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Sean Foley

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Overview

Asbestos is the common name given to a group of six different naturally occurring fibers that can be separated, spun, woven. Because it is strong, flexible, resistant to heat and most Solvents and acids, it is a very desirable industrial product.

Chemical Description

Asbestos fibers are odorless and colorless, microscopin and nearly indestructible. They do not evaporate or burn away.

History

Asbestos knowledge dates back to second century BC but the first recorded use was in first century AD by the Roman author and philosopher Pliny the Elder. It is name refers to its fire-resistant properties for the sbestos is Greek for extinguishable and asbestos is translated roughly as inextinguishable.

Romans used asbestos for cremation cloths and lamp wicks. Kinghts in the middle ages employed asbestos as insulation for their armor. The Industrial Revoluion saw the desireable properties of asbestos and used it to insulate steam boilers often in locomotives.

The first asbestos mine opened in Quebec, Canada in 1879 . Canada is still the lading producer of asbestos.

The first death attributed to asbestos was in 1900 when a London physician conducted an autopsy on a 34-year old patient who had worked for 16 years in a textile factory made from asbestos. The doctor found asbestos fibers and scarred lungs which caused the man to slowly lose his ability to breathe and led to an eventual suffocation (Schneider, 1999).

Health Effects

Asbestos is a known Carcinogens, can scare lungs leading to [asbestosis]. Lung Cancer and [mesothelioma] are the most common types of Cancer that arises.

See the Seattle Post-Inelligencer Report on the health effects of asbestos.

Uses

In the United States, chrysotile has been the most commonly used type of asbestos. Chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of materials, including but not limited to:

Amphibole Group

Amosite and crocidolite were used in many products until the early 1980s. The use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in the mid-1980s. These products were mainly:

• Low density insulation board and ceiling tiles
• asbestos-cement sheets and pipes for construction, casing for water and electrical/telecommunication services
• thermal and chemical insulation
  
  

Current Events

Details being ironed out in landmark bill that boosts funding to Consumer Product Safety Commission and bans lead in all products marketed to children. See full Washington Post article.
Congress passes bill that assigns responsibility to monitor toy safety to industry labs. See Wall Street Journal article. Chemical manufacturer agrees to pay 250 million dollars in cleanup costs in Montana town. See full Missoulian article.

References

Schneider, Andrew. "A Town Left to Die." The Seattle Post Intelligencer. November 18, 1999.