| ▲ | noduerme 6 hours ago |
| Is this any safer than asbestos if it gets broken up? |
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| ▲ | pfix 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Wikipedia says yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basalt_fiber > The basalt fibers typically have a filament diameter of between 10 and 20 μm which is far enough above the respiratory limit of 5 μm to make basalt fiber a suitable replacement for asbestos. The source mentioned is a basalt fiber brand website, so not sure if that's enough for confidence. |
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| ▲ | jcarrano 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The problem with asbestos is that, due to its structure, it keeps breaking in the longitudinal direction, making thinner and thinner until it is the size of chromosomes. Physical interference with DNA is how it causes cancer. My understanding is that basalt fibers seem to be glassy, not crystalline, so the breaking does not happen. |
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| ▲ | adrian_b an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | The source material is crystalline, but it becomes somewhat glassy during the fiber manufacture, when it is cooled too fast to crystallize completely. Asbestos is made from some silicates (pyroxenes or amphiboles) which contain long covalent chains of silicon and oxygen atoms, which are more likely to separate than to break transversally. Basalt also contains pyroxenes and amphiboles, but they are mixed with other kinds of silicates and they also have a different chemical composition than those of asbestos, so as far as it is known for now the probability of breaking into very thin fibers is very low for basalt fibers. It is plausible that basalt fibers should be safer, because unlike with asbestos, which is made from rather rare minerals, basalt covers a large fraction of the surface of the Earth, so if basalt were dangerous erosion should have made harmful basalt fragments abundant in the environment. | |
| ▲ | noduerme 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | My bartender told me the other night that as long as I have 2 cups of black coffee and some red meat before drinking, it will coat my liver and prevent cirrhosis. I'm wondering if I should have him check out the mole on my arm, just to put my mind at ease. He would probably volunteer to be an experimental subject to prove this glass theory. |
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| ▲ | aitchnyu 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| If I become a king, my tablecloth will be basalt instead of asbestos and the flames from acetylene for brightest blue color. |
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| ▲ | Cthulhu_ 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I sure hope so, as it's one of the go-to insulation materials in NL at the moment next to glass fiber wool. |
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| ▲ | jabl 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | All over the world really, AFAIU. And why not, it's non-flammable, rot-resistant, affordable and made from abundant raw materials. And yes, you should probably use gloves and a mask when working with it, but it's not carcinogenic like asbestos. |
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