I don't know about asphalt but I've once passed a site with a tar cooker going on that's so extremely pungent I cannot imagine hot asphalt to be particularly ap

I don't know about asphalt but I've once passed a site with a tar cooker going on that's so extremely pungent I cannot imagine hot asphalt to be particularly appetizing if it is anywhere near that. On the other hand, I know a friend who worked such a machine and he couldn't complain. Also, he smoked cigarettes a lot so cancer was perhaps the least of his worries.