Fly ash was the materiel identified in the toxic drywall imported from China in the last year. While I realize that not all fly ash is poisonous, who is going to make sure that we don't end up with the poisonous kind in the concrete? The government? There's a joke! (They let it in the first place). Right now large cities around the country are dumping (with the owner's permission) large amounts of processed waste on farm ground, touting it as fertilizer. They are targeting the larger corporate type farms, as they have a lot of land to play with and are only interested in the bottom line. The waste attracts flies and is loaded with heavy metals, hospital waste, and assorted toxins. Besides being an obvious health hazard to the small communities that exist in these areas, the underground reservoirs are slowly being poisoned. I have witnessed this first hand.

Cabby.

Most people were not inhaling intact asbestos shingles or insulation etc. But.... and concrete does give off dust that is composed of the materials used in it's construction and that dust does get into the air that one would breath.

From what i understand, as L. S. Sundadjaja stated, it is the physical shape and size of asbestos that is the problem and that some forms of asbestos are worse as far as cause health problems. So if fly ash had similar characteristics, it is very likely that it will cause a problem also.

About 15 years ago while I was in college north of Pittsburgh, 'they' had come up with a plan to 'cure' the acid mine drainage in that part of the state by putting concrete caps on the mines using fly ash as the cement, then flooding it and planting swamp-type plants.

The fly ash they were going to use would be coming from the trash incinerators across the state. It was a convenient use of a byproduct they didn't know what else to do with, or so a lot of people felt.

The locals put up a huge fight, if I recall correctly, because the site in question was above the river. There was a lot of concern about heavy metals and whatnot from the fly ash working its way into the water supply and eventually the food chain. The project was abandoned after a few years.

This might be an issue if the concrete was converted into a dust form during construction demolition, but most folks aren't inhaling intact concrete. :)

I think L. S. Sundadjaja has a great question there. And L. S. Sundadjaja your English was just fine, your point came through. So restated will Fly Ash turn out to have the same disastrous results as asbestos has had and just be another cancer causing agent?

I heard that the physical chemistry of the fly ash is close to asbestos in asbestos-cement used for roof material. When its particulate is sucked to our lungs and is deposited there impact to become cancer. Would fly ash also be such asbestos?

Rgds,
Lilie

(Sorry for my poor English)

DIOXIN???