Franting About Asbestos

My old pal asbestos. I have a lot of history with the fluffy toxic stuff, and thought that I'd do a little video about it. Enjoy! Well, not too much....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos
www.chemistryworld.com/news/w...
inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbe...
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[@theCodyReeder]

Asbestos makes for absolutely fantastic gasket material for exhaust systems.

[@RingingResonance]

heat resistant and durable. Shame it's so bad for the lungs.

[@tremolux13]

Cody'sLab it’s a pleasure to see you here sir!

[@paulconsani5160]

We still have a good supply of it and use it in hobby early gas engines.

[@FranLab]

I still use lead solder for the same reasons... it's just better.

[@jessecervantes1755]

Fran Blanche totally agree! I can’t see myself using anything else!

[@goodun6081]

9/11 : when the Twin Towers came down, much of lower Manhattan became heavily contaminated with asbestos and heavy metals. First responders and site workers have paid a heavy price medically for their bravery and hard work.

[@CommodoreFan64]

As someone who watched their father die from a combination of asbestos/lead (worked in removal of it for over a decade), welders lung, and smoking, you can't be afraid of the world around you, just use your brain, and be smart about it, avoid it where you can, and when you can't take the necessary precautions.

[@Lethgar_Smith]

It is fairly safe in it's inert state. It is when you star busting it up and stripping it away that it becomes a real hazard.

[@nejiniisan1265]

Agreed. But the snow thing is not, lol.

[@elvinhaak]

Or of course when cleaning it...

[@mjouwbuis]

Asbestos is mostly inert. It isn't however always bound. Whenever fibres come loose or are applied without a binding agent, it isn't safe. When bound, it is fairly safe as long as it stays that way.

[@geraldsharp4838]

Exactly...

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

It's best to spray a tacky protective water coat around it so none of the fibers can break loose.

[@vwestlife]

I remember those Bunsen burner pads from the science lab in school. Of course we were never told those were made from asbestos. And since the main building of my high school was built in the 1950s, I'm sure it was full of it. I'm also not too far away from the town of Manville, NJ that was named after the Johns Manville asbestos factory that once was there (torn down in the '90s and replaced with a shopping center). If that wasn't bad enough, Maville was also home to a creosote wood treatment site, which was replaced in the 1960s with a housing development and shopping center without doing any environmental remediation to clean up the badly polluted soil and groundwater. In the '90s the EPA came in and tore down the shopping center and some of the homes and removed 275,000 tons of contaminated soil.

[@mandolinic]

I also recall the bunsen burner pads when I was at school in England in the 1960s. We were told that they were made of asbestos, but no one ever flagged up any possible problems.

[@davidbrittenham4631]

The area would have been much safer if they had just left those 275,000 tons of contaminated soil right where they were. Disturbing it distributed it to who knows where. IF there was even enough contamination to be dangerous in the first place.

[@centralintelligenceagency9003]

Man, the USA is such a nice place. They still put asbestos in brake pads, exactly where you absolutely positively do not want any asbestos.

[@VR360TV]

We still have a saying in the UK, if you can drink very hot drinks you were called asbestos mouth, lol

[@laurensa.1803]

Interesting. In the Netherlands, we say that someone's throat is made of lead when they are able to do that.

[@Gayestskijumpever]

Also if you're able to hold hot things in your hand you're said to have "asbestos fingers" in the UK.

[@mark314158]

Apparently drinking very hot drinks can cause cancers too ...

[@belperite]

@@mark314158 I'd have the more immediate concern of a badly scolded oesophagus TBH ;)

[@duvalpenny100]

My house was built in the 1920's and the asbestos insulation has been removed, but after watching this video i realized that the wires in my home are still insulated in asbestos. This whole time i thought it was just regular cotton or something. Thank you for the information!

[@thisguy1520]

Asbestos is most dangerous in it's friable state. Otherwise it's relatively safe to handle. It can also be encapsulated with paint, when it isn't feasible to r&r it.

[@bberding]

Fran: Saving the world one video at a time!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@Graham_Wideman]

This was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be! Thanks Fran!

