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1.
What Is Asbestos?
Asbestos is a mineral that was crushed and milled
into a fine particulate, and shipped to corporations
for building and insulation materials. Asbestos
mines around the world, many in Canada, produced
over 250 million tons of asbestos for use in the
United States between 1890 and 1970. Asbestos
was added to a variety of products including insulation,
automotive brakes, fireproofing, pipe covering,
cements, refractory materials, gaskets, floor
tiles and joint compounds.
The dangers of asbestos were known to the companies
that made these products as early as the 1920s.
However, asbestos was sold and used without warnings
up until the 1980s -- when most asbestos products
were banned in the United States and other countries.
Alternative materials were available that could
have been used in place of asbestos.
During the installation, repair, maintenance,
renovation and removal of asbestos materials,
the products were cut, scraped, sanded and otherwise
altered. Some materials, such as cements, were
mixed at job sites using raw asbestos fibers.
These processes created dust, which was breathed
in by the laborers working with and around these
materials. Dust from these products also traveled
throughout buildings and factories and ships,
and remained airborne for weeks. When swept, these
materials were re-suspended in the air -- where
they were breathed in again by workers in the
vicinity.
A wide array of workers were exposed to asbestos
including shipyard workers, factory workers, pipefitters,
sheet metal workers, plumbers, laborers, machinists,
mechanics, powerhouse workers, and electricians.
One cloud of dust from asbestos products can contain
millions or billions of fibers, and even a small
amount of asbestos can cause lung damage. Injuries
also occur to women who washed their husband's
clothing after they returned home from work and
to individuals who used asbestos products, such
as floor tiles, in their homes.
Often, individuals won't recall how they were
exposed to asbestos, and may believe that they
were not exposed to asbestos at all. A careful
examination and review of a person's work and
life history often reveals exposures to asbestos
products that may not be readily apparent.
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