Behind the function of asbestos cheap and practical, there is a risk of dangerous diseases. This disease will attack in the long term, when the accumulation of asbestos in the body has become toxic. The use of asbestos for the roof of the house is still conducted by the public.
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| Asbestosis Slowly Can Kill You |
When seeing a city from above, it will be obvious how much asbestos is still used in part of society as a roofing material.
Asbestos is usually used by low-income people. This move is an effort to save costs because asbestos is cheaper than tile.
Asbestos also has the advantage, lighter and can be used for roofs with low slope. However, behind the benefits, asbestos is harmful to human health.
Has long been known that asbestos can cause several diseases. There are at least three diseases caused by asbestos dust.
First, mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the sheath malignant lung, stomach sheath, or sheath of the heart. Second, lung cancer. Third, the disease asbestosis. These three diseases are often fatal and lead to death.
Warnings about the dangers of asbestos was raised again recently by the Head of the Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), West Java, Setiawan Wangsa Atmaja. He warned of the dangers of asbestos in the 10 to 20 years, when the accumulation of this substance in the body turns into toksit or toxins.
At the event, entitled "Dissemination of Asbestos Waste Management", he explained, referring to the experience of the use of asbestos in developed countries in Europe and Japan, found that a number of people there impaired as a result of asbestos disease.
The occurrence of the disease, according to Soemirat July, lecturer at the National Institute of Technology Environmental Engineering (ITENAS) Bandung, when it gets into the lungs, asbestos particles will stick or puncture the lung cells because the body can not remove and destroy this patikel.
The accumulation of particles after so many years can lead to lung cells die thereby disrupting the lungs.
In developed countries such as France, Japan, and Australia, asbestos has been declared as controlled substances to be used, both for roofing, brake, plasterboard, and other refractory devices.
"But in Indonesia, asbestos is still widely used and traded," he said. Inhalation easily Benny Shah, lecturer of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung Semarang, explained Asbestos is a mineral that form fibers separate easily.
The size of the asbestos fibers are very small and subtle so easy to fly in the air. "When inhaled, asbestos will soon go into the respiratory cavity, then cause various organ damage," he said.
The release of these fibers occurs when the displacement of the temperature from hot to cold or vice versa, cold to hot.
This condition will affect more severely the use of asbestos as a roof that was not given ceiling basically. Fractional asbestos fibers will be easily inhaled in large quantities because there are no obstructions.
Beny said blend of asbestos and patchwork are widely used in Indonesia is getting easier for the release of asbestos elements.
As a result, when exposed to heat, dust more easily inhaled asbestos humans around. Asbestos products that exist today holds 94 percent of the materials kritatil (chrysotile) or magnesium silicate hydroxide with a mixture of compounds in the form of Mg6 (OH) 6 (Si4O11) H2O.
This material is obtained by mining. In nature to the body, this substance is carcinogenic or a precursor to cancer. Cancer of this material will attack the lung cavity, chest, and abdomen.
In the case in Japan, exposure to asbestos particles that lasts longer had cause death. In 1995, 500 people died, and in 2003 increased to 878 cases.
Based on the investigation, asbestos user will generally experience a disease caused by asbestos contamination.
Asbestos that has heat resistant properties and acid resistance is often used for roofs and some other household purposes. In Japan, the use of asbestos has been banned since 2005.
Japan then intensively conducted research to replace asbestos materials. Benny said referring to the experience of European countries and Japan, the process of asbestos poisoning occurs indirectly.
This process takes several years, waiting for the accumulation kristatil, which is a kind of volcanic ash material quartz sand were small and not visible.
More Dangerous A study conducted by Irving Selikoff of Texas, US, related to the dangers of asbestos in the lungs results in the fact that asbestos is more dangerous than cigarettes.
The reason, of his research, he found 869 patients with asbestosis, lung cancer, colon and stomach cancer, 300 of whom claimed to have worked in the asbestos factory.
Meanwhile, Cleopas Martin Rumende of Pulmonology Division of Medicine Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia said that based on his experience, the number of patients with lung disorders can be said is still minimal or no symptoms of diseases caused by the use of the asbestos roof.
"It's rare," he said. Martin said that to determine how much asbestos endanger public health, there should be more intense study.
However, he continued, the risk of disease will be easier for those who work in asbestos factory. As for the community of users of asbestos, the case is still rare.
The easiest step to prevent the workers from the dangers of diseases caused by asbestos, according to Martin, is to stay away from this material.
"At least the avoidance of exposure to asbestos dust," he said. The reason, they are affected by lung disease usually have a genetic history.
Family genetic history of asthma or allergic asthma sufferers will usually cause a person prone to lung disease. "Those who have a greater risk factor should avoid from exposure to asbestos particles," he concluded.