[@scabbynack]

Taking sensible precautions and not overreacting is what the world needs a lot more of in general. Thanks, Fran!

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Asbestos is the best insulator ever discovered! Unfortunately it's a killer! In 1984 a co-worker and I had to shovel an entire boxcar, derailed train of asbestos in Barstow California behind the Barstow station. Maybe East 1/4 Mile? They did not give us anything except a paper mask, a snow shovel & a bunch of trash bags. It took us two days. I was 14 years old did not know anything about this stuff. I had to get my first work permit. Thank you California for looking after me!

[@musikba]

Have been around asbestos containing materials practically all my life. Didn't realize what it was until much later. I remember as a kid playing amongst discarded cement siding (Transite), removing floor tile with a scraper, knocking down loose acoustic ceiling tiles with a pool cue (for the hell of it), finding a box of wicking, and operating old stage lights. Also my great uncle was an inspector for the FAA and later died of mesothelioma.

[@davidhamm5626]

Nice and clear explanation, and you had examples I had never seen before ! Keep on Franting.

[@jpowell8504]

Hello Fran, I like your videos and have been watching them for a year now. Thank you for the technical information. You have a Great New Year. Jay :)

[@cristinadiaz64]

Hi Fran! Thank you so much for this video. I just bought a 1933 home likely filled with lead and asbestos. I've been spiraling for days! Your video has eased so much of my anxiety around this. Seriously, thank you.

[@jackheinemann1994]

I know that feeling

[@bernardzsikla5640]

I once worked for a woman that was the head nurse at a mesothelioma ward in a hospital. She told me that every person that had treated in that ward ALSO smoked. She said smoking makes you draw the particles in deeper into your lungs and they almost always go together. I wonder if anyone else can corroborate my statement.

[@lakeitasmith1857]

This was theeeeee best informational video on asbestos!! Thank you kindly 🙏

[@JackdeDuCoeur]

Very nice - combining your technical acumen with a rant, combining your audiences. Excellent.

[@brianarbenz7206]

A friend of a friend of mine wrote a nationally used guide for dealing with asbestos. He said the important thing is to keep the substance inert and out of contact with people. Particularly in schools, the problem tends to be that work crews may refurbish or rebuild walls, floors and ceilings without understanding that their methods can unleash the asbestos.

[@WDCallahan]

We'll just deal with it asbestos we can.

[@FranLab]

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!! Bah-bing!

[@kevinshort3943]

W.D. Callahan I'm sure that's a capital crime in at least one country :)

[@joshuavincent7884]

Darnit...beat me to it

[@kyoudaiken]

Get out xD

[@joshabadie1431]

I see you're a fellow dad.

[@vivienneandersson6019]

I look forward to my regular dose of FranCam!

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

I miss Fran Jam

[@TargaWheels]

Very informational. Thank You Fran.

[@xxvh]

Thanks Fran ! :)

[@evansoenke9026]

Good to see another video!

[@creatorgenerator1998]

A great informative Video!!! Asbestos clad houses were built in Portsmouth UK during WWII (because of the air raids using incendiaries). My parents moved one to their property in 1967 and it's still there, being a garage workshop.

[@gettygarrettable]

Wonderful video Fran thank you

[@Craiglish22]

Very interesting as always Fran. I remember being at school in London during the early 80's, playing with the fire resistant Bunsen burner mats. Braking them up and cracking them. We all did it. Asbestos every single one of them. How times have changed. Thankfully. 😁

[@easternma]

Thank you for an honest discussion. I have very much the same life and professional experience with this and other items frowned on today. I also agree with your view of the risk adverse nature of young people which also I believe contributes to a culture too afraid of failure and negatively speak or treat those who reach success after several failed attempts. Some of the greatest discoveries were made from mistakes and failures to achieve desired results early on.

[@christastic100]

Very interesting vlog Fran lab .

[@HassanDibani]

My father was a car mechanic in Morocco، they used asbestos for isolating truck, bus and car cabins from the heat coming out if engines. It was cut by hand to make it for. He worked with this stuff from the 50s until the 00s. His lungs are not doing great now but that more from smoking and but from asbestos.

