Just reading the metro in work….

Apparently the respiratory toxicology dept at Edinburgh University have shown that fibres used in the manufacture of certain carbon “nanotubes” could cause mesothelioma! (The cancer linked to asbestos).

I think the article suggests that it is only at production stage where the risks are not in the actual bike frame/whatever. But this means that there are certain health/ethical implications if you buy mass produced carbon goods. (Didn’t say about risks if you make your own…).

But this means that there are certain health/ethical implications if you buy mass produced anything

FTFY

Erm no – if the production of carbon bikes conforms to H&S standards then were are the ethical and health issues? Also Asbestos comes in different forms, some more carcinogenic than others and when sealed in do not cause a problem.

Did you also know that silicates found in soil dust can cause pneumonitis (silicosis) so we should also wear dust masks when riding our dusty trails or band workers from exposure?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001191/

I do love an argument between clever types. The insults, when the come, are so much more challenging.

Carbon nanotubes != carbon fibre. Carbon nanotubes are £1000+ per kilo.

I’m more worried about the cf barbs working their way towards my heart if I crash and break a cf component 😯

Righto, I’m going to throw my new carbon frame in the bin as soon as I get it.

It’s the ethical thing to do.

agree with clubber – but carbon looks “well factory” and so I put up with that ever-present threat

If anyone does want to throw there carbon frames away I will gladly take them of your hands!

Me too.. Mmmm cf barbs 🙂

i’m more worried about the carbon barbs from the top tube, working their way into my scrotum 😯

Don’t bin it Trek will recycle any carbon bicycle compenent (not just theirs) for free. You just need to take it to a Trek dealer.

They get recycled as ‘non structural’ things apparently.

if the production of carbon bikes conforms to H&S standards then w(h)ere are the ethical and health issues?

Well, apparently the reasons they are all produced in the Far East is because of the high levels of health and safety compliance in the factories and the overall excellent human rights enjoyed by the citizens of those countries.
“It’s Health and Safety gone mad!” (is what is often said by Hrichuad Littlejahn of the Shanghai Daily Mail – but strangely enough it’s for the opposite reasons that this total cock usually spouts that hackneyed phrase)

apparently the reasons they are all produced in the Far East is because of the high levels of health and safety compliance in the factories and the overall excellent human rights enjoyed by the citizens of those countries.

Well, that and the fact they are prepared to invest in all the tools, research and materials necessary to do the job properly.

I’ve not heard of Taiwan being a particularly ‘bad’ place, tbh?

my carbon road frame has nanotubes squirted in there too for some reason.

i’ll just hold my breath when i’m on it

I think I’ll keep mine and …..Live on the edge….. 😛

Actually I’ve changed my mind, I’m going to throw it at clubber a laugh fiendishly as the carbon barbs race to his heart

DONT BIN THEM!!! Wont somebody think of the health of the people who work in the refuse industry! Imagine their poor tiny lungs inhaling all those nano sized particles?

I haven’t eaten toast since 1996 when they said that gave you cancer

I haven’t eaten toast since 1996 when they said that gave you cancer

don’t rerad this then;

http://thedailymailoncologicalontologyproject.wordpress.com/

Well, apparently the reasons they are all produced in the Far East is because of the high levels of health and safety compliance in the factories and the overall excellent human rights enjoyed by the citizens of those countries

I assume this is sarcastic.

just wanted to point out.

UK 14% of people live below the poverty line.
Taiwan 1% of people live below the poverty line.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html

They get recycled as ‘non structural’ things apparently.

Downcycled

Hmmm. I’m sure Taiwan has some good wages

Thats not the same as good health and safety standards is it

Also is poverty an internal measure. I think its belowhalf median income. So it could be everyone in taiwan earns less, its just the distribution of wages is more fair when judged within the country

Safety coccerns at manafacture are not the same as safety concern for consuners. Apparently metal bikes are made from hot metal that can cause burns serious enough to cause permanent scaring and even death.

(Mr MC posting)

nanotubes not the same as carbon fibre, but they do form naturally when carbon is used so any frame builder can claim to have nanotubes in their CF frame.

