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Wikipedia

Asbestos

Asbestos (/æsˈbɛstɒs, æz-, -təs/)[1] is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere by abrasion and other processes. Inhalation of asbestos fibres can lead to various dangerous lung conditions, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer, so it is now notorious as a serious health and safety hazard.[2]

Asbestos
Fibrous tremolite asbestos on muscovite
General
CategorySilicate minerals
Strunz classification09.ED.15
Dana classification71.01.02d.03
Crystal systemOrthorhombic, monoclinic
Identification
Formula mass277.11 g
ColorGreen, red, yellow, white, gray, blue
Crystal habitAmorphous, granular, massive
CleavagePrismatic
FractureFibrous
Mohs scale hardness2.5.6.0
LusterSilky
StreakWhite
Specific gravity2.4–3.3
Optical propertiesBiaxial
Refractive index1.53–1.72
Birefringence0.008
2V angle20° to 60°
DispersionRelatively weak
ExtinctionParallel or oblique
Ultraviolet fluorescenceNon-fluorescent
Melting point400 to 1,040 °C (752 to 1,904 °F)

Archaeological studies have found evidence of asbestos being used as far back as the Stone Age to strengthen ceramic pots,[3] but large-scale mining began at the end of the 19th century when manufacturers and builders began using asbestos for its desirable physical properties. Asbestos is an excellent electrical insulator and is highly fire-resistant, so for much of the 20th century it was very commonly used across the world as a building material, until its adverse effects on human health were more widely acknowledged in the 1970s.[4][5] Many modern buildings constructed before the 1980s are thought to contain asbestos.[6]

The use of asbestos for construction and fireproofing has been made illegal in many countries.[2] Despite this, at least 100,000 people are thought to die each year from diseases related to asbestos exposure. In part, this is because many older buildings still contain asbestos; in addition, the consequences of exposure can take decades to arise.[6][7] The most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis (scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation) and mesothelioma (a type of cancer).[8]

Many developing countries still support the use of asbestos as a building material, and mining of asbestos is ongoing, with the top producer, Russia, having an estimated production of 790,000 tonnes in 2020.[9]

Etymology

The word "asbestos", first used in the 1600s, ultimately derives from the Ancient Greek: ἄσβεστος, meaning "unquenchable" or "inextinguishable".[10][11][12][13] The name reflects use of the substance for wicks that would never burn up.[10]

It was adopted into English via the Old French abestos, which in turn got the word from Greek via Latin, but in the original Greek, it actually referred to quicklime. It is said by the Oxford English Dictionary to have been wrongly used by Pliny for asbestos, who popularized the misnomer. Asbestos was referred to in Greek as amiantos, meaning "undefiled",[14] because it was not marked when thrown into a fire. This is the source for the word for asbestos in many languages, such as the Portuguese amianto and the French amiante. It had also been called "amiant" in English in the early 15th century, but this usage was superseded by "asbestos".[15] The word is pronounced /æsˈbɛstəs/ or /æsˈbɛstɒs/.[16]

History

People have used asbestos for thousands of years to create flexible objects that resist fire, including napkins, but, in the modern era, companies began producing consumer goods containing asbestos on an industrial scale.[17] Today people recognize the health hazard that asbestos poses; the use of asbestos is completely banned in 55 countries and strictly regulated in many others.[18][19]

Early references and uses

Asbestos use dates back at least 4,500 years, when the inhabitants of the Lake Juojärvi region in East Finland strengthened earthenware pots and cooking utensils with the asbestos mineral anthophyllite (see Asbestos-ceramic).[20] One of the first descriptions of a material that may have been asbestos is in Theophrastus, On Stones, from around 300 BC, although this identification has been questioned.[21] In both modern and ancient Greek, the usual name for the material known in English as "asbestos" is amiantos ("undefiled", "pure"), which was adapted into the French as amiante and into Spanish and Portuguese as amianto. In modern Greek, the word ἀσβεστος or ασβέστης stands consistently and solely for lime.

The term asbestos is traceable to Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder's first-century manuscript Natural History and his use of the term asbestinon, meaning "unquenchable".[10][11][20] While Pliny or his nephew Pliny the Younger is popularly credited with recognising the detrimental effects of asbestos on human beings,[22] examination of the primary sources reveals no support for either claim.[23]

Athanasius in Alexandria, Egypt in about 318 AD wrote, "The natural property of fire is to burn. Suppose, then, that there was a substance such as the Indian asbestos is said to be, which had no fear of being burnt, but rather displayed the impotence of the fire by proving itself unburnable. If anyone doubted the truth of this, all he need do would be to wrap himself up in the substance in question and then touch the fire."[24]

Wealthy Persians amazed guests by cleaning a cloth by exposing it to fire. For example, according to Tabari, one of the curious items belonging to Khosrow II Parviz, the great Sassanian king (r. 590–628), was a napkin (Persian: منديل) that he cleaned simply by throwing it into fire. Such cloth is believed to have been made of asbestos imported over the Hindu Kush.[25] According to Biruni in his book Gems, any cloths made of asbestos (Persian: آذرشست, āzarshost) were called shostakeh (Persian: شستكه).[26] Some Persians believed the fiber was the fur of an animal called the samandar (Persian: سمندر), which lived in fire and died when exposed to water;[27][28] this was where the former belief originated that the salamander could tolerate fire.[29]

Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor (800–814), is said to have had a tablecloth made of asbestos.[30]

Marco Polo recounts having been shown, in a place he calls Ghinghin talas, "a good vein from which the cloth which we call of salamander, which cannot be burnt if it is thrown into the fire, is made ..."[31]

Some archaeologists believe that ancients made shrouds of asbestos, wherein they burned the bodies of their kings to preserve only their ashes and to prevent the ashes being mixed with those of wood or other combustible materials commonly used in funeral pyres.[32][33] Others assert that the ancients used asbestos to make perpetual wicks for sepulchral or other lamps.[27] A famous example is the golden lamp asbestos lychnis, which the sculptor Callimachus made for the Erechtheion.[34] In more recent centuries, asbestos was indeed used for this purpose.

Industrial era

 
Industrial scale asbestos mining began in 1878 in Thetford township, Quebec. By 1895, mining was increasingly mechanized.

The large-scale asbestos industry began in the mid-19th century. Early attempts at producing asbestos paper and cloth in Italy began in the 1850s but were unsuccessful in creating a market for such products. Canadian samples of asbestos were displayed in London in 1862, and the first companies were formed in England and Scotland to exploit this resource. Asbestos was first used in the manufacture of yarn, and German industrialist Louis Wertheim adopted this process in his factories in Germany. [35] In 1871, the Patent Asbestos Manufacturing Company was established in Glasgow, and during the following decades, the Clydebank area became a centre for the nascent industry.[36]

 
Canada's biggest power shovel loading an ore train with asbestos at the Jeffrey Mine, Johns-Manville Co., Asbestos, Quebec, June 1944

Industrial-scale mining began in the Thetford hills, Quebec, from the 1870s. Sir William Edmond Logan was the first to notice the large deposits of chrysotile in the hills in his capacity as head of Geological Survey of Canada. Samples of the minerals from there were displayed in London and elicited much interest.[35] With the opening of the Quebec Central Railway in 1876, mining entrepreneurs such as Andrew Stuart Johnson established the asbestos industry in the province.[37] The 50-ton output of the mines in 1878 rose to over 10,000 tonnes in the 1890s with the adoption of machine technologies and expanded production.[35][38] For a long time, the world's largest asbestos mine was the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec.[39]

 
The applications of asbestos multiplied at the end of the 19th century—this is an advertisement for an asbestos-lined clothes iron from 1906

Asbestos production began in the Urals of the Russian Empire in the 1880s, and the Alpine regions of Northern Italy with the formation in Turin of the Italo-English Pure Asbestos Company in 1876, although this was soon swamped by the greater production levels from the Canadian mines. Mining also took off in South Africa from 1893 under the aegis of the British businessman Francis Oates, the director of the De Beers company.[40] It was in South Africa that the production of amosite began in 1910. The U.S. asbestos industry had an early start in 1858 when fibrous anthophyllite was mined for use as asbestos insulation by the Johns Company, a predecessor to the current Johns Manville, at a quarry at Ward's Hill on Staten Island, New York.[41] US production began in earnest in 1899 with the discovery of large deposits in Belvidere Mountain.

The use of asbestos became increasingly widespread toward the end of the 19th century when its diverse applications included fire-retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat-, fire-, and acid-resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture, and drywall joint compound. In 2011, it was reported that over 50% of UK houses still contained asbestos, despite a ban on asbestos products some years earlier.[42]

In Japan, particularly after World War II, asbestos was used in the manufacture of ammonium sulfate for purposes of rice production, sprayed upon the ceilings, iron skeletons, and walls of railroad cars and buildings (during the 1960s), and used for energy efficiency reasons as well. Production of asbestos in Japan peaked in 1974 and went through ups and downs until about 1990 when production began to drop dramatically.[43]

Discovery of toxicity

In 1899, H. Montague Murray noted the negative health effects of asbestos.[44] The first documented death related to asbestos was in 1906.[45]

In the early 1900s, researchers began to notice a large number of early deaths and lung problems in asbestos-mining towns. The first such study was conducted by Murray at the Charing Cross Hospital, London, in 1900, in which a postmortem investigation discovered asbestos traces in the lungs of a young man who had died from pulmonary fibrosis after having worked for 14 years in an asbestos textile factory. Adelaide Anderson, the Inspector of Factories in Britain, included asbestos in a list of harmful industrial substances in 1902. Similar investigations were conducted in France in 1906 and Italy in 1908.[46]

 
Asbestos fabric
 
Rockbestos, asbestos covered wire advertisement in Exhibitor's Herald, 1926

The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in the UK in 1924.[45][47][48] Nellie Kershaw was employed at Turner Brothers Asbestos in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, from 1917, spinning raw asbestos fibre into yarn.[48][49] Her death in 1924 led to a formal inquest. Pathologist William Edmund Cooke testified that his examination of the lungs indicated old scarring indicative of a previous, healed tuberculosis infection, and extensive fibrosis, in which were visible "particles of mineral matter ... of various shapes, but the large majority have sharp angles."[47] Having compared these particles with samples of asbestos dust provided by S. A. Henry, His Majesty's Medical Inspector of Factories, Cooke concluded that they "originated from asbestos and were, beyond a reasonable doubt, the primary cause of the fibrosis of the lungs and therefore of death."[48][50]

As a result of Cooke's paper, Parliament commissioned an inquiry into the effects of asbestos dust by E. R. A. Merewether, Medical Inspector of Factories, and C. W. Price, a factory inspector and pioneer of dust monitoring and control.[51] Their subsequent report, Occurrence of Pulmonary Fibrosis & Other Pulmonary Affections in Asbestos Workers, was presented to Parliament on 24 March 1930.[52] It concluded that the development of asbestosis was irrefutably linked to the prolonged inhalation of asbestos dust, and included the first health study of asbestos workers, which found that 66% of those employed for 20 years or more suffered from asbestosis.[51] The report led to the publication of the first asbestos industry regulations in 1931, which came into effect on 1 March 1932.[53] These rules regulated ventilation and made asbestosis an excusable work-related disease.[54] The term mesothelioma was first used in medical literature in 1931; its association with asbestos was first noted sometime in the 1940s. Similar legislation followed in the U.S. about ten years later.