[@keppelsmall5313]

great video thanks Fran!

[@Alaska_Engineer]

Thank you for helping raise awareness of this issue!!

[@kevinforth7618]

Good topic, thanks Fran

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

Growing up, the hotpads in the kitchen (for placing a hot pan on) all had asbestos on the bottom. The first calibration lab I worked in had a variable carbon pile load resistor. Slabs of carbon about 2 inches square and 1/2 inch thick supported by a solid asbestos tray. The asbestos insulated the pile from the metal framework. Wire connections on each end, and a screw on one end to compress or relax the pile to vary the resistance. Like so many other things, as long as you treat it with respect it won't be too dangerous.

[@randydinglehopper62]

Good perspective, thank you

[@Frisenette]

Did someone say asbestos? It’s due for a comeback. I can feel it.

[@apextroll]

Isn't Trump making it great again?

[@Giblet535]

@@apextroll This nic checks out.

[@mjouwbuis]

Well, you can call it nano-technology and people will think of it as a new good thing.

[@nyki7fykxtjxyi]

Asbestos is a really good fireproof material

[@neilgower2558]

Cheers Fran for that happy note 🤣

[@Hasitier]

Interesting thoughts about asbestos. I didn’t know that there were so many appliances for it. And also nice to see a frant again. It might help the KZbin algorithm to do the „right“ thing.

[@jackheinemann1994]

My grandfather was a builder from the 50's through till the late 80s, basically the height of its use in the Australian construction industry. There were 3 builders in his small town, who all had men working for them. Somehow, he found out and knew about the dangers of the stuff. the other 2 builders and there crew made a boat load of money doing renovations. Pop never did renovations, he only built new spec homes (that were asbestos free). These other blokes made a shitload of money doing reno's, they had the cars the houses all of it, pop never made a great deal of money, and lost what he did have in a business deal that went bad and essentially died with nothing. These other two blokes died decades before in there 50s and 60s from asbestos, pop lived to 90. He lost a shitload of mates to the stuff. it is criminal what went on. I have always know about the stuff, long story short, I inherited an old motorcycle, everyone it basically born with the knowledge about brakes and clutches, and i took great care with that stuff, as far as i knew asbestos was only found in 2 places on bikes, I never knew about the gaskets. when it came time to do the motor everyone talks about soda blasting aluminium engine cases, when i did it, I still vividly remember thinking, jee wiz, they say baking soda is safe, but does anyone really know what happens bother short and long term when you inhale it so i wore a mask anyway, 2 years later I found out the gasket which i had half arsed scratched off with a screwdriver was asbestos. the thought of doing such thing now petrifies me. now I know so much about the stuff it is abit ridiculous, also every city has some background level, which means we inhale literally thousands of fibres a day, which represents about a 1 in a million cancer risk apparently, but i question that because there are areas with naturally high background rates and people living in those areas are exposed to more. my school had an old building that was essentially all fibro cement, i remember it had air quality monitors throughout.. which basically means it is in the air as the walls shed., across the road from school was a big industrial warehouse estate thing with 10 acres of super 6 roofing on it. in australia they used it extensively for water piping aswell which represents about a 1 in a 100,000 cancer risk. it is just one of those things.

[@SkeletonSyskey]

Great Topic. Thanks for the video.

[@jaydaniels8698]

I see you are closing in on 100,000 subscriber nice!

[@DrAlexVasquezICHNFM]

We live in a complex world full of things. 5:20 Yes! I was thinking the same thing. Good overview 🎉

[@GadgetReviewVideos]

3:11 I remember removing these tiles from our home, and several others when I worked construction.

[@avejst]

Thanks for sharing this info. Didn't known it was that wildly used 👍😀

[@corneleousworthington4566]

You're awesome! Please keep up the cool vids!!!

[@carrieann3494]

Good and informative video!