I was a research materials scientist in the ’90s when nanotubes were the sexy material. I was studying something completely different, catalysts, which we mounted on carbon mesh grids to put into the microscope. We saw nanotubes in our off-the-peg carbon grids more often than the composites researchers could make them 🙄

Bracken spores have been found to be carcinogenic so best wear an industry grade face mask when you ride in Wales, yorkshire etc.

in a few months we are going to start working on the first carbon nano tube reactors, thses are the first prototypes i have ever heard of, the customer is a world leader and based in the far east,

anything claiming to be of nano tube contrustion ie my easton bars are as the previous poster confirmed just hap hazard as they do occasionally line up during the normal carbon construction, but these are not layed or bonded and have no real structure or benefit.

the first carbon nano tube reactors…the customer is a world leader and based in the far east

Kim Il Sung and the North Korean Nuclear program?

UK 14% of people live below the poverty line.
Taiwan 1% of people live below the poverty line

In the UK, below the poverty line is having the wrong mobile phone.

In Taiwan it’s not eating. Even dog.

Sometimes I do a bad poo at work

I think it’s work related 😉

Grrr people scare mongering! OP go google nanotubes! Normal carbon fibre does not have any nanotubes in it.

I develop composite and nanocomposite technology, first at Uni (phd), then as a research assistant at Uni and now my own company. I am surrounded by bullsh*t about OTT claims of nanotech and also OTT scare mongering.

Of all the particles I use, I am VERY careful with nanotubes in particular. In fact if I can avoid them I will until more studies are done on the safety – mainly their release from failed products. My speciality is on maximising the benefits of nanomaterials and not just sticking them in some resin and slapping a “nano” logo on and hiking up the price and this has benefits in the safety aspect also by modifying the interface. At the moment I won’t release a nanotube material for use by the general public, I will produce stuff for R&D for specific application but until I 100% satisfied I won’t let my products be used outside of strict controls. Asbestos is a terrifying legacy we have been left with and I won’t be a part of repeating that mistake.

But to put things into perspective:

Walking down a busy high street is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Ignoring the possibility of being mugged, run over etc you are breathing in millions of nanopartciles and other nasty substances and organic material coming from vehicle exhausts, drains and other people.

Andtyl

Another thread grings to halt due the two things that don’t work on this forum.

1) Being genuinley knowledgeable on a subject

2) Being moderate and reasonable

Oh, well normal sevice will no doupt resume

yeah – keeping VERY quiet about the heart-barbs thing though, andyl !!

😆

sorry I have been chatting about serious stuff all day…

I pulled a 2 inch long shard of carbon fibre out of the fleshy part of my hand once. I felt a bit sick when I saw how long it was! I stopped it going to my heart though!

You’ve got to watch out for eye shards too. i wear safety glasses when riding my carbon bike 😀

(how is that?)

Combine this thread with yesterdays “carbon fibre isn’t steel, smash it with a hammer” thread and we’re all in BIG trouble.

Andyl

It was a put down for the rest of us not you

John

ampthill I assume andyl was replying humourously to yours and scaredy’s posts, not taking offence!
I seem to remember some cheap cr@ppy bike that made a big play of being titanium, on the grounds its a contaminant element so present in alloys in minute quantities. Cant remember the make or model though.

heh !
I had a mate who araldited a bit of Ti and a bit of CF to his shitty old fiesta with many bodged welds on it just so he could say it was heavily modified (comma) with carbon/titanium in the bodyshell

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdXmYGFBcU[/video]

Just thought..

If something about making carbon bikes gives you cancer there is only one option.

MORE CARBON AS IT WILL GIVE YOU IMMUNITY.

If you take a length of Reynolds 853 you can beat the cr@p out of someone.
Not sure if it’s relevant but just saying steel has it’s health implications.

Munqe-chick – Member
ampthill I assume andyl was replying humourously to yours and scaredy’s posts, not taking offence!

Exactly!

I was making stupid comments to kick off the thread again. 😀