Approximately 100,000 people in the United States have died, or are terminally ill, from asbestos exposure related to shipbuilding. In the Hampton Roads area, a shipbuilding center, mesothelioma occurrence is seven times the national rate.[55] Thousands of tons of asbestos were used in World War II ships to insulate piping, boilers, steam engines, and steam turbines. There were approximately 4.3 million shipyard workers in the United States during the war; for every 1,000 workers, about 14 died of mesothelioma and an unknown number died of asbestosis.[56]

The United States government and the asbestos industry have been criticized for not acting quickly enough to inform the public of dangers and to reduce public exposure. In the late 1970s, court documents proved that asbestos industry officials knew of asbestos dangers since the 1930s and had concealed them from the public.[56]

In Australia, asbestos was widely used in construction and other industries between 1946 and 1980. From the 1970s, there was increasing concern about the dangers of asbestos, and its use was phased out, with mining having ceased in 1983. The use of asbestos was phased out in 1989 and banned entirely in December 2003. The dangers of asbestos are now well known in Australia, and there is help and support for those suffering from asbestosis or mesothelioma.[57]

Use by industry and product type

Serpentine group

 
In Guy's Hospital, London, 1941, nurses arrange asbestos blankets over an electrically heated frame to create a hood over patients to help warm them quickly

Serpentine minerals have a sheet or layered structure. Chrysotile (commonly known as white asbestos) is the only asbestos mineral in the serpentine group. In the United States, chrysotile has been the most commonly used type of asbestos. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Asbestos Building Inspectors Manual, chrysotile accounts for approximately 95% of asbestos found in buildings in the United States.[58] Chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of products and materials, including:

  • Chlor Alkali diaphragm membranes used to make chlorine (currently in the US)[59]
  • Drywall and joint compound (including texture coats)
  • Plaster
  • Gas mask filters throughout World War II until the 1960s for most countries; Germany and the USSR's Civilian issued filters up until 1988 tested positive for asbestos
  • Vinyl floor tiles, sheeting, adhesives
  • Roofing tars, felts, siding, and shingles[60]
  • "Transite" panels, siding, countertops, and pipes
  • Popcorn ceilings, also known as acoustic ceilings
  • Fireproofing
  • Caulk
  • Industrial and marine gaskets
  • Brake pads and shoes
  • Stage curtains
  • Fire blankets
  • Interior fire doors
  • Fireproof clothing for firefighters
  • Thermal pipe insulation
  • Filters for removing fine particulates from chemicals, liquids, and wine
  • Dental cast linings
  • HVAC flexible duct connectors
  • Drilling fluid additives

In the European Union and Australia, it has been banned as a potential health hazard[61] and is no longer used at all.

Amphibole group

Amphiboles including amosite (brown asbestos) and crocidolite (blue asbestos) were formerly used in many products until the early 1980s.[citation needed] Tremolite asbestos constituted a contaminant of many if not all naturally occurring chrysotile deposits. The use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in much of the Western world by the mid-1980s, and in Japan by 1995.[62] Some products that included amphibole types of asbestos included the following:

  • Low-density insulating board (often referred to as AIB or asbestos insulating board) and ceiling tiles;
  • Asbestos cement sheets and pipes for construction, casing for water and electrical/telecommunication services;
  • Thermal and chemical insulation (e.g., fire-rated doors, limpet spray, lagging, and gaskets).

Cigarette manufacturer Lorillard (Kent's filtered cigarette) used crocidolite asbestos in its "Micronite" filter from 1952 to 1956.[63]

While mostly chrysotile asbestos fibers were once used in automobile brake pads, shoes, and clutch discs, contaminants of amphiboles were present. Since approximately the mid-1990s, brake pads, new or replacement, have been manufactured instead with linings made of ceramic, carbon, metallic, and aramid fiber (Twaron or Kevlar—the same material used in bulletproof vests).

Artificial Christmas snow, known as flocking, was previously made with asbestos.[64] It was used as an effect in films including The Wizard of Oz and department store window displays and it was marketed for use in private homes under brand names that included "Pure White", "Snow Drift" and "White Magic".[65]

Potential use in carbon sequestration

The potential for use of asbestos to mitigate climate change has been raised. Although the adverse aspects of mining of minerals, including health effects, must be taken into account, exploration of the use of mineral wastes to sequester carbon is being studied. The use of mining waste materials from nickel, copper, diamond, and platinum mines have the potential as well, but asbestos may have the greatest potential and is the subject of research now in progress in an emerging field of scientific study to examine it. The most common type of asbestos, chrysotile, chemically reacts with CO2 to produce ecologically stable Magnesium Carbonate. Chrysotile, like all types of asbestos, has a large surface area that provides more places for chemical reactions to occur, compared to most other naturally occurring materials.[66]

Construction

Developed countries

 
Older decorative ceilings, similar to this one, may contain small amounts of white asbestos
 
1929 newspaper advertisement from Perth, Western Australia, for asbestos sheeting for residential building construction

The use of asbestos in new construction projects has been banned for health and safety reasons in many developed countries or regions, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand. A notable exception is the United States, where asbestos continues to be used in construction such as cement asbestos pipes. The 5th Circuit Court prevented the EPA from banning asbestos in 1991 because EPA research showed the ban would cost between US$450 and 800 million while only saving around 200 lives in a 13-year timeframe, and that the EPA did not provide adequate evidence for the safety of alternative products.[67] Until the mid-1980s, small amounts of white asbestos were used in the manufacture of Artex, a decorative stipple finish,[68] however, some of the lesser-known suppliers of Artex-type materials were still adding white asbestos until 1999.[69]

Before the ban, asbestos was widely used in the construction industry in thousands of materials. Some are judged to be more dangerous than others due to the amount of asbestos and the material's friable nature. Sprayed coatings, pipe insulation, and Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB) are thought to be the most dangerous due to their high content of asbestos and friable nature. Many older buildings built before the late 1990s contain asbestos. In the United States, there is a minimum standard for asbestos surveys as described by ASTM standard E 2356–18. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive have issued guidance called HSG264 describing how surveys should be completed although other methods can be used if they can demonstrate they have met the regulations by other means.[70] The EPA includes some, but not all, asbestos-contaminated facilities on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). Renovation and demolition of asbestos-contaminated buildings are subject to EPA NESHAP and OSHA Regulations. Asbestos is not a material covered under CERCLA's innocent purchaser defense. In the UK, the removal and disposal of asbestos and substances containing it are covered by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.[71]

U.S. asbestos consumption hit a peak of 804,000 tons in 1973; world asbestos demand peaked around 1977, with 25 countries producing nearly 4.8 million metric tons annually.[72]

In older buildings (e.g. those built before 1999 in the UK, before white asbestos was banned), asbestos may still be present in some areas. Being aware of asbestos locations reduces the risk of disturbing asbestos.[73]

Removal of asbestos building components can also remove the fire protection they provide, therefore fire protection substitutes are required for proper fire protection that the asbestos originally provided.[73][74]

Outside Europe and North America

Some countries, such as India, Indonesia, China, Russia, and Brazil, have continued widespread use of asbestos. The most common is corrugated asbestos-cement sheets or "A/C sheets" for roofing and sidewalls. Millions of homes, factories, schools or sheds, and shelters continue to use asbestos. Cutting these sheets to size and drilling holes to receive 'J' bolts to help secure the sheets to roof framing is done on-site. There has been no significant change in production and use of A/C sheets in developing countries following the widespread restrictions in developed nations[citation needed].

September 11 attacks

As New York City's World Trade Center collapsed following the September 11 attacks, Lower Manhattan was blanketed in a mixture of building debris and combustible materials. This complex mixture gave rise to the concern that thousands of residents and workers in the area would be exposed to known hazards in the air and dust, such as asbestos, lead, glass fibers, and pulverized concrete.[75] More than 1,000 tons of asbestos are thought to have been released into the air following the buildings' destruction.[76] Inhalation of a mixture of asbestos and other toxicants is thought to be linked to the unusually high death rate from cancer of emergency service workers since the disaster.[76] Thousands more are now thought to be at risk of developing cancer due to this exposure with those who have died so far being only the "tip of the iceberg".[76]

In May 2002, after numerous cleanup, dust collection, and air monitoring activities were conducted outdoors by EPA, other federal agencies, New York City, and the state of New York, New York City formally requested federal assistance to clean and test residences in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site for airborne asbestos.[75]

Asbestos contaminants in other products

Vermiculite

Vermiculite is a hydrated laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate that resembles mica. It can be used for many industrial applications and has been used as insulation. Some deposits of vermiculite are contaminated with small amounts of asbestos.[77]

One vermiculite mine operated by W. R. Grace and Company in Libby, Montana exposed workers and community residents to danger by mining vermiculite contaminated with asbestos, typically richterite, winchite, actinolite or tremolite.[78] Vermiculite contaminated with asbestos from the Libby mine was used as insulation in residential and commercial buildings through Canada and the United States. W. R. Grace and Company's loose-fill vermiculite was marketed as Zonolite but was also used in sprayed-on products such as Monokote.

In 1999, the EPA began cleanup efforts in Libby and now the area is a Superfund cleanup area.[79] The EPA has determined that harmful asbestos is released from the mine as well as through other activities that disturb soil in the area.[80]

Talc

 
A laboratory heat spreader made of asbestos, on a tripod over a Teclu burner

Talc can sometimes be contaminated with asbestos due to the proximity of asbestos ore (usually tremolite) in underground talc deposits.[81] By 1973, US federal law required all talc products to be asbestos-free,[82] and today there is strict quality control in the production of talc products. Separating cosmetic-grade talc (e.g. talcum powder) from industrial-grade talc (often used in friction products) has largely eliminated this issue for consumers.[83]

In 2000, tests in a certified asbestos-testing laboratory found the tremolite form of amphibole asbestos used to be found in three out of eight popular brands of children's crayons that were made partly from talc: Crayola, Prang, and RoseArt.[84] In Crayola crayons, the tests found asbestos levels around 0.05% in Carnation Pink and 2.86% in Orchid; in Prang crayons, the range was from 0.3% in Periwinkle to 0.54% in Yellow; in Rose Art crayons, it was from 0.03% in Brown to 1.20% in Orange. Overall, 32 different types of crayons from these brands used to contain more than trace amounts of asbestos, and eight others contained trace amounts. The Art and Creative Materials Institute, a trade association which tested the safety of crayons on behalf of the makers, initially insisted the test results must have been incorrect, although they later said they do not test for asbestos.[84] In May 2000, Crayola said tests by Richard Lee, a materials analyst whose testimony on behalf of the asbestos industry has been accepted in lawsuits over 250 times, found its crayons tested negative for asbestos.[85] In spite of that, in June 2000 Binney & Smith, the maker of Crayola, and the other makers agreed to stop using talc in their products, and changed their product formulations in the United States.[85]

The mining company R T Vanderbilt Co of Gouverneur, New York, which supplied the talc to the crayon makers, states that "to the best of our knowledge and belief" there had never been any asbestos-related disease among the company's workers.[86] However media reports claim that the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) had found asbestos in four talc samples tested in 2000.[84] The Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health subsequently wrote to the news reporter, stating that "In fact, the abbreviation ND (non-detect) in the laboratory report – indicates no asbestos fibers actually were found in the samples."[87] Multiple studies by mineral chemists, cell biologists, and toxicologists between 1970 and 2000 found neither samples of asbestos in talc products nor symptoms of asbestos exposure among workers dealing with talc,[88] but more recent work has rejected these conclusions in favor of "same as" asbestos risk.[89][90][clarification needed]

On 12 July 2018, a Missouri jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay a record $4.69 billion to 22 women who alleged the company's talc-based products, including its baby powder, contain asbestos and caused them to develop ovarian cancer.[91]

Types and associated fibers

Six mineral types are defined by the EPA as "asbestos" including those belonging to the serpentine class and those belonging to the amphibole class. All six asbestos mineral types are known to be human carcinogens.[92][93] The visible fibers are themselves each composed of millions of microscopic "fibrils" that can be released by abrasion and other processes.[51]

Serpentine

 
Size of asbestos fibers compared to other particles (USEPA, March 1978)

Serpentine class fibers are curly. Chrysotile, CAS No. 12001-29-5 , is the only asbestos classed as a serpentine fiber. It is obtained from serpentinite rocks which are common throughout the world. Its idealized chemical formula is Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4.[54] Chrysotile appears under the microscope as a white fiber.

Chrysotile has been used more than any other type and accounts for about 95% of the asbestos found in buildings in America.[94] Chrysotile is more flexible than amphibole types of asbestos and can be spun and woven into fabric. The most common use was corrugated asbestos cement roofing primarily for outbuildings, warehouses, and garages. It may also be found in sheets or panels used for ceilings and sometimes for walls and floors. Chrysotile has been a component in joint compound and some plasters. Numerous other items have been made containing chrysotile including brake linings, fire barriers in fuseboxes, pipe insulation, floor tiles, residential shingles, and gaskets for high-temperature equipment.[citation needed]

Amphibole

Amphibole class fibers are needle-like. Amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite are members of the amphibole class.

Amosite

Amosite, CAS No. 12172-73-5 , often referred to as brown asbestos, is a trade name for the amphiboles belonging to the cummingtonite-grunerite solid solution series, commonly from South Africa, named as a partial acronym for "Asbestos Mines of South Africa". One formula given for amosite is Fe7Si8O22(OH)2. Amosite is seen under a microscope as a grey-white vitreous fiber. It is found most frequently as a fire retardant in thermal insulation products, asbestos insulating board and ceiling tiles.[94]

Crocidolite

Crocidolite, CAS No. 12001-28-4 , commonly known as blue asbestos, is the fibrous form of the amphibole riebeckite, found primarily in southern Africa, but also in Australia and Bolivia. One formula given for crocidolite is Na2FeII3FeIII2Si8O22(OH)2. Crocidolite is seen under a microscope as a blue fiber.

