What are the dangers of Asbestos Exposure

Dramatic increased of the use of asbestos were seen during the second world war, up until this time asbestos had been used sparingly since it's first application by industry in the 1800's. Laws on how asbestos could be used were introduced in the US during the 70's that restricted how asbestos was used by industry.

The 1980's saw the Environmental Protection Agency take asbestos to task and issued laws stating that asbestos could only be used in uses, which it could be proven that asbestos had been used prior to the laws being passed. Most people today in the 21's century are aware of how harmful asbestos is to them if they are exposed to it and breath in the fibres. The message that asbestos is dangerous has been instilled in most people and they are aware that they should not inhale asbestos fibres.

Asbestos bundles that occur naturally can be split into individual asbestos fibres. Asbestos fibers are resistant to heat, fire and chemicals, and they do not conduct electricity. Asbestos with it's wonder characteristics caused it's use in many manufacturing and industrial uses.

Stage curtains, caulk, joint compound as well as less obvious uses such as crayons are just some of the uses for asbestos. The construction industry found many uses for asbestos, as tiles, in paints and adhesive. As long as the fibers are encased and contained, with little chance of exposure under normal conditions, all of these uses are legal.

Unfortunately, asbestos exposure can carry significant health risks, some of which are untreatable and incurable at the present time. Asbestosis is probably the most common asbestos related disease, it is often seen as a severe shortness of breath caused by the lining of the lings becoming inflamed by the asbestos fibres.

A second common ailment of asbestosis is mesothelioma, which is a form of cancer affecting the major organs of the body. The two common forms of the cancer are pleural mesothelioma, which affects the heart and pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the heart.

With centuries of the use of asbestos it may surprise many people to realise that it's health implications have only been known for a few decades. The term Mesothelioma was not used in medical literature until 1931, and was not associated with asbestos until sometime in the 1940s.

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 banned. In 1989 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule, which was overturned in 1991.

The author of this web articles has written many other articles about asbestos. If you are interested you can find links to some of their other work below.

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