Asbestos-Truth

Commercial exploitation of asbestos started in during the 1800's but increased dramatically during 1939-45. 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.

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. Although there has been much publicity about asbestos and many regulations passed either banning or controlling it's use many people are unaware of how harmful asbestos can be.

Asbestos bundles that occur naturally can be split into individual asbestos fibres. Asbestos looked like the wonder product for industry because of its heat and chemical resistance. Manufacturing and construction were most willing to put asbestos to use in industry.

Asbestos based products were used in most walks of life, from lagging boilers to brake pads for cars. The banning of the use of asbestos put pained to it's use in the construction industry but up until this time it was widely used for joint compound, sound proofing an well as wall and ceiling tiles. 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.

The medical profession takes asbestos exposure very seriously because there are a number of possible health risks, which are untreatable with current medical technology. Asbestosis is probably the most common asbestos related disease, it is often seen as a severe shortness of breath caused by the lining of the lings becoming inflamed by the asbestos fibres.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is caused by asbestos; it forms around the protective lining of the bodys 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).

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.

The use of asbestos by industry dropped dramatically once the levels of litigation from its victims began to increase. 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.