Asbestos-Truth

The Second World War can be traced back to the reason why industry suddenly began to use asbestos in large quantities. Asbestos fibres being found in the environment forced the Consumer Product and Safety Commission to issue laws controlling the use of asbestos.

The EPA felt that more control was required over the use of asbestos in the 1980's as it issued it's own laws controlling how and where asbestos was used by industry. Despite all the attention asbestos has received over the years there are a surprising number of people who have no idea how harmful the fibre can be to humans.

It is a mineral that occurs naturally in fibre bundles, and the bundles can be separated into individual fibers. The reason why asbestos was so widely adopted by industry was because of the heat and chemical properties it possessed. Manufacturing and construction were most willing to put asbestos to use in industry.

Asbestos products include brake shoes and clutch pads for automobiles, insulation for boilers and steam pipes on ships, and strengthening agents for cement and talc-based crayons. Wall and ceiling tiles, adhesives and joining compounds all contained asbestos and were used by the construction industry up until they were banned. There are legal uses of asbestos, where it can be proven that asbestos will not be able to contaminate the environment then that use is considered legal.

Exposure to asbestos is serious; the health risks associated with asbestos are high because some of the illnesses caused by asbestos are incurable. One of the best-known asbestos diseases is asbestosis, often called asbestos lung, which leads to shortness of breath and lung damage.

Another source of asbestos litigation is for mesothelioma, which is a cancer that develops in the protective lining of the body's major organs. Symptoms of mesothelioma include weight loss and abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a build-up of fluid in the abdominal cavity).

History notes that Greek and roman slaves whose job it was to weave asbestos fibres into cloth often suffered from damaged lungs. Because symptoms of exposure can take 10 to 50 years to show up, it took medical professionals a great deal of time to connect the disease to it.

In 1984, the import of raw amphibole (blue and brown) asbestos into New Zealand was banned. In 2002 the import of chrysotile (white) asbestos was banned. Despite knowing g the risks of asbestos it is still legal if the right safety guidelines are followed.

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.