Crocidolite commonly occurs as soft friable fibers. Asbestiform amphibole may also occur as soft friable fibers but some varieties such as amosite are commonly straighter. All forms of asbestos are fibrillar in that they are composed of fibers with breadths less than 1 micrometer in bundles of very great widths. Asbestos with particularly fine fibers is also referred to as "amianthus".

Other materials

Other regulated asbestos minerals, such as tremolite asbestos, CAS No. 77536-68-6 , Ca2Mg5Si8O22(OH)2; actinolite asbestos, CAS No. 77536-66-4, Ca2(Mg,FeII)5(Si8O22)(OH)2; and anthophyllite asbestos, CAS No. 77536-67-5 , (Mg,FeII)7Si8O22(OH)2; are less commonly used industrially but can still be found in a variety of construction materials and insulation materials and have been used in a few consumer products.

Other natural asbestiform minerals, such as richterite, Na(CaNa)(Mg,FeII)5(Si8O22)(OH)2, and winchite, (CaNa)Mg4(Al,FeIII)(Si8O22)(OH)2, though not regulated, are said by some to be no less harmful than tremolite, amosite, or crocidolite.[95] They are termed "asbestiform" rather than asbestos. Although the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not included them in the asbestos standard, NIOSH and the American Thoracic Society have recommended them for inclusion as regulated materials because they may also be hazardous to health.[95]

"Mountain leather" is an old-fashioned term for flexible, sheet-like natural formations of asbestiform minerals which resemble leather. Asbestos-containing minerals known to form mountain leather include: actinolite, sepiolite, and tremolite.[96]

Production

 
World production of asbestos (metric tons) from 1900 to 2017 with trend line

In 2017, 1.3 million tonnes of asbestos were mined worldwide. Russia was the largest producer with 53% of the world total, followed by Kazakhstan (16%), China (15%), and Brazil (11.5%).[97][98] Asia consumes some 70% of the asbestos produced in the world with China, India and Indonesia the largest consumers.[99]

In 2009, about 9% of the world's asbestos production was mined in Canada.[100] In late 2011, Canada's remaining two asbestos mines, both located in Quebec, halted operations.[101] In September 2012, the Quebec government halted asbestos mining.[102]

Health impact

 
Left-sided mesothelioma (seen on the right of the image): chest CT

The most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis (scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation) and mesothelioma (cancer associated with asbestos).[8] Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer and often leads to a life expectancy of less than 12 months after diagnosis.[103]

All types of asbestos fibers are known to cause serious health hazards in humans and animals.[104][105][106] Amosite and crocidolite are considered the most hazardous asbestos fiber types;[107][108] however, chrysotile asbestos has also produced tumors in animals and is a recognized cause of asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma in humans,[109] and mesothelioma has been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines.[110]

During the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the asbestos industry suggested at times that the process of making asbestos cement could "neutralize" the asbestos, either via chemical processes or by causing the cement to attach to the fibers and changing their physical size; subsequent studies showed that this was untrue and that decades-old asbestos cement, when broken, releases asbestos fibers identical to those found in nature, with no detectable alteration.[111]

Exposure to asbestos in the form of fibers is always considered dangerous. Working with, or exposure to, material that is friable, or materials or works that could cause the release of loose asbestos fibers, is considered high risk. In general, people who become ill from inhaling asbestos have been regularly exposed in a job where they worked directly with the material.[112]

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has standards to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to asbestos in the workplace. The permissible exposure limit for asbestos is 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with an excursion limit of 1.0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter over a 30-minute period.[113]

Regulation

Complete bans on asbestos

 
Asbestos warning label under EU directive of 1983

Worldwide, 66 countries and territories (including all those in the European Union) have banned the use of asbestos. Exemptions for minor uses are permitted in some countries listed; however, all countries listed must have banned the use of all types of asbestos.[114][115]

  Algeria   Czech Republic   Iraq   Mauritius   Slovakia
  Argentina   Denmark   Ireland   Monaco   Slovenia
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  Croatia   Hungary   North Macedonia   Serbia
  Cyprus   Iceland   Malta   Seychelles

Australia

 
Asbestos Products Ltd (Sydney) asbestos cement corrugated roofing for export

The use of crocidolite (blue asbestos) was banned in 1967, while the use of amosite (brown asbestos) continued in the construction industry until the mid-1980s. It was finally banned from building products in 1989, though it remained in gaskets and brake linings until 31 December 2003, and cannot be imported, used, or recycled.[116][117]

Asbestos continues to be a problem in Australia. Two out of three homes in Australia built between World War II and the early 1980s still contain asbestos.[118]

The union that represents workers tasked with modifying electrical meter boxes at residences stated that workers should refuse to do this work until the boxes have been inspected for asbestos,[119] and the head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has called on the government to protect its citizens by ridding the country of asbestos by 2030.[120]

Handlers of asbestos materials must have a B-Class license for bonded asbestos and an A-Class license for friable asbestos.

The town of Wittenoom, in Western Australia, was built around a (blue) asbestos mine. The entire town continues to be contaminated and has been disincorporated, allowing local authorities to remove references to Wittenoom from maps and road signs.

Canada

As of December 31st 2018, it is illegal to import, manufacture, sell, trade, or use products made from asbestos. There are exemptions for its use in the Chlor-alkali industry, the military, nuclear facilities, and for magnesium extraction from asbestos mining residues.[121]

Japan

Revelations that hundreds of workers had died in Japan over the previous few decades from diseases related to asbestos sparked a scandal in mid-2005.[122] Tokyo had, in 1971, ordered companies handling asbestos to install ventilators and check health regularly; however, the Japanese government did not ban crocidolite and amosite until 1995, and a near-complete ban with a few exceptions on asbestos was implemented in 2006, with the remaining exceptions being removed in March 2012 for a full-fledged ban.[123]

New Zealand

In 1984, the import of raw amphibole (blue and brown) asbestos into New Zealand was banned. In 2002 the import of chrysotile (white) asbestos was also banned.[124] In 2015 the government announced that the importation of asbestos would be completely banned with very limited exceptions (expected to be applied to replacement parts for older machines) that would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.[125]

North-west of Nelson, in the Upper Takaka Valley, is New Zealand's only commercially harvested asbestos mine. A low-grade Chrysotile was mined here from 1908 to 1917 but only 100 tons were washed and taken out by packhorse. A new power scheme enabled work to renew and between 1940 and 1949, 40 tons a month was mined by the Hume Company. This continued to 1964, when, due to the short length of its fibre, the limited commercial viability forced mining to cease.[126][127]

South Korea

In May 1997, the manufacture and use of crocidolite and amosite, commonly known as blue and brown asbestos, were fully banned in South Korea.[128] In January 2009, a full-fledged ban on all types of asbestos occurred when the government banned the manufacture, import, sale, storage, transport or use of asbestos or any substance containing more than 0.1% of asbestos.[129] In 2011, South Korea became the world's sixth country to enact an asbestos harm aid act, which entitles any Korean citizen to free lifetime medical care as well as monthly income from the government if he or she is diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.[130]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, blue and brown asbestos materials were banned outright in 1985 while the import, sale, and secondhand reuse of white asbestos was outlawed in 1999. The 2012 Control of Asbestos Regulations, updating and replacing the previous 2006 law, state that owners of non-domestic buildings (e.g., factories and offices) have a "duty to manage" asbestos on the premises by making themselves aware of its presence and ensuring the material does not deteriorate, removing it if necessary. Employers, e.g. construction companies, whose operatives may come into contact with asbestos must also provide annual asbestos training to their workers.[131]

Countries where asbestos is legal

United States

 
Researcher using a fiber length classifier to produce length-selected fibers of asbestos for toxological studies

The United States remains one of the few developed countries to not completely ban asbestos.[132] Some American workers at chlorine plants frequently come in contact with the substance,[133] and OSHA exempts these plants from random inspections through the Voluntary Protection Program.[134]

In 1989 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule but in 1991, asbestos industry supporters challenged and overturned the ban in a landmark lawsuit: Corrosion Proof Fittings v. the Environmental Protection Agency. Although the case resulted in several small victories for asbestos regulation, the EPA ultimately did not put an end to asbestos use. The ruling left many consumer products that can still legally contain trace amounts of asbestos. Six categories of asbestos-containing products are however banned: corrugated paper, rollboard, commercial paper, specialty paper, flooring felt and any new uses of asbestos. The Clean Air Act also bans asbestos pipe insulation and asbestos block insulation on components such as boilers and hot water tanks, and spray-applied surfacing asbestos-containing materials. The Consumer Product Safety Act bans asbestos in artificial fireplace embers and wall patching compounds. The Food and Drug Administration bans asbestos-containing filters in pharmaceutical manufacturing, processing, and packing.[135][136]

Starting in 2014, Washington has banned asbestos in automotive brakes. [137]

Mexico

Since 1970, as a result of increased regulation of asbestos in Europe and in the United States, there was a massive transfer of asbestos-processing enterprises to Mexico. Asbestos is used in many products – roofing, boilers, pipes, brakes, and wires, produced by over 2,000 Mexican companies, many of them subsidiaries or subcontractors of US companies, and sold throughout the Americas. In 2000, 58% of Mexican asbestos-containing exports went to the United States, and 40% to Central American countries and Cuba.[138][139]

Vietnam

 
Corrugated asbestos roof (with Fibre cement)

In Vietnam, chrysotile asbestos is not banned and is still widely used. Amphibole asbestos is banned from trade and use. Vietnam is one of the top 10 asbestos users in the world, with an annual import volume of about 65,000–70,000 tons of chrysotile.[140] About 90% of the imported asbestos is used to produce about 100 million m2 of cement roofing sheets (asbestos-cement). According to one study, among 300 families in Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa, 85% of households use asbestos roofing sheets, but only 5% know about the negative health effects.[141]

However, the master plan (for construction materials development to 2020 with orientation to 2030 submitted by the Ministry of Construction to the Government in January 2014) still suggests continued use of chrysotile for a long time.[141]

Substitutes for asbestos in construction

Fiberglass insulation was invented in 1938 and is now the most commonly used type of insulation material. The safety of this material has also been called into question due to similarities in material structure.[142] However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer removed fiberglass from its list of possible human carcinogens in 2001.[143] A scientific review article from 2011 claimed epidemiology data was inconsistent and concluded that the IARC's decision to downgrade the carcinogenic potential of fiberglass was valid, although this study was funded by a sponsored research contract from the North American Insulation Manufacturer's Association.[144]

In 1978, a highly texturized fiberglass fabric was invented by Bal Dixit, called Zetex. This fabric is lighter than asbestos but offers the same bulk, thickness, hand, feel, and abrasion resistance as asbestos. The fiberglass was texturized to eliminate some of the problems that arise with fiberglass, such as poor abrasion resistance and poor seam strength.[145]

In Europe, mineral wool and glass wool are the main insulators in houses.

Many companies that produced asbestos-cement products that were reinforced with asbestos fibers have developed products incorporating organic fibers. One such product was known as "Eternit" and another "Everite" now use "Nutec" fibers which consist of organic fibers, portland cement and silica. Cement-bonded wood fiber is another substitute. Stone fibers are used in gaskets and friction materials.

Another potential fiber is polybenzimidazole or PBI fiber. Polybenzimidazole fiber is a synthetic fiber with a high melting point of 760 °C (1,400 °F) that also does not ignite. Because of its exceptional thermal and chemical stability, it is often used by fire departments and space agencies.

Recycling and disposal

In most developed countries, asbestos is typically disposed of as hazardous waste in designated landfill sites.

The demolition of buildings containing large amounts of asbestos-based materials pose particular problems for builders and property developers – such buildings often have to be deconstructed piece by piece, or the asbestos has to be painstakingly removed before the structure can be razed by mechanical or explosive means. One such example is the Red Road Flats in Glasgow, Scotland which used huge amounts of asbestos cement board for wall panelling – British health and safety regulations stipulate that asbestos material has to be removed in specially adapted vehicles and taken to a landfill site with an appropriate permit to accept asbestos, via an approved route, at certain times of the day.

In the United States, the EPA governs the removal and disposal of asbestos strictly. Companies that remove asbestos must comply with EPA licensing. These companies are called EPA licensed asbestos contractors. Anytime one of these asbestos contractors performs work a test consultant has to conduct strict testing to ensure the asbestos is completely removed.

