this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 99 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Which is worse: a line of asbestos, or a line of grounf-up fiberglass? I can't imagine either is going to do your lungs any good.

[–] [email protected] 91 points 1 month ago (2 children)

From what I understand, asbestos is far worse. Fiberglass causes irritation but that's about it. Asbestos, while it takes its time, will eventually cause mesothelioma and you really don't want that.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Really? That's surprising. I would think inhaling a bunch of ground glass would severely damage your lungs, permanently.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Asbestos can get to such a fine point that it can literally physically cleave DNA. Edit: I think I am wrong about that, please see my comment below

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I may have been misinformed, actually. Looking into it further, it seems like mechanical interference in cell division was ruled out. However, it seems there is some evidence that among other things, fibers beyond a certain length cause macrophages to essentially get destroyed trying to engulf them, which contributes to chronic inflammation, which is a big risk factor in many cancers

It's a bit above my head but here is a study I found https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7082251/

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Thanks for the study

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Fiberglass probably won't feel nice and might leave some permanent scars, but iirc, asbestos will do that and then some, but with particles so small that your body can never fully get rid of it

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Yeah, and asbestos does that too and then gives you mega cancer in about 20 years.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I thought fiberglass causes silicosis?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago

Both travels down to the aveola level IIRC, but asbestos has a small toxic atom that gets left there, which us why asbestos is so bad for your health.