Asbestos-Truth

War is the mother of invention and this is born out by the sudden increase in the use of asbestos during the Second World War. During the 1970's the United States Consumer Product and Safety Commission issued the first laws banning the use of asbestos due to evidence that the fibres were finding their way into the environment.

The 1980's saw new laws passed on the use of asbestos in the US, further restricting the ways in which it could be used. Despite the attention given to asbestos exposure, beginning with those laws, there are still many people who are unaware of what it is or what harm it presents to those who are exposed to it.

Asbestos is a mineral that occurs naturally in nature in fibre bundles. The reasons why asbestos was so popular with industry was that it has amazing resistance to heat and chemicals and it dose not conduct electricity. Asbestos with it's wonder characteristics caused it's use in many manufacturing and industrial uses.

Asbestos based products were used in most walks of life, from lagging boilers to brake pads for cars. In the construction industry, asbestos fibers are used in ceiling tiles; paint that is lead based, plastics, adhesives, soundproofing material and insulation. If it can be ensured that the asbestos is contained and unable to reach the outside environment then the use of asbestos is legal.

Asbestos exposure is taken very serious, as some of the diseases associated with asbestos are untreatable. One of the best-known asbestos diseases is asbestosis, often called asbestos lung, which leads to shortness of breath and lung damage.

A second common ailment of asbestosis is mesothelioma, which is a form of cancer affecting the major organs of the body. In severe cases of mesothelioma, the person may have many tumour masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung. The disease may metastasise, or spread, to other parts of the body.

The health hazards of asbestos have only been realised in the last 30 years by the legal and medical profession. It can take up to 50 years for mesothelioma or asbestosis to become apparent in the victim; this is the reason why it has taken so long for the link between the diseases and asbestos to be made.

A complete ban on asbestos containing material in Australia was introduced in 1991 although some building materials in storage were still being used in the years that followed. The British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has promoted rigorous controls on asbestos handling, because of many reports linking exposure to asbestos dust or fibres with thousands of annual deaths.

The author of this web articles has written many other articles about asbestos. If you are interested you can find links to some of their other work below.