Asbestos can be destroyed by ultra-high-temperature incineration and plasma melting process. A process of thermal decomposition at 1,000–1,250 °C (1,800–2,300 °F) produces a mixture of non-hazardous silicon-based wastes, and at temperatures above 1,250 °C (2,300 °F) it produces silicate glass.[146] Microwave thermal treatment can be used in an industrial manufacturing process to transform asbestos and asbestos-containing waste into porcelain stoneware tiles, porous single-fired wall tiles, and ceramic bricks.[147]

The combination of oxalic acid with ultrasound fully degrades chrysotile asbestos fibers.[148]

Abbreviations associated with asbestos

See also

References

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Further reading

External links

  • Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
  • The Asbestos Information Centre[permanent dead link] Independent site with information about asbestos and its use in buildings
  • U.S. EPA Asbestos Home Page
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Deaths and major morbidity from asbestos-related diseases in Asia likely to surge in next 20 years
  • British Government Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Asbestos
  • Asbestos general article and chrysotile specifically: comprehensive coverage of all aspects of chemistry, biological interactions, destruction, and social/clinical scientific knowledge related to Asbestos, on the Toxicology Data Network, with a full library of cites on many aspects and sub-topics].
  • Parachrysotile (asbestos) at the webmineral.com Mineral Database
  • White Gold Pioneers: Asbestos Mining 3 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine – The origins of asbestos mining, illustrated with many early photographs
  • How to Identify Asbestos – Independent site citing how to identify the early signs of Asbestos and actions to take

