TheTeeboxCo._Levi B.
Newbie
Silica dust and carbon black are nothing to screw around with. I don't care if you're not grinding it down...sitting in the sun drying out more and more all day, that stuff gets on your shoes, your bag, your pants...
Breathing dust that contains respirable crystalline silica can lead to silicosis, a deadly lung disease. No
effective treatment exists for silicosis. Exposure to crystalline silica has also been linked to lung cancer, kidney disease, reduced lung function, and other disorder. (NIOSH 2002)
HardiePanel is 30-45% crystalline silica... I'd rather not take my chances. Why risk it at all? Why use something unsafe for an unintended purpose, under conditions for which the material is not designed?
I can totally appreciate the time, ingenuity, and effort that goes into testing. I also think that this is a prototype. If viewed as a prototype/test then this provides some valuable information. 1)Never sacrifice safety. 2)Use materials in their intended manner. 3)Maybe there is another way to provide the feel of a concrete wear surface without using fiber cement boards.
We tested some surface materials that are intended to mimic the feel of concrete but they were never strong enough or cheap enough to be a viable solution. i.e. This surface material is what they use on navy aircraft carriers.
Breathing dust that contains respirable crystalline silica can lead to silicosis, a deadly lung disease. No
effective treatment exists for silicosis. Exposure to crystalline silica has also been linked to lung cancer, kidney disease, reduced lung function, and other disorder. (NIOSH 2002)
HardiePanel is 30-45% crystalline silica... I'd rather not take my chances. Why risk it at all? Why use something unsafe for an unintended purpose, under conditions for which the material is not designed?
I can totally appreciate the time, ingenuity, and effort that goes into testing. I also think that this is a prototype. If viewed as a prototype/test then this provides some valuable information. 1)Never sacrifice safety. 2)Use materials in their intended manner. 3)Maybe there is another way to provide the feel of a concrete wear surface without using fiber cement boards.
We tested some surface materials that are intended to mimic the feel of concrete but they were never strong enough or cheap enough to be a viable solution. i.e. This surface material is what they use on navy aircraft carriers.