Asbestos Awarenesss month - Asbestos, the magic mineral turned deadly.

The Ancient World

Archaeologists have uncovered asbestos fibres in debris dating back to the stone age, 750,000 years ago. In ancient times our ancestors experimented with this magical material, it is believed that the history of asbestos use dates back to 4,000 B.C. with the use of asbestos in candle and lamp wicks. Clay cooking pots in Finland dating back to 2,500 B.C. contained asbestos fibres, as they understood that the addition of asbestos strengthened their vessels and made them heat-resistant. Between 2,000 - 3,000 B.C. the Egyptians made asbestos burial shrouds to protect the bodies of their monarchs. Romans weaved asbestos fibres into napkins and tablecloths, they would then throw the tainted items into the fire where food scraps and grime would be burned off leaving only the cloth.

Early Asbestos Toxicity Warning Signs: The dangers of asbestos have been known since its discovery more than 3,000 years ago. Strabo,an ancient Greek geographer born 63 B.C., noted a “sickness in the lungs” in slaves that were used to weave asbestos into cloth. Pliny the Elder, born 61 A.D., an ancient Roman scholar called it the “disease of slaves”, after noting they died a premature death after working with asbestos. He also described the use of early respirators by the slave miners constructed from the bladder of a goat or lamb to protect them from inhaling the harmful asbestos fibres.

The Industrial Revolution

As the world became industrialised and transitioned to new manufacturing processesthe use of powered machinery and steam power became more idespread. The need  to effectively and efficiently control the heat required to run these workhorses of the Industrial Revolution took centre stage. Asbestos, due to its magical fire proofing qualities, was found to be the ideal insulator for high-temperature products like steam pipes, turbines, ovens and kilns that kept the wheels in motion enabling the Industrial Revolution. With the increase in demand for asbestos the first commercial asbestos mine opened in 1879 in Quebec, Canada, with further mines opening in Russia, Australia, America, Italy and South Africa.

Asbestos Toxicity Warning Signs: In 1899, Dr. Montague Murray noted the negative health effects of asbestos when a 33 year old male patient consulted with him at London’s Charing Cross Hospital. At first he was thought to be a victim of bronchitis, until he mentioned to the doctor that the other nine men who worked with him spinning asbestos all died in their thirties of the same condition. When he passed away less than a year later Dr Murray found the heavy scarring of his lungs that later came to be called asbestosis.

Asbestos Toxicity Warning Signs: In the early 1900s researchers began to notice a large number of early deaths and lung problems in asbestos-mining towns and the first documented death related to asbestos was recorded in 1906. Reports of worker deaths from “fibrosis” in asbestos plants around the globe began to be recorded and studies suggested that asbestos workers were dying unnaturally young. As early as 1908, insurance companies in the U.S. and Canada began decreasing coverage and benefits, while increasing premiums, for workers employed in the asbestos industry. In the face of constant health warnings asbestos based products continued to be manufactured and filled the landscape.

Today, asbestos is banned in more than 50 countries around the globe, however this enemy is still out there, where you’d least expect it, waiting to attack when disturbed from its resting place. Shockingly, bans did not come into effect until many years after the realisation that the magic mineral was in effect a ticking time bomb. Iceland was the first country to ban asbestos back in 1983, Australia in 2003, the European Union in 2005, the United Kingdom in 2006, Turkey in 2010 and Canada in 2018.

Interestingly, the United States is one of the few major industrialised nations without an asbestos ban in place. It continues to be used in gaskets, friction products, roofing materials, fireproofing materials and other products that are used every day. Despite the ongoing evidence and awareness surrounding the dangers of asbestos there are countries in developing nations that continue to mine and consume it in disturbing amounts as its popularity increases due to the high demand of affordable off-the-shelf building materials.