asbestos, other, uses, disambiguation, confused, with, lung, disease, caused, asbestos, naturally, occurring, fibrous, silicate, mineral, there, types, which, composed, long, thin, fibrous, crystals, each, fibre, being, composed, many, microscopic, fibrils, th. For other uses see Asbestos disambiguation Not to be confused with the lung disease caused by asbestos Asbestosis Asbestos ae s ˈ b ɛ s t ɒ s ae z t e s 1 is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral There are six types all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals each fibre being composed of many microscopic fibrils that can be released into the atmosphere by abrasion and other processes Inhalation of asbestos fibres can lead to various dangerous lung conditions including mesothelioma asbestosis and lung cancer so it is now notorious as a serious health and safety hazard 2 AsbestosFibrous tremolite asbestos on muscoviteGeneralCategorySilicate mineralsStrunz classification09 ED 15Dana classification71 01 02d 03Crystal systemOrthorhombic monoclinicIdentificationFormula mass277 11 gColorGreen red yellow white gray blueCrystal habitAmorphous granular massiveCleavagePrismaticFractureFibrousMohs scale hardness2 5 6 0LusterSilkyStreakWhiteSpecific gravity2 4 3 3Optical propertiesBiaxialRefractive index1 53 1 72Birefringence0 0082V angle20 to 60 DispersionRelatively weakExtinctionParallel or obliqueUltraviolet fluorescenceNon fluorescentMelting point400 to 1 040 C 752 to 1 904 F Archaeological studies have found evidence of asbestos being used as far back as the Stone Age to strengthen ceramic pots 3 but large scale mining began at the end of the 19th century when manufacturers and builders began using asbestos for its desirable physical properties Asbestos is an excellent electrical insulator and is highly fire resistant so for much of the 20th century it was very commonly used across the world as a building material until its adverse effects on human health were more widely acknowledged in the 1970s 4 5 Many modern buildings constructed before the 1980s are thought to contain asbestos 6 The use of asbestos for construction and fireproofing has been made illegal in many countries 2 Despite this at least 100 000 people are thought to die each year from diseases related to asbestos exposure In part this is because many older buildings still contain asbestos in addition the consequences of exposure can take decades to arise 6 7 The most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation and mesothelioma a type of cancer 8 Many developing countries still support the use of asbestos as a building material and mining of asbestos is ongoing with the top producer Russia having an estimated production of 790 000 tonnes in 2020 9 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Early references and uses 2 2 Industrial era 2 3 Discovery of toxicity 2 4 Use by industry and product type 2 4 1 Serpentine group 2 4 2 Amphibole group 2 5 Potential use in carbon sequestration 2 6 Construction 2 6 1 Developed countries 2 6 2 Outside Europe and North America 2 6 3 September 11 attacks 2 7 Asbestos contaminants in other products 2 7 1 Vermiculite 2 7 2 Talc 3 Types and associated fibers 3 1 Serpentine 3 2 Amphibole 3 2 1 Amosite 3 2 2 Crocidolite 3 2 3 Other materials 4 Production 5 Health impact 6 Regulation 6 1 Complete bans on asbestos 6 1 1 Australia 6 1 2 Canada 6 1 3 Japan 6 1 4 New Zealand 6 1 5 South Korea 6 1 6 United Kingdom 6 2 Countries where asbestos is legal 6 2 1 United States 6 2 2 Mexico 6 2 3 Vietnam 7 Substitutes for asbestos in construction 8 Recycling and disposal 9 Abbreviations associated with asbestos 10 See also 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External linksEtymology EditThe word asbestos first used in the 1600s ultimately derives from the Ancient Greek ἄsbestos meaning unquenchable or inextinguishable 10 11 12 13 The name reflects use of the substance for wicks that would never burn up 10 It was adopted into English via the Old French abestos which in turn got the word from Greek via Latin but in the original Greek it actually referred to quicklime It is said by the Oxford English Dictionary to have been wrongly used by Pliny for asbestos who popularized the misnomer Asbestos was referred to in Greek as amiantos meaning undefiled 14 because it was not marked when thrown into a fire This is the source for the word for asbestos in many languages such as the Portuguese amianto and the French amiante It had also been called amiant in English in the early 15th century but this usage was superseded by asbestos 15 The word is pronounced ae s ˈ b ɛ s t e s or ae s ˈ b ɛ s t ɒ s 16 History EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message People have used asbestos for thousands of years to create flexible objects that resist fire including napkins but in the modern era companies began producing consumer goods containing asbestos on an industrial scale 17 Today people recognize the health hazard that asbestos poses the use of asbestos is completely banned in 55 countries and strictly regulated in many others 18 19 Early references and uses Edit Asbestos use dates back at least 4 500 years when the inhabitants of the Lake Juojarvi region in East Finland strengthened earthenware pots and cooking utensils with the asbestos mineral anthophyllite see Asbestos ceramic 20 One of the first descriptions of a material that may have been asbestos is in Theophrastus On Stones from around 300 BC although this identification has been questioned 21 In both modern and ancient Greek the usual name for the material known in English as asbestos is amiantos undefiled pure which was adapted into the French as amiante and into Spanish and Portuguese as amianto In modern Greek the word ἀsbestos or asbesths stands consistently and solely for lime The term asbestos is traceable to Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder s first century manuscript Natural History and his use of the term asbestinon meaning unquenchable 10 11 20 While Pliny or his nephew Pliny the Younger is popularly credited with recognising the detrimental effects of asbestos on human beings 22 examination of the primary sources reveals no support for either claim 23 Athanasius in Alexandria Egypt in about 318 AD wrote The natural property of fire is to burn Suppose then that there was a substance such as the Indian asbestos is said to be which had no fear of being burnt but rather displayed the impotence of the fire by proving itself unburnable If anyone doubted the truth of this all he need do would be to wrap himself up in the substance in question and then touch the fire 24 Wealthy Persians amazed guests by cleaning a cloth by exposing it to fire For example according to Tabari one of the curious items belonging to Khosrow II Parviz the great Sassanian king r 590 628 was a napkin Persian منديل that he cleaned simply by throwing it into fire Such cloth is believed to have been made of asbestos imported over the Hindu Kush 25 According to Biruni in his book Gems any cloths made of asbestos Persian آذرشست azarshost were called shostakeh Persian شستكه 26 Some Persians believed the fiber was the fur of an animal called the samandar Persian سمندر which lived in fire and died when exposed to water 27 28 this was where the former belief originated that the salamander could tolerate fire 29 Charlemagne the first Holy Roman Emperor 800 814 is said to have had a tablecloth made of asbestos 30 Marco Polo recounts having been shown in a place he calls Ghinghin talas a good vein from which the cloth which we call of salamander which cannot be burnt if it is thrown into the fire is made 31 Some archaeologists believe that ancients made shrouds of asbestos wherein they burned the bodies of their kings to preserve only their ashes and to prevent the ashes being mixed with those of wood or other combustible materials commonly used in funeral pyres 32 33 Others assert that the ancients used asbestos to make perpetual wicks for sepulchral or other lamps 27 A famous example is the golden lamp asbestos lychnis which the sculptor Callimachus made for the Erechtheion 34 In more recent centuries asbestos was indeed used for this purpose Industrial era Edit Industrial scale asbestos mining began in 1878 in Thetford township Quebec By 1895 mining was increasingly mechanized The large scale asbestos industry began in the mid 19th century Early attempts at producing asbestos paper and cloth in Italy began in the 1850s but were unsuccessful in creating a market for such products Canadian samples of asbestos were displayed in London in 1862 and the first companies were formed in England and Scotland to exploit this resource Asbestos was first used in the manufacture of yarn and German industrialist Louis Wertheim adopted this process in his factories in Germany 35 In 1871 the Patent Asbestos Manufacturing Company was established in Glasgow and during the following decades the Clydebank area became a centre for the nascent industry 36 Canada s biggest power shovel loading an ore train with asbestos at the Jeffrey Mine Johns Manville Co Asbestos Quebec June 1944 Industrial scale mining began in the Thetford hills Quebec from the 1870s Sir William Edmond Logan was the first to notice the large deposits of chrysotile in the hills in his capacity as head of Geological Survey of Canada Samples of the minerals from there were displayed in London and elicited much interest 35 With the opening of the Quebec Central Railway in 1876 mining entrepreneurs such as Andrew Stuart Johnson established the asbestos industry in the province 37 The 50 ton output of the mines in 1878 rose to over 10 000 tonnes in the 1890s with the adoption of machine technologies and expanded production 35 38 For a long time the world s largest asbestos mine was the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos Quebec 39 The applications of asbestos multiplied at the end of the 19th century this is an advertisement for an asbestos lined clothes iron from 1906 Asbestos production began in the Urals of the Russian Empire in the 1880s and the Alpine regions of Northern Italy with the formation in Turin of the Italo English Pure Asbestos Company in 1876 although this was soon swamped by the greater production levels from the Canadian mines Mining also took off in South Africa from 1893 under the aegis of the British businessman Francis Oates the director of the De Beers company 40 It was in South Africa that the production of amosite began in 1910 The U S asbestos industry had an early start in 1858 when fibrous anthophyllite was mined for use as asbestos insulation by the Johns Company a predecessor to the current Johns Manville at a quarry at Ward s Hill on Staten Island New York 41 US production began in earnest in 1899 with the discovery of large deposits in Belvidere Mountain The use of asbestos became increasingly widespread toward the end of the 19th century when its diverse applications included fire retardant coatings concrete bricks pipes and fireplace cement heat fire and acid resistant gaskets pipe insulation ceiling insulation fireproof drywall flooring roofing lawn furniture and drywall joint compound In 2011 it was reported that over 50 of UK houses still contained asbestos despite a ban on asbestos products some years earlier 42 In Japan particularly after World War II asbestos was used in the manufacture of ammonium sulfate for purposes of rice production sprayed upon the ceilings iron skeletons and walls of railroad cars and buildings during the 1960s and used for energy efficiency reasons as well Production of asbestos in Japan peaked in 1974 and went through ups and downs until about 1990 when production began to drop dramatically 43 Discovery of toxicity Edit For additional chronological citations see List of asbestos disease medical articles In 1899 H Montague Murray noted the negative health effects of asbestos 44 The first documented death related to asbestos was in 1906 45 In the early 1900s researchers began to notice a large number of early deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns The first such study was conducted by Murray at the Charing Cross Hospital London in 1900 in which a postmortem investigation discovered asbestos traces in the lungs of a young man who had died from pulmonary fibrosis after having worked for 14 years in an asbestos textile factory Adelaide Anderson the Inspector of Factories in Britain included asbestos in a list of harmful industrial substances in 1902 Similar investigations were conducted in France in 1906 and Italy in 1908 46 Asbestos fabric Rockbestos asbestos covered wire advertisement in Exhibitor s Herald 1926 The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in the UK in 1924 45 47 48 Nellie Kershaw was employed at Turner Brothers Asbestos in Rochdale Greater Manchester England from 1917 spinning raw asbestos fibre into yarn 48 49 Her death in 1924 led to a formal inquest Pathologist William Edmund Cooke testified that his examination of the lungs indicated old scarring indicative of a previous healed tuberculosis infection and extensive fibrosis in which were visible particles of mineral matter of various shapes but the large majority have sharp angles 47 Having compared these particles with samples of asbestos dust provided by S A Henry His Majesty s Medical Inspector of Factories Cooke concluded that they originated from asbestos and were beyond a reasonable doubt the primary cause of the fibrosis of the lungs and therefore of death 48 50 As a result of Cooke s paper Parliament commissioned an inquiry into the effects of asbestos dust by E R A Merewether Medical Inspector of Factories and C W Price a factory inspector and pioneer of dust monitoring and control 51 Their subsequent report Occurrence of Pulmonary Fibrosis amp Other Pulmonary Affections in Asbestos Workers was presented to Parliament on 24 March 1930 52 It concluded that the development of asbestosis was irrefutably linked to the prolonged inhalation of asbestos dust and included the first health study of asbestos workers which found that 66 of those employed for 20 years or more suffered from asbestosis 51 The report led to the publication of the first asbestos industry regulations in 1931 which came into effect on 1 March 1932 53 These rules regulated ventilation and made asbestosis an excusable work related disease 54 The term mesothelioma was first used in medical literature in 1931 its association with asbestos was first noted sometime in the 1940s Similar legislation followed in the U S about ten years later Approximately 100 000 people in the United States have died or are terminally ill from asbestos exposure related to shipbuilding In the Hampton Roads area a shipbuilding center mesothelioma occurrence is seven times the national rate 55 Thousands of tons of asbestos were used in World War II ships to insulate piping boilers steam engines and steam turbines There were approximately 4 3 million shipyard workers in the United States during the war for every 1 000 workers about 14 died of mesothelioma and an unknown number died of asbestosis 56 The United States government and the asbestos industry have been criticized for not acting quickly enough to inform the public of dangers and to reduce public exposure In the late 1970s court documents proved that asbestos industry officials knew of asbestos dangers since the 1930s and had concealed them from the public 56 In Australia asbestos was widely used in construction and other industries between 1946 and 1980 From the 1970s there was increasing concern about the dangers of asbestos and its use was phased out with mining having ceased in 1983 The use of asbestos was phased out in 1989 and banned entirely in December 2003 The dangers of asbestos are now well known in Australia and there is help and support for those suffering from asbestosis or mesothelioma 57 Use by industry and product type Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Serpentine group Edit In Guy s Hospital London 1941 nurses arrange asbestos blankets over an electrically heated frame to create a hood over patients to help warm them quickly Serpentine minerals have a sheet or layered structure Chrysotile commonly known as white asbestos is the only asbestos mineral in the serpentine group In the United States chrysotile has been the most commonly used type of asbestos According to the U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA Asbestos Building Inspectors Manual chrysotile accounts for approximately 95 of asbestos found in buildings in the United States 58 Chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of products and materials including Chlor Alkali diaphragm membranes used to make chlorine currently in the US 59 Drywall and joint compound including texture coats Plaster Gas mask filters throughout World War II until the 1960s for most countries Germany and the USSR s Civilian issued filters up until 1988 tested positive for asbestos Vinyl floor tiles sheeting adhesives Roofing tars felts siding and shingles 60 Transite panels siding countertops and pipes Popcorn ceilings also known as acoustic ceilings Fireproofing Caulk Industrial and marine gaskets Brake pads and shoes Stage curtains Fire blankets Interior fire doors Fireproof clothing for firefighters Thermal pipe insulation Filters for removing fine particulates from chemicals liquids and wine Dental cast linings HVAC flexible duct connectors Drilling fluid additivesIn the European Union and Australia it has been banned as a potential health hazard 61 and is no longer used at all Example of asbestos