On Tue, 19 Nov 2019 01:02:52 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone
wrote:

John B. wrote:
On Mon, 18 Nov 2019 11:42:32 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Monday, 18 November 2019 13:40:26 UTC-5, Radey Shouman wrote:
Frank Krygowski writes:

On 11/17/2019 9:03 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
The prevalence of latex allergy is high enough- and dangerous
enough- that clothing manufacturers are aware and have taken steps to
reduce their liability. Lycra and Spandex were invented as replacements
for latex-based fabrics. You may be likelier to find latex in cotton
clothing.

https://www.hospitalnetwork.com/doc/...allergies-0001

People worry about all sorts of chemicals and synthetics, but
"natural" stuff is no better. See
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...-and-toxicity/

I'm never using toothpicks again!

Most wood allergies are caused by inhaling sawdust, which can be a
problem. Inhaling natural cotton fibers causes "brown lung", which used
to be a big problem in the US back when we did textile manufacturing.
Likely still is in those countries now doing it.

I worked at a lad at an asbestos mine. I was always amazed at the number
of people who would not wear their protective mask unless threatened by
management to do so. I remember a safety meeting where we were told that
ANY dust under 2 microns in size, no matter what kind of dust, could be
damaging to the lungs since that size dust would not be trapped by the
tiny hairs in the body. I often wonder how many of those guys who
wouldn't wear their masks developed asbestosis.

Cheers

I once made an inspection tour of a quarry in Indonesia and noted that
no one was wearing a face mask. When I interviewed the Quarry Manager
I mentioned it and he said that the workers felt that wearing a mask
made them look like a dog which is considered an unclean animal by
some Moslems.
--
cheers,

John B.

Whereas not wearing a mask brought them closer to God?

Well yes, but from what I gathered they might come from families that
had worked in the quarry, at least the quarry was on an island so the
available pool of laborers must have been small, so they might not
have realized that working at the quarry without a mask was the reason
that their uncle died at the age of 45.

But then, there is evidence that coal was mined in England prior to
the arrival of the Romans, nearly 2,000 ago, so "Black Lung" must
have a long tradition :-)
--
cheers,

John B.