Featured My father has been poisoning the family

Yesterday I went to my father's to get my great grandmother's dining table, a spider leg drexel.

While we were dismantling it he was telling me how he thought she bought it a year before his father (her son) returned from the Korean War, so in the early 1950s.

My father has had it for 10-15 years and has always kept the table top pad on it, which I'm guessing my great grandmother and my grandfather did as well because the top looks brand new (the poor legs and chairs shows a lot of love and use through wear and tear).

When I start folding up the pad I saw a lovely green and gold metallic sticker, leaned down to read it...


I looked up at my father and said, "Daddy! Have you been trying to poison us?!" motioning towards the sticker..
We both break out into laughter, making jokes about how he's been slowly poisoning the family over Christmas dinners all these years...

...but seriously, jokes aside, is thing safe to continue using?

 

I wouldnt ! That being said,I think as long as there werent tears or rips its probably okay.

 

What @johnnycb09 said here is also my understanding. If it's inert and intact, it's ok. Breathing in airborne particles are the danger.

 

OP, the tablecloth should be fine stored or displayed somewhere. I just wouldn't be moving it around, shaking it, etc. lol (doing anything that will kick up particles)

Aside from the dust issue, an asbestos tablecloth is actually a great idea. You can probably put a piping hot pan on it without damaging the table underneath.

 

That's not a table cloth. it's a table pad to protect the wood of the table from the heat of serving dishes etc. Absolutely safe.

 

Good to know!

 

Rock solid safe as long as you don't cut into them. As long the asbestos is sealed up it's not going anywhere. Just don't slice into the pads and inhale.

 

Although it might be safe, I sure wouldn't have it. But I had a close family member die from mesothelioma, so ...

 

It's wild that asbestos used to be almost everywhere. Ceilings, mastic, insulation, brake linings, etc. Apparently, it was even used in the joints for horizontal iron drainpipe runs.

Asbestos potholders?!
(4419) Pinterest

Even some hairdryers contained asbestos. Consumer Products That Contained Asbestos

 

why , wild ?




I had insulated pipes like this in the basement of my 1st home.

the heat resistant fibres were an excellent product ...if left alone to do it's work.

Only once it was publicly found out to be a health hazard .....was it vilified .

.




now the town has changed it's name...

 

It's also white asbestos, not blue. Safe.

 

Asbestos of no danger if left undisturbed/"sealed". My aunt had those table pads...she always said..don;t trim them...leave alone...

 

why take any risk... it's true that only when asbestos becomes friable and airborne it becomes problematic. Even nonfriable asbestos can become airborne when disturbed, which is why there are government and industry standards for removal and disposal of asbestos. Common uses of so-called stable asbestos were VAT (vinyl asbestos tile) and various insulations; these must be properly handled during demo and disposal by those properly licensed. The vast majority of asbestos related disease is relegated to individuals working in the industry with extended exposure.

Never really heard of white vs blue asbestos but do see that some do use those classifications. But also see that with the so-called 'white' asbestos being the most wildly used, it accounts for the majority of medical cases.

These types of table pads 'may' only pose a very minimal exposure danger; you wouldn't know for another 20-30 years. Since these materials tend to dry out and disintegrate over time you might consider proper disposal and replacement with cork or felt pads.

 

Asbestos insulation materials make sense to me. Wild because you'd think there would have been an alternative to asbestos in a hairdryer for example. We've known for over a century that dust and particles generally aren't great for lungs...

I'm not even debating whether asbestos is particularly dangerous. Who would design a hairdryer that's filled with tiny friable fibers?

P.S. Have you ever worked with fiberglass without a mask?

 

A couple of years before DH retired from teaching, a notice came around about the asbestos tiles in the ceiling .............

 

Thanks everyone!
I haven't decided if I'm going to use this table yet, I love the one I currently have, so might keep this one in storage while I slowly redo the legs and chairs.
The pad will remain undisturbed and still do its job of protecting the top, I haven't decided if we do use the table if I'll continue using the pads though.

 

have u ever used a Bong... with a filter ?

just sayin......

 

Never used one at all. I'm allergic to tobacco smoke and I don't mess with the other stuff.

 

If you do decide to dispose of them please make sure they are properly disposed of someplace. Once a year our county holds a huge recycling event where they will accept things that are difficult to get rid of such as paint, mattresses, electronics & all manner of hazardous waste such as insecticides or cleaning products.

Hopefully, wherever you live they have something similar.

 

I don't know if there are statistics on that, but the only known exposure my family member had was 4 years as an officer in the Navy, 1 year of that in a submarine (which was the most likely source). He had no intense industry or career long exposure. It's dangerous stuff.