Health conditions can take years to diagnoseĪsbestos is widely believed to cause long-term damage, and as a result can take years to recognise and diagnose. These include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and more.Īs asbestos awareness grows, we’re becoming more familiar with the signs and long-term impact of asbestos exposure.ĥ. It’s a cancer of the thin membranes lining the chest and abdomen.Ī second, common health condition is asbestosis which scars the lungs, and causes various symptoms. The most common illness is mesothelioma, which causes 2700 annual deaths. If you ever find asbestos in a building, ensure you don’t remove it yourself. Therefore, asbestos removal is a highly skilled process that requires specialised knowledge, training, tools and personal protective equipment. The fibres can be so tiny that they are often invisible to the naked eye, hence why its nickname, “the invisible killer” was coined some years ago. We then breathe these tiny fibres in, which is what causes the damage. We breathe in asbestos fibresĪsbestos breaks off into little fibres when it’s disturbed. It was during the 1970s that asbestos awareness grew and its dangers were better understood. By 1973, the USA used 804,000 tons of asbestos a year, but this began to rapidly decline soon after. As a fire-resistant material, shooting asbestos dust around the set seemed like a perfect replacement.Īs we now know, the use of asbestos was perhaps much worse than cotton dust.Īlthough early research from the 19 th century highlighted its risks, it was too profitable for such scandal. It replaced cotton dust, which caused fires and explosions. It was only in the Industrial Revolution that it really took off as a commercial product and it was thrown into everything from ceiling tiles, roof sheets and insulation to car parts and clothing.Īsbestos even entered the Golden Age of cinema, where it was used as fake snow.
Its history as a fire-retardant material is clearly well known.
Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks all used asbestos for strengthening cooking pots, as lamp wicks, and for embalming bodies (Just pop in to the British Museum and look at the Mummies if you need proof!). Human use of asbestos dates back more than 6000 years. We’ve previously written in more detail about the different kinds of asbestos, so check that article out for more.
However, it’s an entirely natural product that is quarried from the ground. It was used in more than 3000 different products including insulation and roof sheets.ĭue to its appearance, many people assume asbestos is manmade (or at least processed). It consists of curly long thin fibres that easily break down to smaller respirable fibres. Asbestos is a natural materialĪlthough Asbestos comes in different types, the most widely used was Chrysotile (or ‘white’ asbestos).
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