A propane facility exploded in my neighborhood, scattering debris up to a 2km radius on early Sunday morning. If you have not seen the footage, it's plastered all over Youtube by now Im sure, it can give you an idea of exactly how huge this explosion was and the damage it caused, thankfully it was early in the morning and could have had a much worse outcome. They said they discovered Asbestos was used in that facility. We're not getting any definite answers from our Mayor regarding whether the air in the neighborhood is safe to breath or not. Does anyone know how dangerous this could be if its airborne in a community? We live in North York which is part of Toronto Ontario. We've been going mad watching the news for information and I'm just about ready to pack up my family and get the heck out of here. Anyway was hoping perhaps someone may be educated on this subject, thank you all in advance for any input.
There are 2 primary types of asbestos in Airborne Asbestos. Serpentine is more flexible, rounded, and less likely to cause mesothelioma due to its curly shape, with amphibole asbestos being more dangerous. Amphibole fibers are sharp and stick into the mesothelioma lining, causing the most internal irritation.
There are many different types of asbestos and asbestos products that carry different health risks. Fortunately, only asbestos derived from vermiculite in North America (and a couple of other minerals in other parts of the world) have a very high health risk. Most forms of asbestos have moderate or low health risks, which requires prolonged exposure to cause problems. The risk of exposure has two phases: the initial explosion which put asbestos fibers into the air, and lingering exposure from asbestos fibers that settle and later get blown back into the air. Toronto has enough humidity and precipitation that fibers are not likely to re-enter the air. If you were not directly exposed to dust from the explosion, you probably will have no exposure to asbestos. All asbestos should have settled within a few hours after the fire was put out. If you were exposed to dust from the explosion, chances are that the asbestos was not the really nasty type, and that you might not have breathed enough dust to be a health risk (unless you are an emergency worker that was right in the middle of the dust).
