Asbestos-Truth

War during 1939-1945 was the driving force for the sudden and vast increase in the use of asbestos. The popularity of asbestos took a sudden dive when laws were passed in the 1970's in the USA that stopped the use of asbestos in certain consumer products.

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. Mounting environmental pressure forced people to become better educated about the effects and harm that asbestos poses.

It is a mineral that occurs naturally in fibre bundles, and the bundles can be separated into individual fibers. Asbestos has amazing fire and chemical resistance, coupled with the fact that it is not a conductor of electricity. With those characteristics, products containing asbestos were a perfect fit for many construction and manufacturing industries.

Asbestos has been banned from being used in auto parts such as brake pads, brake shoes and clutch plates. If a building was built in or before the 1980's then you should assume that it contains asbestos as it's use was wide spread in the construction industry right up until it was banned. Asbestos is legal if it can be proven that its use will not harm humans or the environment.

Current medical technology is unable to treat all of the possible effects of asbestos fibres on humans. Lung damage caused by breathing in asbestos fibres is called asbestosis; it causes permanent lung damage resulting in a shortness of breath.

Another source of asbestos litigation is for mesothelioma, which is a cancer that develops in the protective lining of the body's major organs. Mesothelioma is often found around either the heart or lungs.

History notes that Greek and roman slaves whose job it was to weave asbestos fibres into cloth often suffered from damaged lungs. Asbestos disease can take several decades after the initial exposure to finally appear in the victim; it is for this reason that it took medical professions many years to establish the link between asbestos and the diseases that it is responsible for.

Production of asbestos in Japan peaked in 1974 and went through ups and downs until about 1990, when production began to drop severely after is was proven that asbestos was dangerous to human health. Follow the right safety guidelines and it is legal for manufacturers to use asbestos.

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.