230
Hard drugs (lemmy.world)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] sxan@midwest.social 98 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[-] BlueLineBae@midwest.social 93 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[-] sxan@midwest.social 40 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 42 points 2 weeks ago

Fiberglass is very smooth compared to asbestos, at a microscopic level. That's what makes asbestos so bad - it gets in there and works its way further in, like a porcupine quill. Fiberglass is by no means healthy, but it's a fair bit less harmful.

[-] subignition@fedia.io 32 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago
[-] subignition@fedia.io 29 points 2 weeks ago

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/

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the study

[-] Denjin 14 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Sylvartas@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks 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

[-] Nindelofocho@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

I thought fiberglass causes silicosis?

[-] Valmond@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks 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.

this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
230 points (98.3% liked)

Facepalm

2325 readers
1 users here now

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS