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Asbestos

Asbestos is the common name for any variety of silicate materials that are fibrous in structure and that are more acid and fire resistant than other materials. It has been used in the past and still today in some moderation for many things such as thermal insulation, fire proofing and electrical insulation. It has been prove to have both long term and short term effects which all can be deadly. The fibers itself are not deadly until they get air borne and are inhaled. Commercial use of this product was banned in 1970 while friable asbestos was gradually stopped, and non-friable asbestos was stopped immediately.

Asbestos has been used to our account for over 2,000 years. Given its name by the Greeks "asbestos" means inextinguishable. Its usage declined greatly in the middle ages and didn't really pick back up till the 1800's. During the 1800's the industrial revolution was taking place and the use of asbestos sky rocketed. The main uses at the time were insulation in many items such as steam pipes, turbines, and boilers. Although the effects had to have been evident at the time, there were no reports or they just didn't care. The first know diagnosis of asbestosis occurred in England on a women who had been working around asbestos from the age of 13-33. Which followed not much longer with laws and regulations.

There are 3 main illnesses that result from being exposed to asbestos. These very serious and life threating diseases include asbestosis, lung cancer, and Mesothelioma. Asbestosis is a long term non-cancerous disease. It is a result of inhaling the asbestos, which scars the lungs and reduces the flow of oxygen to the blood. Lung cancer is cancer of the lung, and is the most common due to asbestos. Mesotheoliamo can take years to show signs. It is a rare cancerous disease found in the membrane (thin layer) of the lung, chest, abdomen, and the heart. It can also be dormant from 10-60 years before showing the signs of the mutated cancerous cell.

In 1970 there was a ban on all commercial use of Asbestos. The regulations of 1985 were amended in 1992, which prohibited the import, supply and use of the product. Especially the use of asbestos in its blue form, because that proved to be the most