[@jeffking4176]

Again, this was interesting, when I didn’t think it would be. 📻👍🙂‼️

[@Mr.PastGlory]

Asbestos was also used in filters for respirators. :-) Robertson once had a coating for their trapezoidal sheet metal which was called Galbestos, a 500 µm coating containing Asbestos as support material. There's one building in my town (a power plant from the late 1960's) that still has that kinda coated sheet metal on its roof and that building is located next to an Autobahn and is located in an industrial area. Two years ago we've been up on that roof for inspection and you cannot believe in which fantastic condition this old roof still is. This roof will easily last for another 55 years.

[@MrCulldog]

I will be wearing N95’s and P100’s (when they’re available) as well as gloves and long sleeve work shirt whenever I dig into old electronics form here out, I don’t really have any clue just how much asbestos I’ve been exposed to and I don’t think I really want to know. Thank you for the great video, very helpful!

[@terryolsson4145]

Wow...thanks Fran

[@featherbrain7147]

I agree about how much asbestos used to be in daily use. In my home when I was around eight years old, I can remember an asbestos teapot pad which was crumbling, spreading its fibres. Electric bar heaters had asbestos mounts for the bar. As well as that, water pipes were made from lead and I remember playing with my finger in the DDT dust, to kill flies, accumulated on the window sill. I gained a soldering iron when I was eleven when leaded solder was all there was and I have used one ever since. How did I manage to still be alive now I'm 74?

[@rodkane5518]

Great video, i think that genetic predisposition also plays a big part in who succumbs to asbestos , smoking and drinking related problems

[@hansgopherfish6367]

How am I only just now discovering this channel!?!?!

[@texhunter761]

When I used to be involved with asbestos abatement people would ask me if it was as bad as they say. My response was not unless you are one of the people affected by it. Then it is very very bad. You show a good understanding of the subject.

[@phototristan]

When I was in high school we definitely had those asbestos wire mesh things for Bunsen burner‘s. And the teacher even said this is asbestos so be careful, yet they still kept them in the school

[@soundacresstudio]

Thank you for this. Had no idea it was in core wire insulation.

[@mattmoreira210]

I've recently scrapped a hairdryer, and it never occurred to me that it could contain asbestos. Turns out that I've just checked it out, and (yes!) it's used in the heating element for providing electrical and thermal insulation, as well as some mechanical support.

[@lemwezzer63]

As always fran very entertaining and very informative.

[@bf0189]

I agree completely! My best friends father who is like a second dad to me taught me how to restore antique electronics. Asbestos everywhere! Do you have any upcoming horology/watchmaking videos? Said friend is a watchmaker and after I showed him your pocket watch he gave me a really 1897-199 Elgin after as a token of appreciation. It means the world to me.

[@bootsowen]

God bless the old Irish asbestos play area. Excellent poster!

[@5roundsrapid263]

Good video, Fran. I’m one of the last ones who grew up with lead, asbestos, mercury, etc., so I don’t panic over it, either.

[@meandnature6452]

but its still all around us in old buildings etc.

[@SurajGrewal]

Oh boy. In India, it's everywhere. Neon bulbs joints, joints inside soldering iron, electric inside heaters, roofing sheets etc etc And the roofing sheets aren't even handled properly, specially when they are cutting it

[@BOYD1981]

I used to work as an asbestos lab technician testing all kinds of products for it, the most surprising thing I found it in is toilet cisterns which shouldn't really be that surprising as it can be found in over 3000 products and has been used for thousands of years. And the thing with talc as I understood it was that small amounts of Tremolite can form naturally in it. I actually quite miss working with it, it's fascinating material and it can be very pretty viewed through a polarised light microscope, in fact the most dangerous thing about working with it in lab conditions is the chemicals used in the RI liquids to identify which form it is.

[@RodzeniSam24]

How bad is it on air ducts?

[@nor4277]

I work in a school that had to have that asbestos removed,from floor files to sealing tiles,insulation .it was used in car brakes,so many things,like you said glad it's going away.

[@larryh8072]

My memory of aspestos was my dad mixing a whole bag of it to make my train tunnel. I remember him sculpting it very carefully so there were places for little houses in the valleys and places for all of the artificial trees. Now I didn't read all of the comments I admit but I wonder if anyone else got to play with the x-ray machine in the shoe department. When shopping with my mother that was a real treat for my sister and I. We usually could be found x-raying ourselves in the shoe department.

