Asbestos is a mineral that occurs naturally; there are large deposits on every single continent. Due to the recent focus of asbestos-related lung diseases, such as asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, it has been commonly thought that asbestos manufacturing and use is a modern phenomenon. However the usefulness of asbestos for insulation, fire retardants and tensile strength has been known for about 6,000 years, which is quite a history. As early as 4000 B.C., it was documented that asbestos was used in producing candle and lamp wicks. The term "asbestos" was therefore created, meaning inextinguishable or unquenchable.
From 4000 B.C. to the early 1800's, asbestos was used for a many reasons, but mostly in small quantities. These uses included cloth, wicks and paper. Fact to note: Marco Polo visited an asbestos mine as early as the 13th century.
In the early 1800's, many patents started to appear for various uses of asbestos, including the first known United States patent for asbestos insulating material. The asbestos material was used to insulate steam engines during the industrial revolution. Asbestos was first discovered in Canada (the Thedford mines of Quebec) and in South Africa (the Woolstone mines of Orange in the early 1800's. By the 1860's the asbestos industry was born, with the Italian asbestos industry based on tremolite and the Canadian and Russian industries based on chrysotile. The American industry began around 1880, but at that time the industry was based on the use of Italian asbestos to produce paper and board products.
There was a boom of new uses for asbestos, with the first asbestos brake linings being manufactured in England in 1896 and the first patent in Germany for the manufacture of asbestos cement in 1899. Additionally, the first reports of the health hazards from asbestos emerged from Italy and England.
But the momentum for asbestos use to fuel the industry did not come to a screeching halt with these early health warnings. The first asbestos brake linings were manufactured in the United States in 1906 and many other countries began mining asbestos, including Finland. By the 1920's and 30's, asbestos brake linings were manufactured in virtually every country with an automobile industry, and many pipes and corrugated sheet metal were made of asbestos.
In 1930, health warnings were brought about again, and the asbestos industry in the United Kingdom passed regulations to protect asbestos workers from its dangers. However, the regulations were interrupted by the war, and consequently many post-war construction projects relied on asbestos. By 1960, health concerns related to asbestos were widely known, even though the first reports of asbestos-related dangers had appeared almost 60 years earlier. The most recent high-profile use of asbestos has been to insulate the boosters of the Space Shuttle. Most asbestos mines have been closed for many years, and few materials include asbestos fibers.
The wide use of asbestos from 1930 to 1970 brings about the possibility that many people throughout the U.S. were exposed to this material, either in an asbestos-related job or through environmental exposure.
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