good thinkin

[paisley]

Polystyrene homes for Afghanistan

Many people in Afghanistan have lost everything, including their own houses, during the country's long decades of war.

Rebuilding usually means putting up the same mud-brick structures used for centuries.

But those homes become death-traps during the frequent earthquakes that hit the area.

Now, some American scientists, engineers and architects think they have a better way to rebuild Afghanistan, using polystyrene.

cool in the summer, warm in the winter, panels can support the weight of a pickup truck

[Esau]

Yeah,although,I've read bad sh!t about that stuff,didn't read any report in that link about the health safety (unless I missed it).

The fact that styrene can adversely affect humans in a number of ways raises serious public health and safety questions regarding its build-up in human tissue and the root cause of this build- up. According to a Foundation for Achievements in Science and Education fact sheet, long term exposure to small quantities of styrene can cause neurotoxic (fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping), hematological (low platelet and hemoglobin values), cytogenetic (chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities), and carcinogenic effects.[1,2] In 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, reclassified styrene from a Groups 3 (not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity) to a Group 2B substance (possibly carcinogenic to humans).

http://www.ejnet.org/plastics/polystyrene/health.html

[paisley]

actually, the person who had that linked wrote a book about such houses but was thinking the other way around

"That is the challenge," he said, "people have to accept it, that it's absolutely safe to live in a Styrofoam house, safer than in an adobe house.

I've always worried somewhat about styrofoam myself so I can believe there are possible health risks... but as the people behind the project say they've been studying it for 20 years you'd hope they were taking health and cancer risks into consideration... hopefully it'll be at least a short term solution for people without homes (obviously not good to get buried alive in your mud brick house)

[Esau]

Hey no worries,just wondering myself,I'm sure its better then a home colapsing on you.I just wonder (being a person with cancer) since I haven't really read anything to good about styrene (pertaining to health) in any of the letters from the cancer society I recieve.

Still a good idea,I just wondered.