17:45 - 19:30, No.2 Conference Room
Workshop B
Asbestos and Construction
Chairs: Naoki Toyama and Anders Englund
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Susana Muhlmann
Architect, Asbestos Removal Procedures and Legal Aspects Technical Advisor, Government of Buenos Aires, Argentina
ABSTRACT
Since the Hellenic times asbestos has been considered a magical material. It is a mineral easy to find and take off the earth, perfect for thermal and acoustic insulation, fire proof and durable beyond a full term human life. There is not another material to fulfil all asbestos properties simultaneously; therefore, it is reasonable that asbestos had been included for centuries in so many constructions the human beings inhabited.However, as time goes by, science discoveries have also found out that for people's health, asbestos is as magical as dangerous.That is why we all, doctors, lawyers, constructors, experts, architects, government representatives and asbestos victims, among others, attend to congress after congress in order to find solutions for this major issue.Nevertheless, in the meantime, buildings have installed asbestos which lots of people are permanently in contact with, with not a clue about that. Having information is the first main step to get and provide proper protection against visible, invisible or hidden environmental enemies. Step by step, day after day working together, we shall be closer and closer to the natural estate of health we all deserve. It is the aim of this workshop to provide a brief guide about the installed asbestos around us, how it looks, where it can be found and what to do then. Following the sketch of a hypothetical building we shall go through an imaginary survey toward potential asbestos spots, learning how to recognize textures, colours and shapes it can take on different applications and uses.