Where to buy cable hunter or bitumen sheets?

[Topgann2003]

Yeah.. I saw the same in wikipedia. Toxic elements like "lead", "mercury" and "arsenic" sound scarry. Hence I am rather concerned especially if we were to

paste the bitumen sheets inside the cabin (roof or floor pan), will it result in any health hapzard due to long term exposure to such toxic elements? Any scientific or clinical evidence to address this concern would be appreciated.

 

 

Bitumen sheets?? I thought they are quite toxic!

 

Got this from Wikipedia:

 

Bitumen is the residual (bottom) fraction obtained by fractional distillation of crude oil. It is the heaviest fraction and the one with the highest boiling point.

 

In British English, the word 'asphalt' refers to a mixture of mineral aggregate and bitumen (or tarmac in common parlance). The word 'tar' refers to the black viscous material obtained from the destructive distillation of coal and is chemically distinct from bitumen. In American English, bitumen is referred to as 'asphalt' or 'asphalt cement' in engineering jargon. In Australian English, bitumen is sometimes used as the generic term for road surfaces.

 

Most bitumens contain sulphur and several heavy metals such as nickel, vanadium, lead, chromium, mercury and also arsenic, selenium and other toxic elements.

[Dunno]

It's only toxic if it can go air-borne and be inhaled or you eat it somehow. As stated in the wiki, it has the highest boiling point of all crude oils, so what are the chances that it can boil and go air-borne? Just my thoughts....

[Topgann2003]

Got this when I do a google (should have done that before I posted) >>>Bitumen is not a health hazard, nor does it damage the environment.

 

Bitumen is not made from coal tar, and while both materials are black, the similarity ends there!

 

Bitumen is a petroleum product. In the refining of crude oil by fractional distillation, lighter fractions of the crude are drawn from the distillation tower at different levels (temperatures) leaving a residue at the bottom which is a complex mixture of high molecular weight hydrocarbons. This residue is further distilled at low pressure to produce the bitumen feedstock. Bitumen is mixed with mineral aggregate to produce asphalt.

 

Since the high molecular weight hydrocarbons in bitumen are not very reactive, the mixture is inert and it does not harm the environment.

 

The tar or pitch used as a road surface in the past is an entirely different substance made from coal. It is the coal tar products - not materials obtained from petroleum - that contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons known to cause cancer.

 

Thus, bitumen in the environment does not present a health hazard.

 

To avoid any possible confusion, tar is NOT used in the production of asphalt