cement siding and lining on a post war temporary house in Yardley Birmingham Nearly 40 000 of these structures were built between 1946 and 1949 to house families An asbestos glove The M60 machine gun crew member responsible for a hot barrel change was issued protective asbestos gloves to prevent burns to the hands A household heat spreader for cooking on gas stoves made of asbestos probably 1950s amiante pur is French for pure asbestos Gasket containing nearly unbound asbestosAmphibole group Edit Amphiboles including amosite brown asbestos and crocidolite blue asbestos were formerly used in many products until the early 1980s citation needed Tremolite asbestos constituted a contaminant of many if not all naturally occurring chrysotile deposits The use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in much of the Western world by the mid 1980s and in Japan by 1995 62 Some products that included amphibole types of asbestos included the following Low density insulating board often referred to as AIB or asbestos insulating board and ceiling tiles Asbestos cement sheets and pipes for construction casing for water and electrical telecommunication services Thermal and chemical insulation e g fire rated doors limpet spray lagging and gaskets Cigarette manufacturer Lorillard Kent s filtered cigarette used crocidolite asbestos in its Micronite filter from 1952 to 1956 63 While mostly chrysotile asbestos fibers were once used in automobile brake pads shoes and clutch discs contaminants of amphiboles were present Since approximately the mid 1990s brake pads new or replacement have been manufactured instead with linings made of ceramic carbon metallic and aramid fiber Twaron or Kevlar the same material used in bulletproof vests Artificial Christmas snow known as flocking was previously made with asbestos 64 It was used as an effect in films including The Wizard of Oz and department store window displays and it was marketed for use in private homes under brand names that included Pure White Snow Drift and White Magic 65 Potential use in carbon sequestration Edit The potential for use of asbestos to mitigate climate change has been raised Although the adverse aspects of mining of minerals including health effects must be taken into account exploration of the use of mineral wastes to sequester carbon is being studied The use of mining waste materials from nickel copper diamond and platinum mines have the potential as well but asbestos may have the greatest potential and is the subject of research now in progress in an emerging field of scientific study to examine it The most common type of asbestos chrysotile chemically reacts with CO2 to produce ecologically stable Magnesium Carbonate Chrysotile like all types of asbestos has a large surface area that provides more places for chemical reactions to occur compared to most other naturally occurring materials 66 Construction Edit Developed countries Edit Older decorative ceilings similar to this one may contain small amounts of white asbestos 1929 newspaper advertisement from Perth Western Australia for asbestos sheeting for residential building construction The use of asbestos in new construction projects has been banned for health and safety reasons in many developed countries or regions including the European Union the United Kingdom Australia Hong Kong Japan and New Zealand A notable exception is the United States where asbestos continues to be used in construction such as cement asbestos pipes The 5th Circuit Court prevented the EPA from banning asbestos in 1991 because EPA research showed the ban would cost between US 450 and 800 million while only saving around 200 lives in a 13 year timeframe and that the EPA did not provide adequate evidence for the safety of alternative products 67 Until the mid 1980s small amounts of white asbestos were used in the manufacture of Artex a decorative stipple finish 68 however some of the lesser known suppliers of Artex type materials were still adding white asbestos until 1999 69 Before the ban asbestos was widely used in the construction industry in thousands of materials Some are judged to be more dangerous than others due to the amount of asbestos and the material s friable nature Sprayed coatings pipe insulation and Asbestos Insulating Board AIB are thought to be the most dangerous due to their high content of asbestos and friable nature Many older buildings built before the late 1990s contain asbestos In the United States there is a minimum standard for asbestos surveys as described by ASTM standard E 2356 18 In the UK the Health and Safety Executive have issued guidance called HSG264 describing how surveys should be completed although other methods can be used if they can demonstrate they have met the regulations by other means 70 The EPA includes some but not all asbestos contaminated facilities on the Superfund National Priorities List NPL Renovation and demolition of asbestos contaminated buildings are subject to EPA NESHAP and OSHA Regulations Asbestos is not a material covered under CERCLA s innocent purchaser defense In the UK the removal and disposal of asbestos and substances containing it are covered by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 71 U S asbestos consumption hit a peak of 804 000 tons in 1973 world asbestos demand peaked around 1977 with 25 countries producing nearly 4 8 million metric tons annually 72 In older buildings e g those built before 1999 in the UK before white asbestos was banned asbestos may still be present in some areas Being aware of asbestos locations reduces the risk of disturbing asbestos 73 Removal of asbestos building components can also remove the fire protection they provide therefore fire protection substitutes are required for proper fire protection that the asbestos originally provided 73 74 Outside Europe and North America Edit Some countries such as India Indonesia China Russia and Brazil have continued widespread use of asbestos The most common is corrugated asbestos cement sheets or A C sheets for roofing and sidewalls Millions of homes factories schools or sheds and shelters continue to use asbestos Cutting these sheets to size and drilling holes to receive J bolts to help secure the sheets to roof framing is done on site There has been no significant change in production and use of A C sheets in developing countries following the widespread restrictions in developed nations citation needed September 11 attacks Edit See also Health effects arising from the September 11 attacks As New York City s World Trade Center collapsed following the September 11 attacks Lower Manhattan was blanketed in a mixture of building debris and combustible materials This complex mixture gave rise to the concern that thousands of residents and workers in the area would be exposed to known hazards in the air and dust such as asbestos lead glass fibers and pulverized concrete 75 More than 1 000 tons of asbestos are thought to have been released into the air following the buildings destruction 76 Inhalation of a mixture of asbestos and other toxicants is thought to be linked to the unusually high death rate from cancer of emergency service workers since the disaster 76 Thousands more are now thought to be at risk of developing cancer due to this exposure with those who have died so far being only the tip of the iceberg 76 In May 2002 after numerous cleanup dust collection and air monitoring activities were conducted outdoors by EPA other federal agencies New York City and the state of New York New York City formally requested federal assistance to clean and test residences in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site for airborne asbestos 75 Asbestos contaminants in other products Edit Vermiculite Edit Vermiculite is a hydrated laminar magnesium aluminum iron silicate that resembles mica It can be used for many industrial applications and has been used as insulation Some deposits of vermiculite are contaminated with small amounts of asbestos 77 One vermiculite mine operated by W R Grace and Company in Libby Montana exposed workers and community residents to danger by mining vermiculite contaminated with asbestos typically richterite winchite actinolite or tremolite 78 Vermiculite contaminated with asbestos from the Libby mine was used as insulation in residential and commercial buildings through Canada and the United States W R Grace and Company s loose fill vermiculite was marketed as Zonolite but was also used in sprayed on products such as Monokote In 1999 the EPA began cleanup efforts in Libby and now the area is a Superfund cleanup area 79 The EPA has determined that harmful asbestos is released from the mine as well as through other activities that disturb soil in the area 80 Talc Edit A laboratory heat spreader made of asbestos on a tripod over a Teclu burner Talc can sometimes be contaminated with asbestos due to the proximity of asbestos ore usually tremolite in underground talc deposits 81 By 1973 US federal law required all talc products to be asbestos free 82 and today there is strict quality control in the production of talc products Separating cosmetic grade talc e g talcum powder from industrial grade talc often used in friction products has largely eliminated this issue for consumers 83 In 2000 tests in a certified asbestos testing laboratory found the tremolite form of amphibole asbestos used to be found in three out of eight popular brands of children s crayons that were made partly from talc Crayola Prang and RoseArt 84 In Crayola crayons the tests found asbestos levels around 0 05 in Carnation Pink and 2 86 in Orchid in Prang crayons the range was from 0 3 in Periwinkle to 0 54 in Yellow in Rose Art crayons it was from 0 03 in Brown to 1 20 in Orange Overall 32 different types of crayons from these brands used to contain more than trace amounts of asbestos and eight others contained trace amounts The Art and Creative Materials Institute a trade association which tested the safety of crayons on behalf of the makers initially insisted the test results must have been incorrect although they later said they do not test for asbestos 84 In May 2000 Crayola said tests by Richard Lee a materials analyst whose testimony on behalf of the asbestos industry has been accepted in lawsuits over 250 times found its crayons tested negative for asbestos 85 In spite of that in June 2000 Binney amp Smith the maker of Crayola and the other makers agreed to stop using talc in their products and changed their product formulations in the United States 85 The mining company R T Vanderbilt Co of Gouverneur New York which supplied the talc to the crayon makers states that to the best of our knowledge and belief there had never been any asbestos related disease among the company s workers 86 However media reports claim that the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA had found asbestos in four talc samples tested in 2000 84 The Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health subsequently wrote to the news reporter stating that In fact the abbreviation ND non detect in the laboratory report indicates no asbestos fibers actually were found in the samples 87 Multiple studies by mineral chemists cell biologists and toxicologists between 1970 and 2000 found neither samples of asbestos in talc products nor symptoms of asbestos exposure among workers dealing with talc 88 but more recent work has rejected these conclusions in favor of same as asbestos risk 89 90 clarification needed On 12 July 2018 a Missouri jury ordered Johnson amp Johnson to pay a record 4 69 billion to 22 women who alleged the company s talc based products including its baby powder contain asbestos and caused them to develop ovarian cancer 91 Types and associated fibers EditSix mineral types are defined by the EPA as asbestos including those belonging to the serpentine class and those belonging to the amphibole class All six asbestos mineral types are known to be human carcinogens 92 93 The visible fibers are themselves each composed of millions of microscopic fibrils that can be released by abrasion and other processes 51 Chrysotile asbestos Asbestos fibers Asbestos Blue asbestos crocidolite the ruler is 1 cm Blue asbestos teased to show the fibrous nature of the mineralSerpentine Edit Size of asbestos fibers compared to other particles USEPA March 1978 Serpentine class fibers are curly Chrysotile CAS No 12001 29 5 is the only asbestos classed as a serpentine fiber It is obtained from serpentinite rocks which are common throughout the world Its idealized chemical formula is Mg3 Si2O5 OH 4 54 Chrysotile appears under the microscope as a white fiber Chrysotile has been used more than any other type and accounts for about 95 of the asbestos found in buildings in America 94 Chrysotile is more flexible than amphibole types of asbestos and can be spun and woven into fabric The most common use was corrugated asbestos cement roofing primarily for outbuildings warehouses and garages It may also be found in sheets or panels used for ceilings and sometimes for walls and floors Chrysotile has been a component in joint compound and some plasters Numerous other items have been made containing chrysotile including brake linings fire barriers in fuseboxes pipe insulation floor tiles residential shingles and gaskets for high temperature equipment citation needed Amphibole Edit Amphibole class fibers are needle like Amosite crocidolite tremolite anthophyllite and actinolite are members of the amphibole class Amosite Edit Amosite CAS No 12172 73 5 often referred to as brown asbestos is a trade name for the amphiboles belonging to the cummingtonite grunerite solid solution series commonly from South Africa named as a partial acronym for Asbestos Mines of South Africa One formula given for amosite is Fe7Si8O22 OH 2 Amosite is seen under a microscope as a grey white vitreous fiber It is found most frequently as a fire retardant in thermal insulation products asbestos insulating board and ceiling tiles 94 Crocidolite Edit Crocidolite CAS No 12001 28 4 commonly known as blue asbestos is the fibrous form of the amphibole riebeckite found primarily in southern Africa but also in Australia and Bolivia One formula given for crocidolite is Na2FeII3FeIII2Si8O22 OH 2 Crocidolite is seen under a microscope as a blue fiber Crocidolite commonly occurs as soft friable fibers Asbestiform amphibole may also occur as soft friable fibers but some varieties such as amosite are commonly straighter All forms of asbestos are fibrillar in that they are composed of fibers with breadths less than 1 micrometer in bundles of very great widths Asbestos with particularly fine fibers is also referred to as amianthus Other materials Edit Other regulated asbestos minerals such as tremolite asbestos CAS No 77536 68 6 Ca2Mg5Si8O22 OH 2 actinolite asbestos CAS No 77536 66 4 Ca2 Mg FeII 5 Si8O22 OH 2 and anthophyllite asbestos CAS No 77536 67 5 Mg FeII 7Si8O22 OH 2 are less commonly used industrially but can still be found in a variety of construction materials and insulation materials and have been used in a few consumer products Other natural asbestiform minerals such as richterite Na CaNa Mg FeII 5 Si8O22 OH 2 and winchite CaNa Mg4 Al FeIII Si8O22 OH 2 though not regulated are said by some to be no less harmful than tremolite amosite or crocidolite 95 They are termed asbestiform rather than asbestos Although the U S Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA has not included them in the asbestos standard NIOSH and the American Thoracic Society have recommended them for inclusion as regulated materials because they may also be hazardous to health 95 Mountain leather is an old fashioned term for flexible sheet like natural formations of asbestiform minerals which resemble leather Asbestos containing minerals known to form mountain leather include actinolite sepiolite and tremolite 96 Production Edit World production of asbestos metric tons from 1900 to 2017 with trend line In 2017 1 3 million tonnes of asbestos were mined worldwide Russia was the largest producer with 53 of the world total followed by Kazakhstan 16 China 15 and Brazil 11 5 97 98 Asia consumes some 70 of the asbestos produced in the world with China India and Indonesia the largest consumers 99 In 2009 about 9 of the world s asbestos production was mined in Canada 100 In late 2011 Canada s remaining two asbestos mines both located in Quebec halted operations 101 In September 2012 the Quebec government halted asbestos mining 102 Health impact EditMain article Health impact of asbestos Left sided mesothelioma seen on the right of the image chest CT The most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation and mesothelioma cancer associated with asbestos 8 Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer and often leads to a life expectancy of less than 12 months after diagnosis 103 All types of asbestos fibers are known to cause serious health hazards in humans and animals 104 105 106 Amosite and crocidolite are considered the most hazardous asbestos fiber types 107 108 however chrysotile asbestos has also produced tumors in animals and is a recognized cause of asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma in humans 109 and mesothelioma has been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile family members of the occupationally exposed and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines 110 During the 1980s and again in the 1990s the asbestos industry suggested at times that the process of making asbestos cement could neutralize the asbestos either via chemical processes or by causing