistant, insulating. Not surprising it found so many uses.

Asbestos is co-located in the ground with talc (talcum powder).

People noticed:

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/october-2020-talc-lawsu...

I never understood why one might use talc over, say, chalk or corn starch.

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