ASBESTOS, THE INVISIBLE KILLER
In another article on this website we reviewed the book titled "Fifty Minerals that Changed the course of History" by Eric Chalin. In that excerpt it detailed the history of asbestos, how it was discovered, its early uses by ancient civilizations, its "re-discovery" in the modern age. Which brings us to today, when asbestos is wreaking havoc on the health of many.
This book is so good, we're including another excerpt from the same book that gets into more details of the health hazards and how asbestos is dangerous. Here it is:
Most victims are men and women who have worked in asbestos mining or manufacture, as well as family members, who have been exposed to dust brought home on the clothes and bodies of asbestos workers. Another group at risk are construction workers who regularly handle or remove asbestos materials when renovating buildings, unless they wear respirators and protective clothing.
However, to reassure those readers who may have been exposed to asbestos while carrying out their own home improvements, they are very unlikely to fall ill from a single exposure.
The fibers of asbestos are composed of extremely fine, fragile molecular lattices. Even carrying finished asbestos products will disturb and break the fibers into microscopic pieces that are invisible to the naked eye, and cause the, to be released into the environment where humans will inhale them. Long-term exposure to asbestos fibers is associated with two diseases: asbestosis and mesothelioma. The former is a chronic inflammation of the lungs caused by scarring by asbestos fibers. In the most advanced and severe cases, the reduction of lung capacity may induce respiratory of heart failure and lead to death. Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer of the mesothelium, the protective lining that covers the body’s internal organs. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20-50 years after exposure to asbestos.
Pliny’s warnings about the dangers of asbestos went unheeded until the late nineteenth century. In 1899, the British pathologist Montague Murray conducted a post-mortem on the body of an asbestos factory worker, and testified that he had found asbestos fibers in the man’s lungs. When he believed had contributed to his death. Subsequent cases in the U.S and UK provided mounting evidence of a link between the disease and the material, but the first diagnosis of asbestosis was not made in the UK until 1924. A firm link between asbestos and mesothelioma was established in the 1940s. By then the major U.S. asbestos manufacturer had realized the dangers to their workers, and they sponsored their own medical research into asbestos-related diseases. But on the condition that the findings would be kept secret. Between the 1940s and 1980s, U.S. asbestos corporations managed to suppress the medical evidence and successfully lobbied against legislation protecting both asbestos workers and the public.
In the 1980's, governments across the developed world finally began to act to control the importation and use of asbestos products. The European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand instituted total bans on the use of asbestos and instituted asbestos-removal legislation from schools, hospitals, and other public buildings, and later from private homes. Sadly, asbestos continues in widespread use in many countries in the developing world. In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. The rule was challenged and overturned in the courts in 1991, which means that asbestos can still be used in consumer products in the U.S. The first lawsuits filed by asbestos workers began in the 1920's; class action suits continue to this day, being the most complex and lengthy litigation in history, with an estimated cost of $200 billion in the U.S. alone.
ADX Asbestos Removal, 125 S Clark St. Chicago IL 60603, 773-345-7074
In another article on this website we reviewed the book titled "Fifty Minerals that Changed the course of History" by Eric Chalin. In that excerpt it detailed the history of asbestos, how it was discovered, its early uses by ancient civilizations, its "re-discovery" in the modern age. Which brings us to today, when asbestos is wreaking havoc on the health of many.
This book is so good, we're including another excerpt from the same book that gets into more details of the health hazards and how asbestos is dangerous. Here it is:
Most victims are men and women who have worked in asbestos mining or manufacture, as well as family members, who have been exposed to dust brought home on the clothes and bodies of asbestos workers. Another group at risk are construction workers who regularly handle or remove asbestos materials when renovating buildings, unless they wear respirators and protective clothing.
However, to reassure those readers who may have been exposed to asbestos while carrying out their own home improvements, they are very unlikely to fall ill from a single exposure.
The fibers of asbestos are composed of extremely fine, fragile molecular lattices. Even carrying finished asbestos products will disturb and break the fibers into microscopic pieces that are invisible to the naked eye, and cause the, to be released into the environment where humans will inhale them. Long-term exposure to asbestos fibers is associated with two diseases: asbestosis and mesothelioma. The former is a chronic inflammation of the lungs caused by scarring by asbestos fibers. In the most advanced and severe cases, the reduction of lung capacity may induce respiratory of heart failure and lead to death. Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer of the mesothelium, the protective lining that covers the body’s internal organs. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20-50 years after exposure to asbestos.
Pliny’s warnings about the dangers of asbestos went unheeded until the late nineteenth century. In 1899, the British pathologist Montague Murray conducted a post-mortem on the body of an asbestos factory worker, and testified that he had found asbestos fibers in the man’s lungs. When he believed had contributed to his death. Subsequent cases in the U.S and UK provided mounting evidence of a link between the disease and the material, but the first diagnosis of asbestosis was not made in the UK until 1924. A firm link between asbestos and mesothelioma was established in the 1940s. By then the major U.S. asbestos manufacturer had realized the dangers to their workers, and they sponsored their own medical research into asbestos-related diseases. But on the condition that the findings would be kept secret. Between the 1940s and 1980s, U.S. asbestos corporations managed to suppress the medical evidence and successfully lobbied against legislation protecting both asbestos workers and the public.
In the 1980's, governments across the developed world finally began to act to control the importation and use of asbestos products. The European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand instituted total bans on the use of asbestos and instituted asbestos-removal legislation from schools, hospitals, and other public buildings, and later from private homes. Sadly, asbestos continues in widespread use in many countries in the developing world. In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule. The rule was challenged and overturned in the courts in 1991, which means that asbestos can still be used in consumer products in the U.S. The first lawsuits filed by asbestos workers began in the 1920's; class action suits continue to this day, being the most complex and lengthy litigation in history, with an estimated cost of $200 billion in the U.S. alone.
ADX Asbestos Removal, 125 S Clark St. Chicago IL 60603, 773-345-7074
