Fishing Gear and Health Risks

[alantani]

regarding asbestos, your risk from drag washers is virtually zero.  to put it in relative terms, it's about the same as walking in to a room with a bunch of guys that are smoking.  it's never zero, but pretty close.

it's a question that we heard commonly when i worked at poison control.  the typical mesothelioma lung cancer risk was the result of exposure to a fairly large amount of raw asbestos.  the fibers that do the most damage are between 0.1 to 10 millimicrons.  these particles are invisible to the naked eye.  the big risk was for those working in asbestos mines, shipyards, and old buildings were there was asbestos insulation.  firefighters were at particular risk when they were fighting fires in these old buildings and the walls came crashing down, releasing raw asbestos. 

it's sad.  you think something will help, only to find out that it causes more harm than good.   

[johndtuttle]

If you're not pregnant, don't worry about it.

If you are, you have no business being around any of our favorite flavors of petrochemical.