[@agfamatic91]

i live in a house built in 1972 and there are asbestos popcorn ceilings in some rooms so if we sell the house in the future it might be a good idea to inform the new owners not to disturb the popcorn ceilings if they want to renovate.

[@jenko701]

Good advice.

[@Cadwaladr]

My grandma was a scientist and a big collector of rocks and minerals, and one thing she had on the shelf in the hallway was a big ol' chunk of natural asbestos. I always thought it was really cool. After she died, we found she also had a big like 1 litre glass bottle full of mercury. That was pretty awesome too. I was sad that my dad took it to the toxic waste disposal place.

[@JonnyDWise]

Your grandma seems kickass.

[@Saurischian]

You're videos are incredible. Thanks for all of what you do!

[@calumthomson2108]

My school found out that the tripod stands used in our labs have that asbestos in them like the exact ones you mentioned. This was after everyone had scraped away at it... that explained the dust in the air afterwards. The whole school had to be tested for asbestos poisoning. To my knowledge, no one had it. The one thing they did say was we were more likely to be killed by the gas leak in one of the labs. We still use these tripod stands, just with the windows open now and no one picks at them now.

[@centralintelligenceagency9003]

Asbestos poisoning doesn't exist, asbestos is chemically inert. The screwed up part is that it takes decades for damage to appear. My dad used to work with asbestos for a few years, and now, in his 70s, year after year his lungs work less, he has less stamina, he coughs up more mucus, etc... And he's been lucky enough not to develop mesothelioma so far, but it's horrifying to watch him decline.

[@Apophis051]

Idea for video... Franting About Asbestos, but each time Fran says asbestos it gets 10% faster. :D

[@torstenb5248]

Frantastic!

[@69waveydavey]

I knew an old fella worked in the shipyards in the NE of UK before WW2, they used to lag the boilers with it. He said it hung in the air like snow and got into everything, he lived into his 70's.

[@Flymochairman1]

Asbestos Pre-Fabs left holes in city landscapes when they came down as most were buried on site and covered over. There's one I know no-one will touch and it was lived in til the early 1990s. I have asbestos flashing between the roof and the outside walls of my 1970s timber-framed house even now; costs too much to remove it. I remember my Grannies both had asbestos mats for the electric cooker hobs so anything simmering didn't get too hot....it's quite a list.

[@raymondtroyanovich7108]

I worked in plumbing and hvac for over 40 years, and I try not to worry about all the asbestos exposure I've had, not to mention lead, PVC cement, etc. I still try to limit my exposure now, but I know of a lot of fellow workman in the trade that died of various types of cancer. I'm retired but careful!

[@TheEPROM9]

My school had those bunson mats. We use to use them all the time in science. This was in the 2000s. Have no fought they are still using them as most of the kit used in science was decades old. 80s - Shame there were no 80s computers left. I scoured that whole place looking for them.

[@VR360TV]

In the house were I grew up in we had an asbestos hot water tank, that would basically fill up our bath. How bad is that lol

[@seephor]

I'm assuming the asbestos was used as insulation? Or was the actual tank made of it? Since it's dangerous if it is breathed in, I'm not sure how dangerous it is, if at all, if you ingest it.

[@markhodgson3045]

Interesting how times change hope the move isnt getting you down to much xx

[@frankie9259]

Like the Godfather told Santino "don't tell anyone outside the family what you are thinking" BUT I had to tell you I absolutely adore your show !! Thanks Fran

[@AsbestosMuffins]

I think there's a distinction between things made of asbestos and things that can contain traces of it. the talc case boiled down to people using absurd amounts of it and talc itself containing traces of asbestos

[@MrChief101]

I lived in Midtown Manhattan in the late 60s-70s and walked home from a bus stop that had me walking between three giant "new" office buildings being built at the same time. Exxon, McGraw-Hill and The Miller Bldg (now things are fuzzy-- all three had a near-matching strong linear facade -- and now Avenue of the Americas seems pointlessly over-insisted on...). I believe, this was just at the time when asbestos was sprayed on all the ope steelwork! I used to trudge on the street, between the hole-in-the-ground walls of plywood and the completely open diesel air compressors, lined up for most of the site. There was no escaping it either.

