Asphalt ASSAULT!

Cavewoman Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Yes, my new nickname is now Cavewoman! Nope, not like Batwoman or Catwoman, but Cavewoman because it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to leave my cave at ANYTIME OF YEAR where I don’t run into SOMETHING that makes me ill! Jeesh!

Today I drove to visit family and ran across a construction/upgrade of kilometers (miles) of highway with freshly laid asphalt (aka bitumen) and much more being laid while I waited in line to pass the area. Quickly slipping on my not–so–trusty carbon-filtered mask (which doesn’t filter out much, believe me) I continued to watch while blue–grey clouds of thick smoke billowed around the workers and large construction machines, wondering how long I could hold my breath!

It crossed my mind that neither of the workers were protecting their lungs from the toxic morass of chemicals and decided that since I was so ill by the time I arrived home and crashed in my bed for most of the rest of the day, that it was time to research asphalt!

Is it a carcinogenic? Yes! Does it cause breathing issues, skin burns, and redness/burning of the eyes? Yes! A petroleum based product? Absolutely! Hmmm…Strike, strike, strike…And so I continued to gather this eye-opening, sinus–attacking, breath-stealing, head–splitting info.

Okay, that was enlightening .Now, the question: Is it a pesticide? YES! A neurotoxin? You betcha!
It’s a product created with hydrocarbons and contains small amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, and vanadium (to name a few). Crude oil is distilled to separate raffinate (solvents used to separate an original liquid from other components, like oil from petroleum refining processes) from residual oil process called de–asphalting or carbonization. It might then be further processed by ‘air blowing’ ‘solvent precipitation’ or blending with other refined materials to create a product that will have the correct elasticity (if you will) to move with the constant expanding/contracting of the surface for the climate the product is made for. In Canada, for instance, we have harsh, cold winters, then hot, wet summers which can wreak havoc on paved roads leaving potholes, cave ins and cracking. Save a car, suffer illness.

Asphalt is also used on roofing projects, to coat electrical wiring, insulate for sound, and corrosion protection in municipal drinking water reservoirs. Yum! I can taste the results already…

So, what else is in this volatile mixture? How about: clarified slurry oil, organic antistrip agents, silicone oil, elastomers, polymers, antioxidants (oh, maybe that’s a good one?) kerosene and diesel fuel. Sounds like something I’d prefer to stay away from. Oh, give me back the days of rutted dirt roads!

Well, I could go on, but just having been in contact with the smog of despair today, I’m off to bed again with a severe headache. Hope I can get back up again tomorrow. We’ll see.

The best thing to do in this case is to AVOID CONSTRUCTION ZONES AT ALL COSTS!

The ABC of MCS ©