the cement to attach to the fibers and changing their physical size subsequent studies showed that this was untrue and that decades old asbestos cement when broken releases asbestos fibers identical to those found in nature with no detectable alteration 111 Exposure to asbestos in the form of fibers is always considered dangerous Working with or exposure to material that is friable or materials or works that could cause the release of loose asbestos fibers is considered high risk In general people who become ill from inhaling asbestos have been regularly exposed in a job where they worked directly with the material 112 The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA has standards to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to asbestos in the workplace The permissible exposure limit for asbestos is 0 1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight hour time weighted average with an excursion limit of 1 0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter over a 30 minute period 113 Regulation EditMain article Asbestos and the law Complete bans on asbestos Edit Asbestos warning label under EU directive of 1983 Worldwide 66 countries and territories including all those in the European Union have banned the use of asbestos Exemptions for minor uses are permitted in some countries listed however all countries listed must have banned the use of all types of asbestos 114 115 Algeria Czech Republic Iraq Mauritius Slovakia Argentina Denmark Ireland Monaco Slovenia Australia Djibouti Israel Mozambique South Africa Austria Egypt Italy Netherlands Spain Bahrain Estonia Japan New Zealand Sweden Belgium Finland Jordan Norway Switzerland Brazil France South Korea Oman Taiwan Brunei Gabon Kuwait Poland Turkey Bulgaria Germany Latvia Portugal United Kingdom Canada Gibraltar Liechtenstein Qatar Uruguay Chile Greece Lithuania Romania Colombia Honduras Luxembourg Saudi Arabia Croatia Hungary North Macedonia Serbia Cyprus Iceland Malta SeychellesAustralia Edit Asbestos Products Ltd Sydney asbestos cement corrugated roofing for export The use of crocidolite blue asbestos was banned in 1967 while the use of amosite brown asbestos continued in the construction industry until the mid 1980s It was finally banned from building products in 1989 though it remained in gaskets and brake linings until 31 December 2003 and cannot be imported used or recycled 116 117 Asbestos continues to be a problem in Australia Two out of three homes in Australia built between World War II and the early 1980s still contain asbestos 118 The union that represents workers tasked with modifying electrical meter boxes at residences stated that workers should refuse to do this work until the boxes have been inspected for asbestos 119 and the head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions ACTU has called on the government to protect its citizens by ridding the country of asbestos by 2030 120 Handlers of asbestos materials must have a B Class license for bonded asbestos and an A Class license for friable asbestos The town of Wittenoom in Western Australia was built around a blue asbestos mine The entire town continues to be contaminated and has been disincorporated allowing local authorities to remove references to Wittenoom from maps and road signs Canada Edit As of December 31st 2018 it is illegal to import manufacture sell trade or use products made from asbestos There are exemptions for its use in the Chlor alkali industry the military nuclear facilities and for magnesium extraction from asbestos mining residues 121 Japan Edit Revelations that hundreds of workers had died in Japan over the previous few decades from diseases related to asbestos sparked a scandal in mid 2005 122 Tokyo had in 1971 ordered companies handling asbestos to install ventilators and check health regularly however the Japanese government did not ban crocidolite and amosite until 1995 and a near complete ban with a few exceptions on asbestos was implemented in 2006 with the remaining exceptions being removed in March 2012 for a full fledged ban 123 New Zealand Edit In 1984 the import of raw amphibole blue and brown asbestos into New Zealand was banned In 2002 the import of chrysotile white asbestos was also banned 124 In 2015 the government announced that the importation of asbestos would be completely banned with very limited exceptions expected to be applied to replacement parts for older machines that would be reviewed on a case by case basis 125 North west of Nelson in the Upper Takaka Valley is New Zealand s only commercially harvested asbestos mine A low grade Chrysotile was mined here from 1908 to 1917 but only 100 tons were washed and taken out by packhorse A new power scheme enabled work to renew and between 1940 and 1949 40 tons a month was mined by the Hume Company This continued to 1964 when due to the short length of its fibre the limited commercial viability forced mining to cease 126 127 South Korea Edit In May 1997 the manufacture and use of crocidolite and amosite commonly known as blue and brown asbestos were fully banned in South Korea 128 In January 2009 a full fledged ban on all types of asbestos occurred when the government banned the manufacture import sale storage transport or use of asbestos or any substance containing more than 0 1 of asbestos 129 In 2011 South Korea became the world s sixth country to enact an asbestos harm aid act which entitles any Korean citizen to free lifetime medical care as well as monthly income from the government if he or she is diagnosed with an asbestos related disease 130 United Kingdom Edit In the United Kingdom blue and brown asbestos materials were banned outright in 1985 while the import sale and secondhand reuse of white asbestos was outlawed in 1999 The 2012 Control of Asbestos Regulations updating and replacing the previous 2006 law state that owners of non domestic buildings e g factories and offices have a duty to manage asbestos on the premises by making themselves aware of its presence and ensuring the material does not deteriorate removing it if necessary Employers e g construction companies whose operatives may come into contact with asbestos must also provide annual asbestos training to their workers 131 Countries where asbestos is legal Edit United States Edit See also Asbestos and the law United States Researcher using a fiber length classifier to produce length selected fibers of asbestos for toxological studies The United States remains one of the few developed countries to not completely ban asbestos 132 Some American workers at chlorine plants frequently come in contact with the substance 133 and OSHA exempts these plants from random inspections through the Voluntary Protection Program 134 In 1989 the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule but in 1991 asbestos industry supporters challenged and overturned the ban in a landmark lawsuit Corrosion Proof Fittings v the Environmental Protection Agency Although the case resulted in several small victories for asbestos regulation the EPA ultimately did not put an end to asbestos use The ruling left many consumer products that can still legally contain trace amounts of asbestos Six categories of asbestos containing products are however banned corrugated paper rollboard commercial paper specialty paper flooring felt and any new uses of asbestos The Clean Air Act also bans asbestos pipe insulation and asbestos block insulation on components such as boilers and hot water tanks and spray applied surfacing asbestos containing materials The Consumer Product Safety Act bans asbestos in artificial fireplace embers and wall patching compounds The Food and Drug Administration bans asbestos containing filters in pharmaceutical manufacturing processing and packing 135 136 Starting in 2014 Washington has banned asbestos in automotive brakes 137 Mexico Edit Since 1970 as a result of increased regulation of asbestos in Europe and in the United States there was a massive transfer of asbestos processing enterprises to Mexico Asbestos is used in many products roofing boilers pipes brakes and wires produced by over 2 000 Mexican companies many of them subsidiaries or subcontractors of US companies and sold throughout the Americas In 2000 58 of Mexican asbestos containing exports went to the United States and 40 to Central American countries and Cuba 138 139 Vietnam Edit Corrugated asbestos roof with Fibre cement In Vietnam chrysotile asbestos is not banned and is still widely used Amphibole asbestos is banned from trade and use Vietnam is one of the top 10 asbestos users in the world with an annual import volume of about 65 000 70 000 tons of chrysotile 140 About 90 of the imported asbestos is used to produce about 100 million m2 of cement roofing sheets asbestos cement According to one study among 300 families in Yen Bai Thanh Hoa 85 of households use asbestos roofing sheets but only 5 know about the negative health effects 141 However the master plan for construction materials development to 2020 with orientation to 2030 submitted by the Ministry of Construction to the Government in January 2014 still suggests continued use of chrysotile for a long time 141 Substitutes for asbestos in construction EditFiberglass insulation was invented in 1938 and is now the most commonly used type of insulation material The safety of this material has also been called into question due to similarities in material structure 142 However the International Agency for Research on Cancer removed fiberglass from its list of possible human carcinogens in 2001 143 A scientific review article from 2011 claimed epidemiology data was inconsistent and concluded that the IARC s decision to downgrade the carcinogenic potential of fiberglass was valid although this study was funded by a sponsored research contract from the North American Insulation Manufacturer s Association 144 In 1978 a highly texturized fiberglass fabric was invented by Bal Dixit called Zetex This fabric is lighter than asbestos but offers the same bulk thickness hand feel and abrasion resistance as asbestos The fiberglass was texturized to eliminate some of the problems that arise with fiberglass such as poor abrasion resistance and poor seam strength 145 In Europe mineral wool and glass wool are the main insulators in houses Many companies that produced asbestos cement products that were reinforced with asbestos fibers have developed products incorporating organic fibers One such product was known as Eternit and another Everite now use Nutec fibers which consist of organic fibers portland cement and silica Cement bonded wood fiber is another substitute Stone fibers are used in gaskets and friction materials Another potential fiber is polybenzimidazole or PBI fiber Polybenzimidazole fiber is a synthetic fiber with a high melting point of 760 C 1 400 F that also does not ignite Because of its exceptional thermal and chemical stability it is often used by fire departments and space agencies Recycling and disposal Edit Wailuku Hawaii post office sealed off for asbestos removal In most developed countries asbestos is typically disposed of as hazardous waste in designated landfill sites The demolition of buildings containing large amounts of asbestos based materials pose particular problems for builders and property developers such buildings often have to be deconstructed piece by piece or the asbestos has to be painstakingly removed before the structure can be razed by mechanical or explosive means One such example is the Red Road Flats in Glasgow Scotland which used huge amounts of asbestos cement board for wall panelling British health and safety regulations stipulate that asbestos material has to be removed in specially adapted vehicles and taken to a landfill site with an appropriate permit to accept asbestos via an approved route at certain times of the day In the United States the EPA governs the removal and disposal of asbestos strictly Companies that remove asbestos must comply with EPA licensing These companies are called EPA licensed asbestos contractors Anytime one of these asbestos contractors performs work a test consultant has to conduct strict testing to ensure the asbestos is completely removed Asbestos can be destroyed by ultra high temperature incineration and plasma melting process A process of thermal decomposition at 1 000 1 250 C 1 800 2 300 F produces a mixture of non hazardous silicon based wastes and at temperatures above 1 250 C 2 300 F it produces silicate glass 146 Microwave thermal treatment can be used in an industrial manufacturing process to transform asbestos and asbestos containing waste into porcelain stoneware tiles porous single fired wall tiles and ceramic bricks 147 The combination of oxalic acid with ultrasound fully degrades chrysotile asbestos fibers 148 Abbreviations associated with asbestos EditACM Asbestos containing material technically material containing more than 1 asbestos 149 AIB Asbestos insulating board AIB 150 See also EditAsbestine Asbestos abatement Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Medical geology Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation Red List building materialsReferences Edit asbestos Dictionary com Unabridged Online n d a b What is asbestos British Lung Foundation 28 September 2015 Yildirim Dilek Sally Newcomb 2003 Ophiolite Concept and the Evolution of Geological Thought Geological Society of America p 449 ISBN 978 0 8137 2373 0 Bureau of Naval Personnel Basic Electricity 1969 US Navy Kazan Allen Laurie 15 July 2019 Chronology of Asbestos Bans and Restrictions International Ban Asbestos Secretariat a b Kazan Allen Laurie 2 May 2002 Asbestos Properties Uses and Problems International Ban Asbestos Secretariat King Anthony 25 June 2017 Asbestos explained Royal Society of Chemistry a b ATSDR Asbestos Health Effects 1 April 2008 ATSDR Home Retrieved 24 January 2011 Flanagan Daniel M 29 January 2021 Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021 Mineral Commodity Summaries U S Geological Survey pp 26 27 doi 10 3133 mcs2021 S2CID 242973747 a b c Alleman James E Mossman Brooke T July 1997 Asbestos Revisited PDF Scientific American 277 1 54 57 Bibcode 1997SciAm 277a 70A doi 10 1038 scientificamerican0797 70 Archived from the original PDF on 3 June 2010 Retrieved 26 November 2010 a b Bostock John 1856 Asbestinon The Natural History of Pliny Vol IV Translated by Riley H T London Henry G Bohn p 137 Retrieved 26 November 2010 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 5th ed Oxford University Press 2002 ISBN 978 0 19 860457 0 ἄsbestos Liddell Henry George Scott Robert A Greek English Lexicon at the Perseus Project ἀmiantos in Liddell and Scott asbestos Origin and meaning of asbestos by Online Etymology Dictionary www etymonline com Retrieved 14 December 2018 asbestos Oxford Living Dictionaries Oxford University Press Archived from the original on 21 March 2019 Retrieved 21 March 2019 United States Congress House Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Elementary Secondary and Vocational Education 1979 Oversight Hearings on Asbestos Health Hazards to Schoolchildren Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Elementary Secondary and Vocational Education of the Committee on Education and Labor House of Representatives Ninety sixth Congress First Session on H R 1435 and H R 1524 U S Government Printing Office p 485 OCLC 1060686493 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Kazan Allen Laurie Current Asbestos Bans International Ban Asbestos Secretariat Retrieved 10 August 2022 Anthony Newman Taylor Paul Cullinan Paul Blanc Anthony Pickering 25 November 2016 Parkes Occupational Lung Disorders CRC Press p 157 ISBN 978 1 4822 4142 6 Retrieved 10 August 2022 a b Ross Malcolm amp Nolan Robert P 2003 History of asbestos discovery and use and asbestos related disease in context with the occurrence of asbestos within the ophiolite complexes In Dilek Yildirim amp Newcomb Sally eds Ophiolite Concept and the Evolution of Geological Thought Special Paper 373 Boulder Colorado Geological Society of America ISBN 978 0 8137 2373 0 Caley Earl R Richards John F C 1956 Commentary Theophrastus on Stones Introduction Greek Text English Translation and Commentary Graduate School Monographs Contributions in Physical Science No 1 Columbus OH The Ohio State University pp 87 88 Archived from the original on 24 December 2013 Retrieved 31 January 2013 Moore thought that Theophrastus was really referring to asbestos The colour of the stone makes this unlikely though its structure makes it less improbable since some forms of decayed wood do have a fibrous structure like asbestos It is however unlikely that Theophrastus is alluding to asbestos since the mineral does not occur in the locality mentioned It is much more probable that Theophrastus is referring to the well known brown fibrous lignite Barbalace Roberta C 22 October 1995 History of Asbestos Environmentalchemistry com Retrieved 12 January 2010 Maines Rachel 2005 Asbestos and Fire Technological Trade offs and the Body at Risk Rutgers University Press p 7 ISBN 978 0 8135 3575 3 Athanasius 2018 On the Incarnation GLH Publishing p 49 ISBN 978 1 948648 24 0 New Encyclopaedia Britannica 2003 vol 6 p 843 Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary a b University of Calgary Iras ucalgary ca 30 September 2001 Archived from the original on 5 November 2009 Retrieved 12 January 2010 A Brief History of Asbestos Use and Associated Health Risks EnvironmentalChemistry com website Fantastically Wrong The Legend of the Homicidal Fire Proof Salamander WIRED Retrieved 3 May 2016 Science Asbestos