[@goodcitizen]

I purchased a roll of asbestos 50 years ago from our local hardware and still have most of the roll to this day. I was a 10 year old kid and used it on my mini bike exhaust to keep my leg from getting burned.

[@terrycote8879]

Great video Fran. I really had no idea how ubiquitous the use of asbestos was. A real eye-opener. Keep up the good work.

[@AJB2K3]

it's been 10 years since I had seen my first and last Asbestos Fire Blanket!

[@henderson2394]

When our labs were being re done a few years ago the work had to stop every 1-2 weeks because they would find extra asbestos that wasn't on the plans. Apparently it was crammed in as many places as possible, often for no discernable reason.

[@Metal-Possum]

Asbestos is fine if you don't disturb it. Bakelite is manufactured from asbestos and formaldehyde, but it's only a threat when you grind it up or break it into pieces. I think the problem with asbestos is that the asbestos companies knew the problem with it, but did nothing about it for years.

[@GeorgeWMays]

I grew up in a house with asbestos shingles on the house (that are still there today, only painted over). Add to that the asbestos insulation on the pipes of the heating system. Old houses - asbestos is largely unavoidable. Like you say Fran, be cautious, excercise care, take precautions.

[@srduke]

I can still remember the furore regarding blue asbestos.

[@goodun6081]

I do remember crawling around in an attic or two that were insulated with asbestos-containing vermiculite. I had to fish some cat 5 data cabling through a wall in an older office building and when I cut a hole for the conduit box about 5 gallons of vermiculite spilled out of the wall! I had no idea then about the asbestos content...

[@edwizard62]

Hey, it's Fran..again...in my shop. Sure miss that introduction.

[@phildem414]

Pretty scary! Thanks for the warning!👨‍🏭

[@goodun6081]

Having spent lots of time crawling around in attics running wires, I shudder to think how much fiberglass I have inhaled. And the heating/cooling ductwork in my 1988 house is fibreglass ---- not merely metal ducts wrapped with fiberglass insulation, the actual ducts are made from sheets of compressed, bonded fibreglass. I wonder how much of that glass fiber was carried off and spread around the house by the airflow....although at this point I would expect that all the loose fibers had been blown away years ago. I do have additional filtration at all the air inlets and outlets.....and I change the filters frequently.

[@fazergazer]

Good to see Fran is making sure we don’t get “lead” astray! Or is that a lead ashtray to go with your asbestos filtered ciggy? Ha. Great vid as always.

[@terrymatvichuk1421]

Good to know,thanksq

[@rpsproject5349]

Reminds me of the lead based white paint they used to use on children's toys.

[@jeffhalebopp]

Thanks for the informative bad news Fran! :) I wish that I knew this 50 years ago! Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it would have made a difference since it sounds unavoidable.

[@JohnW852]

Yep Fran... My boyhood home in Bloomington, Illinois USA was sided with those thin, rectangular, slate like, wood-grained asbestos slabs from top to bottom, as pictured in the video! o_0.

[@vaalrus]

In the late 90s I rented office space in a downtown highrise that was undergoing asbestos abatement. The building was only 20 years old, but was having the facade replaced with new glass and fancy stone, and the asbestos in the interstitial space between floors. My suite was the last one to be done on my floor. When they were done, it was eerie walking the rest of the floor. It was stripped absolutely bare… all the wiring, telcoms, hvac ducting had been removed, and the concrete and steel remaining had been scrubbed to within an inch of it’s life. I had publishing deadlines I couldn’t push back, and had to work through the weekend they were scheduled to do the elevator lobby area. They built a sealed tunnel from my door to the one elevator they left operation on that floor. Airlocked and everything. I had been naughty and had popped up into the ceilding to run some networking cable, and the space was literally filled with loose blown cellusose+asbestos, and the ceiling and steel floor trusses were coating a sprayed on adhesive fibre coating for fire isolation. No wonder they were going to great lengths to remove it.