Horrors of asbestos in Japan

By Tatsuya Tsujimura

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nedinjapan at 11:00 AM JST - 26th July

asbestos causes a very dangerous form of lung cancer after an average period of 40 years! Now you can discuss whether it is right to be exposed to its fibers or not! Something bad that comes pretty late!
Kuroyama at 12:57 PM JST - 26th July

A lot of ignorance on this board. People figure: "What doesnt kill me right now... MEH!" Tell you what. You guys continue to enjoy smoking cigarettes, and binge drinking as well. People whine about the dangers of those things as well, "...but I know xxx that did that all their life and they lived to be 50 YEARS OLD!!!"
Molenir at 03:12 PM JST - 26th July

Its not really dangerous to the majority of people. Only a small percentage are truly susceptible, however the number is significant enough to warrant it not being used, particularly when there are alternatives.
Farmboy at 03:16 PM JST - 26th July

Most people are diagnosed more than 15 years after exposure to the stuff. If anyone is interested in learning about the health effects, check out: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/asbestos/health_effects/
Ah_so at 02:23 AM JST - 27th July

300 Americans die every year of mesothelioma.

The town of Libby, Montana contained an asbestos mine which operated from 1939 to 1990 and asbestos dust leaked from the mine and carried to the town. Despite having a population of 3000, 200 have died so far. They will continue to die for another 30 years.

It is an extremely dangerous substance and has caused the premature deaths of thousands, such as Steve McQueen. It has led to the bankruptcy of a number of insurance companies that could not afford to meet the claims from people who had exposure 30 years earlier.

Molenir is right that the majority of people who come into contact with it do not die, but this hardly justifies the rather contemptuous dismissal of the dangers. Libby gives a good idea of the dangers of excessive exposures and Molenir's grandmother should count herself lucky that she did not suffer an extremely unpleasant death.
Mark_McCracken at 09:59 AM JST - 27th July

300 Americans die every year of mesothelioma.

That makes asbestos slightly less dangerous than bathtubs. (In 2005, 344 people in the US died from drowning and submersion while in or falling into bath-tub).

No one here seems to doubt that long-term exposure to large volumes of asbestos, like that faced by the asbestos miners of Libby, Montana and their families is dangerous. But most labor intensive occupations have inherent risks.

Asbestos is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, along with wood dust, Chinese-style salted fish, solar radiation and oral contraceptives.

Many substances and chemicals, in large enough amounts are dangerous to humans. Asbestos is a natural occurring substance that is in the air we all breathe. Calling something like asbestos, or saw dust, or sunlight, "extremely dangerous", especially in the small amounts of exposure most people encounter, is unhelpful for people trying to understand relative risk.
Farmboy at 02:51 PM JST - 27th July

Mesothelioma is just one of the asbestos realated diseases. Here is a quote to get you in the right ballpark.

"According to the Environmental Working Group Action Fund, 10,000 people a year die from asbestos-caused diseases the United States, including one out of every 125 American men who die over the age of 50."
Farmboy at 02:54 PM JST - 27th July

Here is a link about asbestos deaths. http://www.ewg.org/content/report/231
NotJapanese at 03:59 PM JST - 27th July

I am glad to see people outside of Japan are just as misinformed about the "dangers" of asbestos as the Japanese public.
Ah_so at 03:02 AM JST - 28th July

That makes asbestos slightly less dangerous than bathtubs. (In 2005, 344 people in the US died from drowning and submersion while in or falling into bath-tub).

Sorry - I meant 3000. And it appears my figures were not very accurate - see Farmboy's quotation.

The fact that in Libby, 200 people have so far died out of a population of 3000 demonstrates that this is a very harmful substance. Rather more dangerous than say, joining the armed forces. Libby also showed that it was by no means restricted to those who worked in the mine.

Whether or not coal dust, saw dust or a whole host other airbourne dusts and gasses are more or less dangerous is neither here nor there.
realist at 06:32 PM JST - 28th July

Unbelievable, but not surprising that Japan is so backward in such cases as this. Is it becuase of the terrible lack of general English skills? Is it just that they are slow to follow other places? Either way, this is a shambolic situation. I hope my apartment is ok . . .
jammer at 09:17 AM JST - 29th July

Aside from the stale debate over the dangers of asbestos, how can one find out if there is asbestos in their house in Tokyo now? Contact info please.
dontpanic at 09:45 AM JST - 29th July

"I hope my apartment is ok" "how can one find out if there is asbestos in their house in Tokyo now?"

White asbestos is a common building material in Japan, you can pretty much assume you have it somewhere in your home. As long as its behind paint or panelling and not disturbed it shouldnt present any problems. Its when its cut or disturbed in building or rebuilding work that fibres get released in quantity. The only way to confirm its presence in your property is to have a fairly destructive asbestos survey done. Removal is expensive and very messy.
Hotbox08 at 01:55 PM JST - 1st August

Still, it seems more likely that I will die from coronary heart disease, or heart attack.
Redeemed at 02:09 AM JST - 11th August

We just lost a good friend to Mesothelioma. We are monitoring my husband because of his asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is becoming more common expecially among baby boomers.