Dust inhalation

[Jaros]

My father died from Mesothelioma. A very ugly painful way to die. He worked as a labourer when he came to Australia from the Ukraine in 1948. Jobs were mainly State Govt works in Vic. No OHS then.
He was a qualified Carpenter/Joiner and after he learned some English he secured a job in a factory in Springvale where he worked nearly all his life. Wood dust, cutting cement sheet etc.
I worked with the PMG, Telecom, Telstra for 35 yrs and in one Telephone Exch. in Collingwood there were hot water pipes covered in Asbestos above our heads everywhere in the building.
I think it was in the 70's that one day a team of people came in an began sealing the pipes with? quickly and quietly and left. We had to get one of them across the road at the pub and find out what was going on.
A lot of my breathing was done thru a cigarette therefore filtered, so I had some protection!! :argh:

 

[Booney]

Have also been exposed to a lot of Bulldust through out my years , dont think it aftects your lungs but it does ya head in .

 

[Licking windows]

If youre worried about any possible illness from dust/fine particle inhalation get a chest xray every 5 years through your doctor, can be part of a checkup. I have done it for the last 15 years to keep on top of any possible problems

Say if an X-ray did pick something up, then what? Would it be a case of monitor and wait and see? Or would it be more like right we have caught this early lets see what we can do?

Depends on what it is and if it is Treatable..... With All Dust, Coal, Asbestos and a few others, THERE IS NO TREATMENT....... By the time they pick it up there won't be much time left if it is a real Nasty.... Your Dr will also have to report it to the Health Department...

You seek Legal Advise or contact your Union if you are a member or ask your Dr... IF you know you have been exposed you need to have an x-ray every year... With most nasties you will be Dead with-in 5 years....

Booney, DO IT AND START NOW with the first x-ray... You are in the same situation as Me... We both have Worked in one of the highest risk jobs out there... Your work places are exactly the same as Mine..... You are so correct it wont get you now but in 40 years down the track it will.... The Home renovators are the bunch that needs to watch their health in the future... They have no idea...
I HAVE ALSO COME ACROSS THE SAME MENTALITY ON THIS FORUM IN THE PAST WHEN I TOUCHED THE SUBJECT....

On another hidden Danger note Who has Old Railway Sleepers as Garden Beds or 'Features' in their Gardens at home.... They are FULL of Asbestos.. Get rid of them....

LW....

Bloody hell LW thats all doom and gloom isnt it your story you told is rather moving and I simply cannot imagine the anguish that your self and your family would have gone through in the time that you were incorrectly diagnosed to when you were finally given an accurate diagnosis :N: :N:
Sadly even today across building sites I honestly think that the old phrase ( it will never happen to me) mentality or its just one cut she will be right dont need a mask is still an accepted excuse in a lot of peoples minds, and probably more so with older generation tradies :N: had you heard of that tram stop investigation I mentioned earlier as you sound like you have been around the traps for a while? And thank you for the thumbs up in regards to old railway sleepers :Y: as the only risks I ever associated with them was me chainsaw going blunt real quick if you cut them :lol:
Thanks again for sharing your story :Y:

 

[snafu]

I worked in a cereal grain shipping terminal some years back and apart from wearing personal protection equipment full time, there was absolutely no way to avoid inhalation of the dust. The grain dust itself was bad enough, but it wasn't the biggest problem. It was the contact insecticide residue in the dust from widely used chemicals such as dichlorvos - a carcinogenic organophosphate that accumulates in the body and prolonged exposure is nothing less than a death sentence. Three blokes I worked with died of cancer in their early 40's.

This same chemical is the active constituent in flea collars for cats and dogs as well as those Shelltox strips that people hung in their houses years ago, giving them constant exposure to a deadly compound. Dichlorvos is banned everywhere else in the world, but not here in Oz. WTF???

We don't have a good track record when it comes to learning from the mistakes of others. DDT is a prime example, we kept using it here for 19 years after it was banned in most other countries. DUH!!!

Jeff

 

[Jaros]

It is the same here State to State. IF something works elsewhere it won't be taken up by another state until they trial their own ideas first. WOT cost savings????

 

[LONEWOLF]

Some VERY Disturbing Comments there Fellas and I have sent a few a PM instead of replying through here...

