|
|
Posted by David Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Friday, February 18, 2011 at 17:26:12 :
In Reply to: gm harris posted by Kaegi [71.227.129.92] on Friday, February 18, 2011 at 10:52:28 :
One particular lung cancer, mesothelioma, is almost always due to asbestos exposure. However, given equal asbestos exposures, people who smoke are 10 times more likely to get mesothelioma than those who don't smoke. The theory is that nicotine paralyzes the little hairs in the lungs whose job it is to clear dust out of them, so the sharp asbestos particles stay in the lungs where they can gradually work their way into the tissue and irritate it until cancer develops.
The great majority of asbestos disease cases came from men who worked in the shipyards during WWII blowing asbestos insulation all over the insides of ships, and who worked in asbestos mines (or mines of other minerals that contained asbestos) driving trucks around and operating equipment in clouds of dust. Almost all those guys smoked back then. I wouldn't be surprised if a fair number of mechanics who were careless about blowing brake dust out with air, and who probably also smoked, got cancer from it as well. Long term occupational exposure is a lot different than being a hobbyist doing your own brake jobs a couple times a year.
All in all, it's pretty clear to me that you don't run much of a risk from asbestos so long as you don't smoke and you're reasonably careful about not breathing much dust. For the latter, simple things like using a hose rather than air to clean off brake parts is probably enough. Personally, I try to avoid breathing a lot of dust no matter what it's from. You don't need to be a doctor to know that breathing dust is probably not healthy. Same with smoking.