Talk:Asbestos

Graphics etc

This article needs some graphics to show the chemistry of asbestos variants and how they relate to each other. This would make the article look better. Expansion in the chemistry would also be helpful My IQ >> 160 (talk) 18:39, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

Feel free to add some. Andy Dingley (talk) 18:58, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

I don't really know either because i'm new, but i can ask my mentor. ClockB (talk) 07:34, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

Asbestos and the USA

On the page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos I note that the USA does not appear in the main table alongside countries such as the United Kingdom. USA does appear in the next table.

On the page https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/health/epa-bans-last-form-of-asbestos-used-in-united-states/index.html

I read that "The EPA has banned chrysotile asbestos, the only form of asbestos currently being used or imported to the United States.".

I think that an essential table in the Wikipedia article on Asbestos needs to be corrected. Me? I would probably end up making a mess of the table(s) structure! Sincerely

Christopher Greaves 96.30.182.81 (talk) 17:57, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

I've made the changes. The final rule was noted a while ago but the table and the tense of previous paragraph was never changed. Reconrabbit 14:05, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank You. 96.30.182.81 (talk) 08:57, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Toxicity to people living in houses constructed with asbestos

The toxicity section is centered around people processing asbestos, who inhale the dust. It's not immediately obvious how such dust would be produced in a house made with asbestos. Ie, if smoking cigarettes is dangerous, sitting next to an unlit cigarette is not therefore dangerous. Especially if the unlit cigarette is also covered with wallpaper and paint. 212.3.197.242 (talk) 13:07, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

The principle as I am familiar with it is: asbestos only causes a hazard if it is disturbed. A house built with asbestos in the walls is of no greater hazard to a person than a house built with concrete under normal conditions. It only becomes dangerous if you start hitting the walls/surfaces with a hammer/chisel and break off pieces and fibers, or if the asbestos becomes exposed in some way and is friable. In that case, you could cause dust to appear just by walking on the friable asbestos. I am not aware of any applications past the 1970s where you could walk on friable asbestos though unless your ceiling is covered in fireproofing and is falling apart. The same can be true with concrete (though silicosis is a different matter). -- Reconrabbit 13:54, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

"If asbestos dust becomes airborne and is inhaled it can cause irritation and scarring of the lungs." ClockB (talk) 07:43, 1 March 2026 (UTC)

World production of asbestos (metric tons) from 1900 to 2017 with trend line

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asbestos-world-production-1900-2100.jpg On this graph the red trend line is statistically unjustified should be removed. It appears to be a bell curve fitted to the data. There is no reason to expect the underlying data to be symmetrical never mind follow a bell curve. And extrapolating the red line into the future is just plain misleading. Also, to avoid giving the impression that the production of asbestos dropped to zero in 2017, it would be worth stretching the x-scale so it runs from 1900 to 2017 instead of to 2100. TristramBrelstaff (talk) 17:16, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

I have just removed this graph because it suggests that the world's production of asbestos entirely ceased in the late 2010s, which is not the case. It is only when zooming in to the image that the viewer can see what the graph actually represents. Graphs that need a read of the fine print should be avoided. Panamitsu ✨ 12:41, 31 May 2026 (UTC)