Ah good, good cancerous days
On a school trip we went to some outdoor pursuits place (Boreatton Park or summat) and spent a week there. Never mind that my mum came along as she was a teacher at my school, I managed to avoid her mostly. However, what we really came for was the fire.

Each little camp had a proper stone ring fire, and we were expected to find wood and keep the fire going. This was quite cool really and we were diligent for at least the first day. After that it got a bit boring really so we decided one night to raid some of the supplies in the supply sheds. One night, round the back of some building we found an old shed, and we forced the door open. Inside - bingo - hundreds of sheets of chipboard. We spent and hour moving tons of the stuff to round the back of our campsite. Out of sight of everyone we spent an hour or two jumping up and down on the boards to break them up into smaller pieces. It must have been pretty old because it was very dusty.

We built a huge fire, but the stuff wouldnt burn. We threw on lighterfluid, more wood, firelighters, athsma inhalers, deodorant and got a decent fire going but this stuff wouldnt burn very well and the dust was pissing us off.

We tried for hours and gave up in the wee small hours.

We were woken loudly by Mr Jones the PE teacher demanding just what the fuck had happened last night. Some other other teachers came over and they all stood round the carnage of our fireplace, hands covering their mouths in shock. We were surprised as to how much trouble we appeared to be in.

We were taken to the teachers buildings and sat down. There we were given a nice lecture all about asbestos. It didnt click for a while exactly why they were telling us this stuff.

So I guess we're fucked?
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 9:29, 3 replies)

Depends what colour it was
I got told a story recently about how you remember the names of the different types by a bloke I work with.

'The blue (worst one) is called Crocidolite, which looks a bit like "crocodile". Crocodiles are bad.

The brown one is "Amosite", which makes you think "Amazon". when you think amazon you think Brown.... people'


ahh casual racism :)
(Gazebo will eat you on, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 10:20, closed)

it wasnt brown
If I remember, it was grey. Greyey blue really. Thats not good is it.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 14:30, closed)

An informed opinion....
It sounds like you were smashing up AIB (Asbestos Insulation Boards). Not the best material for starting a bonfire...

You can skip this bit and go to the final line if you like....

These probably contain Amosite and perhaps Chrysotile. The asbestos content would be up to 25% of the board - maximum.

Although it may have been blue/grey it is very unlikely they contained any Crocidolite (which can be 'blue' in colour).

The control limit is about 0.2 fibres/ml over four hours. Breaking and ripping out boards is about 5 - 20 fibres/ml an hour I think.

You were outside, and you only did it the once so I wouldn't worry too much. I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Asbestosis seems to rely on cumulative exposure. It is still legal to use/mine asbestos in some countries. So make of that what you will.

In short - don't worry.
(RustyJames, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 17:28, closed)