Posted By GJB
Can we have more games like this?

Is SuDoku coming next week?!

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney
Incorrect handling of asbestos can cause asbestosis, among other things.

Chazza

Posted By Raymond Rapp
Who makes the rules...

Posted By Merv Newman
No you don't. Your boss does. or your wife.

Merv

Posted By Pete48
Adrian, good game.

"Asbestos causes asbestosis". OR “lack of proper knowledge and control of asbestos causes asbestosis”.
I propose that acceptance and understanding of the second does not make the first either unacceptable or incorrect.

"Asbestos causes asbestosis".
As a simple statement this can be considered true. In the genre of the newspaper headline, it makes the point simply. The HSE state that asbestos is “The greatest single cause of work related deaths in the UK” as the headline to their webpage. Asbestosis is one of the four main asbestos related diseases noted by the HSE (and others). Therefore, a link between asbestos and asbestosis is made and accepted by both technical and medical references. NO asbestos , no asbestosis, therefore it must be true.
The problem with such a simple headline statement is, of course, that it does not adequately identify why asbestos causes asbestosis, how it can occur and how likely it is to occur. It is no more helpful a statement than saying Water can be harmful to health, in fact it can be deadly! Therefore, those with detailed technical or medical knowledge of the area may well challenge it. For this reason we need to explore it in more detail.
I take it that we all understand the mechanisms for asbestos related disease and these do not need repeating here.

“lack of proper knowledge and control of asbestos causes asbestosis”.
Can we prevent inhalation of asbestos fibres? We need to consider that asbestos exists and has done so in the built environment for over a hundred years and therefore there has always been and still remains the risk of inadvertent exposure. The likelihood of disease occurring from such exposures may be small but it is not definitely not nil.
Then there is the historical record of direct work with asbestos and resulting disease.
Finally we have current works on existing buildings and properties that must include potential exposure to asbestos. the only protection we have here is a reliance on workplace controls. I ask acceptance of the known failure rates for procedures and practices in the workplace.

Thus, it is not possible to support a statement that inhalation has/will never occur; the scientific evidence of links between inhalation of asbestos fibres and this disease are accepted and that therefore, it is true to say that asbestos does cause asbestosis. QED?

Posted By Adrian Watson
Tony, Pete,

How do you account for the fact that many people who experience the same levels of exposure don't get asbestosis?

Regards Adrian

Posted By Richie
Adrian,

Just beacuse you have two brains and are bored, should not mean you should set posers such as this!

However, I think for the sake of argument that there is a cause and effect relationship between asbestos and the symptoms which, when manifest, are diagnosed as asbestosis.

Asbestos-related stomach illnesses aside, it is my understanding that asbestos fibres, which classically become impaled within the bronchial alveoli on inhalation, irritate the lining of the lung. It is the bodies defence mechanisms attempting to rid itself of the contaminant which sometimes results in the symptoms known as asbestosis. As no two people are alike I believe this explains the difference in reaction to asbestos exposure from person to person.

Therefore: The human body causes asbestoses.

No, that can't be right... can it?

Richie.

Posted By jeffrey david smith
Have you considered the different types of Asbestos, and the effects they all have? Latest research (about 10 yrs old) mentions two out of three being bad and the other just naughty. Can't remember which ones off the top of my head though...

Posted By Pete48
I concur with the comments re individual responses to exposure to asbestos. Similar examples may be found with smoking and cancer. The difficulty comes in being able to predict who will and who will not. Drawing that line is part of the duty of those who set the limits of exposure, is it not?
As to the discussion point, I still stick to my proposal that without asbestos there would be no asbestosis. You cannot separate the presence of asbestos from the related diseases. So whilst it may be "sloppy" technically, it is not untrue.
Wonderful resource the English language isn't it?
OK Adrian where's the next question or can game players think them up as well??

Posted By jackw.
Somebody wake me up from this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!