Time 29 November 1926 Archived from the original on 31 January 2011 Retrieved 11 January 2011 Polo Marco A C Moule Paul Pelliot 1938 Marco Polo the Description of the World A C Moule amp Paul Pelliot G Routledge amp Sons pp 156 57 Retrieved 31 January 2013 Chambers Ephraim 1728 Cyclopaedia Retrieved 28 November 2016 Pliny the Elder Ch 4 LINEN MADE OF ASBESTOS In The Natural History Eleftheratou S 2016 Acropolis museum guide Acropolis Museum Editions p 258 a b c Selikoff Irving J 1978 Asbestos and Disease Elsevier pp 8 20 ISBN 9780323140072 Asbestos amp Clydebank Clydebank Asbestos Group Archived from the original on 6 June 2014 The storied province of Quebec past and present Volume V 1931 Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Wood WCH Atherton WH Conklin EP pp 814 5 Udd John 1998 A Chronology of Minerals Development in Canada Archived 9 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine National Resources Canada Society for Mining Metallurgy and Exploration U S 2006 Industrial minerals amp rocks commodities markets and uses p 195 ISBN 978 0 87335 233 8 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint uses authors parameter link OATS FRANCIS of GOLANT South African Who s Who 1916 November 2006 Archived from the original on 1 June 2016 Retrieved 6 June 2014 Betts John May June 2009 The Minerals of New York City Rocks amp Mineral Magazine 84 3 204 252 doi 10 3200 RMIN 84 3 204 223 S2CID 128683529 Retrieved 21 April 2011 Don Andrew 1 May 2011 Asbestos the hidden health hazard in millions of homes The Guardian Morinaga Kenji Asbestos in Japan PDF European Conference 2003 Archived from the original PDF on 19 July 2011 Retrieved 12 January 2010 Luus K 2007 Asbestos Mining exposure health effects and policy implications McGill Journal of Medicine 10 2 121 6 PMC 2323486 PMID 18523609 a b The History of Asbestos in the UK The story so far Asbestos uses and regulations timeline PDF silverdell plc uk 30 April 2012 Archived from the original PDF on 21 October 2013 Selikoff Irving J 1978 Asbestos and Disease Elsevier pp 20 32 ISBN 9780323140072 a b Cooke W E 26 July 1924 Fibrosis of the Lungs Due to the Inhalation of Asbestos Dust Br Med J London BMA 2 3317 140 2 147 doi 10 1136 bmj 2 3317 147 ISSN 0959 8138 PMC 2304688 PMID 20771679 a b c Selikoff Irving J Greenberg Morris 20 February 1991 A Landmark Case in Asbestosis PDF JAMA Chicago Illinois AMA 265 7 898 901 doi 10 1001 jama 265 7 898 ISSN 0098 7484 PMID 1825122 Retrieved 20 April 2010 Bartrip P W J 2001 The Way from Dusty Death Turner and Newall and the Regulation of the British Asbestos Industry 1890s 1970 London The Athlone Press p 12 ISBN 978 0 485 11573 4 Bartrip Peter 1998 Too little too late The home office and the asbestos industry regulations 1931 Med Hist London The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL 42 4 421 438 doi 10 1017 s0025727300064334 ISSN 0025 7273 PMC 1044071 PMID 10505397 a b c Gee David Greenberg Morris 9 January 2002 Asbestos from magic to malevolent mineral PDF Late Lessons from Early Warnings The Precautionary Principle 1896 2000 Copenhagen EEA 22 52 63 ISBN 978 92 9167 323 0 Retrieved 20 April 2010 Published as Report on the effects of asbestos dust on the lungs and dust suppression in the asbestos industry Part I Occurrence of pulmonary fibrosis and other pulmonary affections in asbestos workers Part II Processes giving rise to dust and methods for its suppression London HMSO 1930 Classic papers in Public Health Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories for the Year 1947 by E R A Merewether The Pump Handle scienceblogs com 21 October 2013 Retrieved 21 October 2013 a b What is asbestos American Cancer Society Retrieved 12 January 2010 Burke Bill 6 May 2001 Shipbuilding s Deadly Legacy Introduction Horrible Toll Could Have Been Avoided Virginian Pilot Norfolk Virginia newspaper from Internet Archive a b Burke Bill 6 May 2001 Shipyards a Crucible for Tragedy Part 1 How the war created a monster Virginian Pilot Norfolk Virginia newspaper Lavelle Peter 29 April 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Fact File Asbestos Australian Broadcasting Corporation Franck Harold Franck Darren 2016 Forensic Engineering Fundamentals Boca Raton FL CRC Press p 103 ISBN 9781439878408 Caustic Soda Production Olin Corporation Hearst Magazines July 1935 Popular Mechanics Popular Mechanics Hearst Magazines 62 ISSN 0032 4558 Retrieved 10 January 2012 NOHSC declares prohibition on use of chrysotile asbestos Ascc gov au 17 October 2001 Archived from the original on 7 June 2008 International Bans on Asbestos Use Asbestos and Libby Health the University of Montana Cigarette Filter Danger Snopes com Retrieved 10 January 2012 Otway Helen 2005 Unbelievable Random Facts 1001 unbelievable Facts Capella p 191 ISBN 978 1 84193 783 0 Asbestos in Fake Snow Wizard of Oz Retrieved 19 December 2014 Temple James Asbestos could be a powerful weapon against climate change you read that right MIT Technology Review October 6 2020 947 F 2d 1201 Corrosion Proof Fittings v Environmental Protection Agency Openjurist org Retrieved 10 January 2012 Where can asbestos be found Asbestos Surveying Ltd Birmingham UK 2 08 2008 Archived 11 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 December 2008 Artex website Click the Asbestos in Artex button Asbestos The survey guide Second ed House and Safety Executive 2012 ISBN 978 0 7176 6502 0 Retrieved 12 September 2022 Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 Health and Safety Executive London UK Undated Retrieved 29 December 2008 History of Asbestos Asbestos com retrieved 7 April 2016 a b Asbestos in the home booklet Wrekin housing trust PDF Retrieved 26 October 2010 Asbestos Removal Laws sandwell gov uk 1 April 2005 Retrieved 10 January 2012 a b Stephenson John B 20 June 2007 World Trade Center preliminary observations on EPA s second program to address indoor contamination GAO 07 806T testimony before the Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health U S Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Washington D C U S Government Accountability Office a b c Pilkington Ed 11 November 2009 9 11 s delayed legacy cancer for many of the rescue workers The Guardian London Archived from the original on 12 May 2017 EPA Asbestos Contamination in Vermiculite Epa gov 28 June 2006 Archived from the original on 11 January 2010 Meeker G P 2003 The Composition and Morphology of Amphiboles from the Rainy Creek Complex Near Libby Montana American Mineralogist 88 11 12 1955 1969 Bibcode 2003AmMin 88 1955M doi 10 2138 am 2003 11 1239 S2CID 12134481 Libby Asbestos US EPA Region 8 Epa gov Archived from the original on 5 February 2010 Retrieved 12 January 2010 Risk Assessment US EPA Epa gov 22 December 2008 Van Gosen Bradley S Lowers Heather A Sutley Stephen J 2004 A USGS Study of Talc Deposits and Associated Amphibole Asbestos Within Mined Deposits of the Southern Death Valley Region California Pubs usgs gov a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint uses authors parameter link Dillner Luisa 29 February 2016 Is it safe to use talcum powder The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 3 April 2017 The Straight Dope Is talcum powder asbestos www straightdope com 16 February 1990 Retrieved 3 April 2017 a b c Major brands of kids crayons contain asbestos tests show Seattle Post Intelligencer 23 May 2000 Archived from the original on 4 March 2012 a b Schneider Andrew Smith Carol 13 June 2000 Crayon firms agree to stop using talc PDF Seattle Post Intelligencer Archived from the original PDF on 13 July 2012 Schneider Andrew Smith Carol 30 May 2000 Old dispute rekindled over content of mine s talc PDF Seattle Post Intelligencer Retrieved 7 March 2021 McAteer J Davitt Assist Secretary for Mine Safety and Health correspondence to Andrew Schneider of the Seattle Post Intelligencer dated 14 June 2000 copy obtainable through records archives MSHA For studies finding no asbestos in talcum powder samples see Van Orden D R J Lee Weight Percent Compositional Analysis of Seven RTV Talc Samples Analytical Report to R T Vanderbilt Company Inc 22 November 2000 Submitted to Public Comments Record C W Jameson National Toxicology Program 10th ROC Nominations Talc containing asbestiform fibers 4 December 2000 Nord G L S W Axen R P Nolan Mineralogy and Experimental Animal Studies of Tremolitic Talc Environmental Sciences Laboratory Brooklyn College The City University of New York Submitted to Public Comments Record C W Jameson National Toxicology Program 10th ROC Nominations Talc containing asbestiform fibers 1 December 2000 Kelse J W Thompson C Sheldon 1989 The Regulatory and Mineralogical Definitions of Asbestos and Their Impact on Amphibole Dust Analysis AIHA Journal 50 11 613 622 doi 10 1080 15298668991375245 Wylie A G 2 June 2000 Report of Investigation Analytical Report on RTV talc submitted to R T Vanderbilt Company Inc 13 February 1987 Submitted to Public Comments Record C W Jameson National Toxicology Program 10th ROC Nominations Talc containing asbestiform fibers Crane D 26 November 1986 Letter to Greg Piacitelli NIOSH describing the analytical findings of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding R T Vanderbilt Talc In OSHA Docket H 33 d and in Public Comments Record C W Jameson National Toxicology Program 10th ROC Nominations 2 June 2000 Crane D 12 June 2000 Background Information Regarding the Analysis of Industrial Talcs Letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Appended to CPSC Staff Report on Asbestos in Children s Crayons Aug 2000 McCrone Associates Atlanta Lab Report on the Analysis of Paint CLS 5067 1 and Mineral Filler CLS N 439 1 To Unspecified Paint Company 23 September 1992 Submitted to Public Comments Record C W Jameson National Toxicology Program 10th ROC Nominations Talc containing asbestiform fibers 2 June 2000 Langer A M Nolan R P November 2000 Mineralogical Characterization of Vanderbilt Talc Specimens amp Comparison of the 1976 Rohl Talc Report to NIOSH and Analysis Performed in 1988 In Public Comments Nat l Toxicology Program 10th ROC review W Jameson NIEHS MED EC 14 79 Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park NC Talc containing asbestiform fibers United States Department of the Interior Selected Silicate Minerals and Their Asbestiform Varieties by W J Campbell et al Bureau of Mines Information Circular I C 8751 Washington D C Dept of the Interior Bureau of Mines 1977 For studies finding no biological effects associated with talcum powder see Stille WT Tabershaw IR 1982 The mortality experience of upstate New York talc workers Journal of Occupational Medicine 24 6 480 4 PMID 7097380 Lamm SH Levine MS Starr JA Tirey SL 1988 Analysis of excess lung cancer risk in short term employees American Journal of Epidemiology 127 6 1202 9 doi 10 1093 oxfordjournals aje a114913 PMID 3369419 Gamble JF 1993 A nested case control study of lung cancer among New York talc workers International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 64 6 449 56 doi 10 1007 BF00517952 PMID 8458662 S2CID 40683280 Dement JM Brown DP 1982 Occupational exposure to talc containing asbestos American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 43 6 A24 5 PMID 7113917 Hull M J Abraham J L Case B W 2002 Mesothelioma among Workers in Asbestiform Fiber Bearing Talc Mines in New York State Annals of Occupational Hygiene 46 132 135 doi 10 1093 annhyg 46 suppl 1 132 Bellon Tina Jury orders J amp J to pay 4 7 billion in Missouri asbestos cancer case U S Retrieved 13 July 2018 Asbestos CAS No 1332 21 4 PDF Archived PDF from the original on 29 April 2011 Berman D Wayne Crump Kenny S 2003 Final draft technical support document for a protocol to assess 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16 June 2016 National Library of New Zealand Grey River Argus Volume LVII Issue 9871 8 January 1898 Page 4 Blair AK 1994 The Cobb the history of the Cobb River hydro electric power scheme Christchurch New Zealand Cadsonbury Publications Christchurch 1998 pp 67 69 71 72 100 101 ISBN 0477016995 학원 밀집 건물 석면노출 심각 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine fnn co kr 6 May 2013 Kim Hyoung Ryoul 12 June 2009 Overview of Asbestos Issues in Korea J Korean Med Sci 3 24 3 363 367 doi 10 3346 jkms 2009 24 3 363 PMC 2698178 PMID 19543418 1970 80년대 석면 다룬 산업 근로자 폐암 정기검사 필수 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine health joseilbo com 25 February 2013 Managing and working with asbestos Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 PDF London Health and Safety Executive 2013 ISBN 978 0 7176 6618 8 Leer Ben 17 September 2012 Why Isn t Asbestos Banned in the United States asbestos com McGrory Kathleen Bedi Neil 7 December 2022 Workers Across America Break Their Silence on Decades of Asbestos Exposure ProPublica Retrieved 9 December 2022 McGrory Kathleen Bedi Neil The U S Never Banned Asbestos These Workers Are Paying the Price ProPublica Retrieved 9 December 2022 EPA Asbestos Materials Bans Clarification epa gov 18 May 1999 EPA Actions to Protect the Public from Exposure to Asbestos United States Environmental Protection Agency 12 March 2013 Retrieved 28 April 2020 Washington State Better Brakes Law ecy wa gov Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Algranti Eduardo Ramos Bonilla Juan Pablo Terracini Benedetto Santana Vilma S Santana 29 March 2019 Prevention of Asbestos Exposure in Latin America within a Global Public Health Perspective Annals of Global Health London Ubiqiuity 85 1 49 doi 10 5334 aogh 2341 ISSN 2214 9996 PMC 6634328 PMID 30924615 Asbestos in the world HESA Newsletter Brussels European Trade Union Institute 27 12 June 2005 Tấm lợp amiăng kẻ giết người bao Phap Luật 10 July 2017 language vietnamese a b Xay dựng mạng lưới cấm sử dụng amiăng trắng ở Việt Nam bao Phap Luật 27 November 2014 language vietnamese Fiber Glass A Carcinogen That s Everywhere Rachel s News Environmental Research Foundation 31 May 1995 Archived from the original on 22 January 2021 Retrieved 4 February 2011 Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs Volumes 1 111 Archived 25 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine iarc fr Marsh G M Buchanich J M Youk A O 2011 Fiber glass exposure and human respiratory system cancer risk Lack of evidence persists since 2001 IARC re evaluation Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 60 1 84 92 doi 10 1016 j yrtph 2011 02 009 PMID 21345360 Dixit B Performance of Protective Clothing Development and Testing of Asbestos Substitutes Performance of Protective Clothing ASTM STP 900 R L Barker and G C Coletta Eds American Society for Testing and Materials Philadelphia 1986 pp 446 460 ISBN 0 8031 0461 8 Gualtieri A F Tartaglia A 2000 Thermal decomposition of asbestos and recycling in traditional ceramics Journal of the European Ceramic Society 20 9 1409 1418 doi 10 1016 S0955 2219 99 00290 3 Leonelli C Veronesi P Boccaccini D Rivasi M Barbieri L Andreola F Lancellotti I Rabitti D Pellacani G 2006 Microwave thermal inertisation of asbestos containing waste and its recycling in traditional ceramics Journal of Hazardous Materials 135 1 3 149 55 doi 10 1016 j jhazmat 2005 11 035 PMID 16406335 Francesco Turci Maura Tomatis Stefano Mantegna Giancarlo Cravotto Bice Fubini 2007 The combination of oxalic acid with power ultrasound fully degrades chrysotile asbestos fibres Journal of Environmental Monitoring 9 10 1064 1066 doi 10 1039 B709571F PMID 17909639 Asbestos Containing Material ACM accessed 16 June 2020 Where can you find asbestos Asbestos Insulating Board AIB www hse gov uk Retrieved 7 September 2022 Further reading EditCastleman Barry I 1996 Asbestos Medical and Legal Aspects Englewood Cliffs NJ Aspen Publishers ISBN 978 0 7355 5260 9 George B Guthrie and Brooke T Mossman editors Health Effects of Mineral Dusts Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy v 28 584 pages 1993 ISBN 0 939950 33 2 Asbestos an introduction by JW Cherrie Tweedale Geoffrey 2000 Magic Mineral to Killer Dust Turner amp Newall and the Asbestos Hazard Oxford Univ Press p 336 ISBN 978 0 19 829690 4 External links EditAsbestos at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Data from Wikidata Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization The Asbestos Information Centre permanent dead link Independent site with information about asbestos and its use in buildings U S EPA Asbestos Home Page ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine Asbestos Toxicity U S Department of Health and Human Services Deaths and major morbidity from asbestos related diseases in Asia likely to surge in next 20 years British Government Health and Safety Executive HSE National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Asbestos World Health Organization Asbestos page Asbestos general article and chrysotile specifically comprehensive coverage of all aspects of chemistry biological interactions destruction and social clinical scientific knowledge related to Asbestos on the Toxicology Data Network with a full library of cites on many aspects and sub topics Parachrysotile asbestos at the webmineral com Mineral Database Univ of Minn Asbestos White Gold Pioneers Asbestos Mining Archived 3 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine The origins of asbestos mining illustrated with many early photographs How to Identify Asbestos Independent site citing how to identify the early signs of Asbestos and actions to take Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Asbestos amp oldid 1132560699, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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