Our wonderful council, ever penny wise and pound foolish, decided to dress the local roads with tar* and chippings in the spring, which is now melting and causing all kinds of trouble. Their immediate remedy is to spread granite dust everywhere, creating great clouds of the stuff when driven through, which must be delightful for those who park along those roads.
I fancy it's very abrasive, but it would be interesting to know the potential damage to vehicles. The immediate problem is scratching of windscreens the moment you use your wipers to clear the stuff, and I wonder about brakes and bearings and motorbike chains. My chain's on the way out anyway, but I'm reluctant to change it just yet!
*a particularly low melting-point version, possibly recycled treacle toffee.
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Forget the danger to vehicles, your lungs are the issue.
see: wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_dangerous_to_inhale_granite_dust
I would report them to the HSA : yes I AM serious.. Silica dust is very dangerous...
Whomever approved that remedy is a Class 1 muppet.
Last edited by: madf on Wed 25 Jul 12 at 12:51
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They have been trying to persuade motorists here to stop using studded tyres in the winter due to the granite dust generated on dry roads. However, try as hard as the government have to come up with some real proof that the dust is a danger to health, they haven't been able to.
Of course, the real reason they want them banned is the damage caused to roads, and the resulting repair costs. And this despite real hard evidence that non-studded tyres are much better in certain winter road conditions than stud less.
So on the one hand they're telling us how bad the dust is, whilst at the same time conveniently 'forgetting' a study by one of their own departments (amongst others) that stud less tyres do cost real , measurable lives.
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We live in a granite cottage with exposed granite inglenooks x 2, and we're (cough, splutter) still alive.
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Until the radon gets you.
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Dog got blue blood he can take it.What is this granite dust anyway is it not illegal to dump this on a road?
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Granite dust is quite innocuous really, apart from containing Polonium, Lead, Plutonium, Uranium, Thalium, arsenic, Mercury, Tungsten, Cadium and Vanadium.
wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Granite_toxic
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 26 Jul 12 at 00:55
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>> your lungs are the issue.
My very thought madf. Granite areas exude radon and granite is therefore a bit carcinogenic. An artist friend who hardly smoked at all died of lung cancer some years ago now at a young age. It occurred to me that he had lived in several granite areas and that might be part of the reason.
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>>An artist friend who hardly smoked at all
And that might be the other part ;-)
Some lung cancers aren't related to fags though.
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I have a background radiation detector. When used in our house, there are places where the sandstone grit has large inclusions which appear to be much more radioactive.
But they do not appear to glow at night...
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But you did not mention the kids with 3 arms and webbed feet? :)
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>>We live in a granite cottage with exposed granite inglenooks x 2, and we're (cough, splutter) still alive.<<
So do we. When we bought the place ten years ago no-one - estate agents, notaires, etc, etc - would admit ever having heard the word 'radon'. Now it's one of the tests carried out when a property is sold.
I'm a fatalist...
Incidentally, all the roads around here are surfaced with granite chips and the kerbstones are also sharp-edged granite - make a mistake and it's 'goodbye tyre'.
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Thu 26 Jul 12 at 09:29
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Even my private water supply glows in the dark - comes in handy if I fancy a drink of water in the early hours.
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Private water supply? You are posh Dog, be carefull in the early hrs stumbling along looking for water>;)
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>>Private water supply? You are posh Dog<<
Blue blood, Dutchie, remember ;)
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>> >>Private water supply? You are posh Dog<<
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>> Blue blood, Dutchie, remember ;)
Well now we know what's causing it :)
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My name is actually Ray-dio-active :}
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>> Even my private water supply glows in the dark - comes in handy if I
>> fancy a drink of water in the early hours.
>>
And your territory will be marked by the glowing lampposts.
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No lampposts where I live Clifford :)
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>> But you did not mention the kids with 3 arms and webbed feet? :)
>>
They live in the pond...
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>> >> But you did not mention the kids with 3 arms and webbed feet? :)
Norfolk folks then, Madf ?
Ted
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>> I'll ignore that. ;-)
>>
The fact that you felt the desire to say that means that it registered and you're not ignoring it!
:-)
Last edited by: L'escargot on Thu 26 Jul 12 at 13:57
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True, but 3 arms and webbed feet has its compensations - it does make me a very fast swimmer!
Actually I'm not from Norfolk at all - originally from East London. Just been living here the past 40 or so years. Not quite sure why Norfolk is singled out as the butt of so many jokes. It really is a pleasant and civilised place to live.
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East London near the docks Nowich? First time the old man took me ashore was as a six year old 57 years ago now.He told me sat in a pub having a talk to some of the heavies in East London.>;)
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"East London near the docks Nowich?"
East Ham and then we went up market and move to Ilford.
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>> >> >> But you did not mention the kids with 3 arms and webbed feet?
>> :)
>>
>>
>> Norfolk folks then, Madf ?
>>
>> Ted
>>
How did you guess?
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Just in case you thought I was making it up...
flic.kr/s/aHsjAWuiW3
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Granite dust - madf
