Cutting asbestos without too much dust

[jimc]

I had the same problem. Except my house is from the 30's with the last extension going up in the 50's. My technique was to remove the asbestos panels I had to do large cuts in and replace with new cement sheet AND used a guillotine to make the small cuts in the panels that remained once wet.

Just a note the source of potential asbestos "poisoning" not only came from Hardie's products....how many of you replaced your own brakes on your car/motorbike pre 1990 and blew out the dust?

Am I worried about the asbestos sheeting at my place? No not really if it is respected
Am I worried about my earlier home car/motorbike repairs? You bet!!!

Thats my 5 cents worth

[wombat47]

Although Scandivavians used asbestos in the manufacture of pottery and for chinking their log cabins and Egyptians used it in the embalming process, the Greeks and Romans expanded its use into building products, flame retardant cloth and women's clothing. Its health risks were recognised back then - in the first century Pliny the Elder advised against buying slaves from asbestos mines because "they die young". He also advised the use of respirators made from animal bladders to protect the miners.

Later uses for asbestos included insulation in medieval suits of armour. A type of asbestos which had the appearance of wood was flogged off as pieces of the Cross - the fact that it wouldn't burn was offered as proof that it was from the real thing.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the use of asbestos increased dramatically in both products and the production process. By 1897 a link was made between asbestos workers and lung diseases and the first documented case of asbestos causing the death of a worker was in 1906. By 1908 insurance companies were decreasing policies and benefits for asbestos workers.

Throughout the 1900's numerous studies provided evidence that linked various types of asbestos and their production & use with disease and deaths of workers. The asbestos companies weren't stupid. They were happy to fund any number of studies - they then "owned" the studies and were able to suppress the findings, or alter the results.

James Hardie was not only making building products. It was manufacturing pipes, brake linings, insulation, etc., as well as products for use in other industries - pipe laggings, textured paint, flooring adhesives, etc.

The point is that they KNEW asbestos was killing people. And they went on manufacturing the stuff and coming up with more products. In the 1970's, when evidence against the use of asbestos began to make it into the public arena, Hardie's gave their plant managers detailed written instructions on what lies they were to tell their workers.

This isn't just an instance where a manufacturer finds that the product is harmful and takes it off the market. Asbestos shows the extent to which a manufacturer will go to lie, suppress information and expose workers and their families, as well as its customers and community members, to a potentially fatal risk.

[vsquizz]

IF you take all the precautions in the world, wear all the gear package and label the stuff properly, transport it correctly etc etc...they still just chuck it in the tip with the rest of general waste. Disposal of asbestos based products is not an black art, they just bury it. Its harmless unless you breathe it.. (or a truck load lands on your head ).

If you end up DIY then keep a little squirty bottle full of water handy. As you go to cut or remove each section wet it down. This practice is well stated in the various state OH&S documentation. We always wet down roofs before removing them, and at get peril of going A##se up on a wet roof .

When somebody invents a quality respirator, that you can actually wear while doing demolition work in 40 deg temps then let me know.

No power tools, and if you can't get fibro cutter shears (which often wont fit in where you want) look to score and snap (while wet)

Cheers