Re; the tram report, Only the Beginning... Many more Will Follow... City Rail in NSW also has said some very Disturbing things about their workers and the Public who catch their Trains... :koala:

Jaros, I also have seen the same with a few close Work-mates and its just sucks watching them suffer :brokenh: .... :brokenh:

To All who Think they have been Exposed to Any of the Nasty, Toxic things in this World... Go and see your DR and tell them Your Story... That way there is a Record of your concerns and you can also Register your name with the Relevant Workers Comp place in Your State or They can Direct you to the relevant Place, So if something does come and bite you later on there is a record of it and that makes things a lot easier when you may NOT have the Energy or worse, the Time to battle the Bureaucrats out there... The Company you worked for may NOT be around anymore BUT Workers Comp will take care of you IF THERE IS DOCUMENTED EVEDENCE OF YOUR EXPOSURE...

NSW is very Lucky as they have a very good set-up, thanks to Bernie Banton and Maruice Blackburn Lawyers... They set-up/sponsor the Bernie Banton Foundation and are THE Experts in this Minefield that exists today... and in these cases WILL work for Free....
I also think the Dust and Disease Board of NSW is now Nation Wide...or your State may have their own Set-up... Get your-selves ON IT... For the sake of your Family ..

LW.... :koala:

 

[Redfin]

They are updating the train lines here at Dunolly. I can't believe the amount of people taking the old sleepers for firewood. Train brakes have been dumping asbestos dust on them for 100 years.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Spot on Redfin, Hence what I said about Old Sleepers before... Bad News... and years ago if you bought Brake-clean it cost you a fortune... Now you can get it for $3 a can..

LW...

 

[Licking windows]

Have also been exposed to a lot of Bulldust through out my years , dont think it aftects your lungs but it does ya head in .

Might have just the thing for ya Booney

:lol: :lol:

 

[goody2shoes]

I am in need of some of that..

Goody

 

[Jaros]

How can I attach that to the phone?

 

[Sacredsite]

One way or the other we were all exposed to asbestos. 60s/70s.
Coming back from vietnam on the HMAS Sydney we were bunked in
hammocks that swung below Asbestos covered pipes, Sailors on
ships then where exposed to it 24/7. The asbestos i was told
was Crocidolite, or blue asbestos which is the most dangerous
type of asbestos. One member of my platoon died from liver
cancer put down to contact with asbestos.
Xrays have shown i have scarring on the lung, i'm okay,
one of the lucky ones i guess.
You still see today young blokes on building sites
cutting masonry without a dust mask, 10 foot
tall and stupid, or ignorant. Even though workplace health
and safety is a bit over done sometimes, this is one aspect
that should be enforced more. Sillicosis is not a nice injury
to have, my scaring is most likely due to crushing Quartz. :argh:

What about the ships that had guns big enough to shake the whole ship. ?
Everyone would comment on the dust coming from the overhead pipe lagging.

Now I work in a glazing factory where I see everyday, someone cleaning a carpeted
workbench with an air nozzle. These benches are used to cut glass on for window and door assembly so have minute particles of glass and alloy on them. Not to mention what comes out of an aging piece of carpet.

 

[Wishfull]

when I did my trade as a mechanic we were told by collage not to blow out brake drums with air when I told my boss that he laughed and kicked my ass the mechanics I did my trade with all died from asbestos related problems and to watch these blocks who were quite big lose large amounts of weight and die was not a pretty site even builders in town died from it to and it is a nasty way to go ps wouldn't wish it on any one get a dust good quality mask pretty cheap in my opinion

Same here. At trade school they told us to put a damp rag over the brake backing plate and blow the dust out. Still went everywhere. I used to use a spray bottle with water in it and catch it in a tray and put into drum. From memmory I think the drums went ti the local dump
During my apprenticeship I worked a lot with diesel tractors. We had a tractor dyno which was basically a big tsnk of water with a special flywheel in it that put load on the tractors PTO shaft. Anyway we used to load up the tractors and the noise ! and the smoke from the burnt diesel was so thick you could hardly see in the workshop. No respirators or ear protection back then. I am now almost totaly deaf in one ear snd have a hearing aid in the other.

