Asbestos fibers
May 28, 2013 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Ive Dr. Schaaf
Good evening!
Today I brought some garbage bags to the waste disposal site. The bins were almost full as usual. In the trash container I used, there was minimal space on the right side, so I had to push my bags in a little. The whole process took about 2 minutes. Towards the end, I noticed on the left, full side at the top of the trash, two adjacent parts of a broken fibrous board (each about 20 x 30 cm). The frayed break points were visible.
It could have been a simple pressed wood board, but with all the recent reports about asbestos contamination in homes, I would like to ask the experts at this point: If that was indeed an asbestos-containing board, could I have inhaled dangerous fibers just by opening and closing the container three times and pushing my garbage bags in (I did not directly touch the board pieces)? What is the likelihood of that leading to potentially deadly diseases?
You really don't need to worry. The probability tends towards zero.
You would have had to inhale fibers, but that actually only happens when the plates are being cut straight and it is dusty, or when they slowly deteriorate over time and the fibers are then whirled into the air, such as in the Palace of the Republic, where the plates were installed in the air conditioning system.
As a precaution, it is now demanded that such plates be sealed in foil and then disposed of when they are no longer needed. However, these plates are still widely in use and do not pose any danger. They are on many huts and garages and do not need to be disposed of.
In addition, you would have to inhale such fibers over a long period of time for a significant risk to arise.
So: All clear, please don't worry.
Dr. Ive Schaaf
p.s. If there are still any uncertainties, please ask.
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