Asbestos-Truth

The Second World War can be traced back to the reason why industry suddenly began to use asbestos in large quantities. Evidence that asbestos was appearing in the environment was the reason why the Consumer Product and Safety Commission began to legislate on asbestos during the 70's.

Industry found that the use of asbestos was further restricted after the Environmental Protection Agency issued more laws controlling the use of asbestos in industry during the 1980's. 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 fibre occurs naturally as fibre bundles and it was these that were mined to create asbestos used in industry. Asbestos has amazing fire and chemical resistance, coupled with the fact that it is not a conductor of electricity. Products containing asbestos were wide spread throughout most industries.

Asbestos based products were used in most walks of life, from lagging boilers to brake pads for cars. The construction industry used asbestos as a fire retardant as well as a sound proofing material. Industry can still use asbestos but only if it can be proven that it is not possible for the asbestos to come into contact with people or the environment.

Humans can die from a number of incurable and untreatable ailments associated with coming into contact with asbestos. Lung damage caused by breathing in asbestos fibres is called asbestosis; it causes permanent lung damage resulting in a shortness of breath.

A less commonly known ailment of asbestos is mesothelioma; it is a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos that effect the major organs of the body. The two common forms of the cancer are pleural mesothelioma, which affects the heart and pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the heart.

Asbestos has been used through out history; the original name came from the ancient Greeks who recognised that there were hazards associated with the material. The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in England in 1924, by the 1930s, England regulated ventilation and made asbestosis a work related disease.

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. 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.