 

[RockRat]

One way or the other we were all exposed to asbestos. 60s/70s.
Coming back from vietnam on the HMAS Sydney we were bunked in
hammocks that swung below Asbestos covered pipes, Sailors on
ships then where exposed to it 24/7. The asbestos i was told
was Crocidolite, or blue asbestos which is the most dangerous
type of asbestos. One member of my platoon died from liver
cancer put down to contact with asbestos.
Xrays have shown i have scarring on the lung, i'm okay,
one of the lucky ones i guess.
You still see today young blokes on building sites
cutting masonry without a dust mask, 10 foot
tall and stupid, or ignorant. Even though workplace health
and safety is a bit over done sometimes, this is one aspect
that should be enforced more. Sillicosis is not a nice injury
to have, my scaring is most likely due to crushing Quartz. :argh:

What about the ships that had guns big enough to shake the whole ship. ?
Everyone would comment on the dust coming from the overhead pipe lagging.

Now I work in a glazing factory where I see everyday, someone cleaning a carpeted
workbench with an air nozzle. These benches are used to cut glass on for window and door assembly so have minute particles of glass and alloy on them. Not to mention what comes out of an aging piece of carpet.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it, where is OH&S, we never learn. Profit before lives. :/

 

[Ded Driver]

when I was a kid (in the 70's) my father did a stint driving trucks carting logs into the North West of WA for bridge building. A couple of these trips took him to Wittenoom, home of the notorious asbestos mine. He brought home a big piece of raw blue asbestos that had visibly loose fibres in it. That chunk sat on our mantel piece over the open fire for more years than I can remember, & we all used to handle it to look at it. :awful:
Then there were the house extensions involving removing & cutting asbestos wall sheeting.
Thankfully no one in our family has developed any problems from asbestos ..... yet :argh:

 

[Licking windows]

when I was a kid (in the 70's) my father did a stint driving trucks carting logs into the North West of WA for bridge building. A couple of these trips took him to Wittenoom, home of the notorious asbestos mine. He brought home a big piece of raw blue asbestos that had visibly loose fibres in it. That chunk sat on our mantel piece over the open fire for more years than I can remember, & we all used to handle it to look at it. :awful:
Then there were the house extensions involving removing & cutting asbestos wall sheeting.
Thankfully no one in our family has developed any problems from asbestos ..... yet :argh:

Saw a documentary on this Mine a few years back, some of the vision on it sent shivers down my spine :N:
Most of the workers there who were new to Australia took job offers their and moved their families there as well :N:
Apparently the stuff was everywhere and used to even blow down the street like spinifex.
Kids used to play in huge piles of it and wifes had to clean the husbands clothes that were literally covered in the stuff :N:
According to the statistics not to many of the residents didnt go on to live long and happy lives :N:
Very sad indeed. 8.(

 

[Licking windows]

Thanks jaros :Y:

 

[user 4386]

As for today's dangers I for the life of me can't understand how MDF (Medium Density Fibre Board) is sold let alone used in almost every door frame of every new home :8 :8 :8 it is horrible stuff.
Why do you say that? MDF is "made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure". I can't think of anything dangerous related to wood fibres, although one should always keep any dust out of your lungs.

 

[user 4386]

I worked in a cereal grain shipping terminal some years back and apart from wearing personal protection equipment full time, there was absolutely no way to avoid inhalation of the dust. The grain dust itself was bad enough, but it wasn't the biggest problem. It was the contact insecticide residue in the dust from widely used chemicals such as dichlorvos - a carcinogenic organophosphate that accumulates in the body and prolonged exposure is nothing less than a death sentence. Three blokes I worked with died of cancer in their early 40's.

This same chemical is the active constituent in flea collars for cats and dogs as well as those Shelltox strips that people hung in their houses years ago, giving them constant exposure to a deadly compound. Dichlorvos is banned everywhere else in the world, but not here in Oz. WTF???

We don't have a good track record when it comes to learning from the mistakes of others. DDT is a prime example, we kept using it here for 19 years after it was banned in most other countries. DUH!!!

Jeff

Unfortunately DDT was still being used in Africa in the 1980s - unsuspecting Africans wearing nothing but a pair of shorts handling huge drums of the stuff, living in a fine mist of the stuff. Dichlorvos is still present in the following pest strips:

Alco No-Pest Strip,
AMVAC Insect Strip,
Alco Pest Strip,
AMVAC No-Pest Strip, and
Swat Pest Strip.

 

[Jaros]

The questions are- WHY is it in these and are they allowed in Australia.