119
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Hundreds of thousands of miles of pipes made from asbestos cement deliver drinking water to people around the world, but are reaching the end of their lifespan and starting to degrade. Scientists are now debating whether this could pose a risk to human health.

"The water pipe burst on the top of the hill and flooded into the gas network," remembers Alan Walker, owner of the Village Stores in Stannington, a suburb of Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District in England. "By the morning, people were turning on their gas hobs and water was coming out. It was one of the worst winters we had. We were one of the last houses to be reconnected, 13 days later."

He is recalling an incident from December 2022. The burst water main affected more than 3,000 homes, and around 10,000 people in Stannington. More than a year on, it should be just a bad memory of a cold and unpleasant winter. But the water burst highlighted another nagging concern.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Angry_Badger@lemmynsfw.com 24 points 9 months ago

This seems like a really odd article, they gloss over the fact that asbestos causes lung problems as it stays in the lung and basically cuts it to pieces. I don't believe it is the chemical composition of asbestos that causes the issues (not 100% on that) but the damage it does.

It's a bit like saying knife crime causes lots of injuries and deaths and we've now realised people have knives at home so maybe they'll start suffering similar issues. I know that's an over simplification and not a perfect comparison, but you get the point.

The article also mentions multiple times that there is no clear evidence of issues caused via ingestion. I agree though that more research should be done but articles like this will unnecessarily worry people that aren't aware there are lots of AC pipes and how asbestos causes illnesses.

Most water pipes these days are plastic, are micro plastics likely to be better or worse in the long run?

Whilst I might sound like someone that works for big asbestos I'm not! I do work in the water industry though so possibly this influences my opinion slightly as I was already aware of the amount of AC pipes.

[-] Coreidan@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

as it stays in the lung and basically cuts it to pieces.

How can you say this and not come to the conclusion that swallowing these particles is some how not bad?

Just think about it for a moment.

[-] Sebbe@lemmy.sebbem.se 3 points 9 months ago

Probably by knowing that after lots of studies there are no signs that it's bad. And that if drinking water gets in your lungs, you have more urgent problems than asbestos.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
119 points (99.2% liked)

World News

39005 readers
930 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS