Asbestos-Truth

Commercial exploitation of asbestos started in during the 1800's but increased dramatically during 1939-45. Asbestos fibres being found in the environment forced the Consumer Product and Safety Commission to issue laws controlling the use of asbestos.

In the 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency added to those laws by banning any new uses for it, although laws still allowed for the use of it in any way that existed prior to that time. Mounting environmental pressure forced people to become better educated about the effects and harm that asbestos poses.

Asbestos occurs naturally as a mineral that is mined and processed into asbestos. The fact that asbestos will not conduct electricity is fire and chemical resistant made it ideal for industry. Adoption of the use of asbestos was wide spread in many industries eager make use of it's special properties.

The applications that asbestos found its way into is long and varied. In the construction industry, asbestos fibers are used in ceiling tiles; paint that is lead based, plastics, adhesives, soundproofing material and insulation. 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. One of the best-known asbestos diseases is asbestosis, often called asbestos lung, which leads to shortness of breath and lung damage.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the major organs; it is as a result of exposure to asbestos. The two common forms of the cancer are pleural mesothelioma, which affects the heart and pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the heart.

Despite centuries of asbestos mining and usage, asbestos exposure has only recently been recognized as a health hazard. The first documented death related to asbestos was in 1906; in the early 1900s researchers began to notice a large number of early deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns.

Asbestos has been in a marked decline as soon as victims of asbestos exposure began to take legal action for compensation. Asbestos fibers are still legal, despite the hazards of exposure, only if manufacturers follow all legally required safety standards.

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.