Interesting subjects being discussed on this thread,...

Interesting subjects being discussed on this thread, Mesothelioma etc, costs of cancer treatments etc. Some good reading on what , for some, is a lazy New Years holiday. A bit of trivia follows:

I have private health cover at about $550 per month or $6600 per year. Surgery and continuing treatment for my cancer is in the order of several hundred thousand dollars after 4.5 years. Sounds a lot and it is. I have been paying into private health for about 65 years now. Self funding my own "insurance" may have been an option, but it could far too easily have been spent on other non medical requirements.

Mesothelioma. The last period of my working life involved occupational health and safety. When Asbestos became a real issue with Meso cases increasing , the National OH&S Commission established a working party to recommend workplace exposure standards for the 3 different types of asbestos. I was the chair of the working party and exposure standards were set. This was at least 25 years ago and I believe no change has been made to the limits.......... but I could be wrong ( age problems and all that stuff!).
I became pretty involved in all aspects of asbestos regulations and codes of practise for workplaces and remember the great work carried out by the, then, Asbestos Diseases Society. The many people who have died, either from workplace exposure, DIY, or living at places like Wittenoom Gorge in WA , have suffered terribly.
Many people living in Metropoliton Perth, WA, are walking around with millions of asbestos fibres in their lungs because of the widespread use of asbestos cement fences, and also roofs, in the 1960's and 70's. If not sealed or painted the fibres are slowly released by sun and rain, especially flat surfaces like fence capping and roofs. If left alone and sealed, or simply painted, fences roofs and eaves on houses should not be cause for great alarm. Carrying out work on AC material must, of course, be done extremely carefully. I suggest keeping it wet all the time.
But then there is the very dangerous raw asbestos which paved the streets of Wittenoom and lined boilers etc. I have in my possession an advertisement for bed mattresses filled with Crocidilite (blue asbestos, the most dangerous type) which promotes the warmth and insulating properties of Asbestos. It still staggers me that this occurred. The advert was pitched at campers and outback workers.

So endeth the lesson!! I imagine a lot of people on this thread are aware of all this info and more......... and probably more up to date.

cheers...........Learner