What is Asbestos?
Asbestos is the collective term used to describe several silicate mineral fibers that are found in many types of products across the United States.
Because asbestos will not burn or conduct electricity, and is a chemically resistant material, it was quickly incorporated in many materials and products which benefit from fireproofing or insulation. Scores of commercial uses were found, ranging from the lining of car brakes to the Insulation and fireproofing of various materials which were used to build homes throughout the nation.
Why is Asbestos Dangerous?
It wasn't until the 1960's that a significant number of illnesses and deaths among workers were positively linked to asbestos exposure. People who had bee~ exposed to airborne asbestos fibers in the 1930's and 1940's were suffering, decades later, from lung cancer and mesothelioma, which attacks the lining of the lungs and intestinal tract. It was also discovered that building materials containing asbestos tend to decay with age, exposure to weather, and normal wear and tear. In turn, this allows asbestos fibers to break free of the material, and become airborne. Unfortunately, these airborne fibers can- not be seen with the naked eye. In fact, they are so small that over 200 fibers can fit on the head of a pin! The fibers there- fore present an "invisible" danger to people breathing air that is contaminated with asbestos. To make matters. worse, asbestos fibers can take up to 80 hours to settle once they are disturbed. Whenever asbestos fibers circulate in the air, they can be breathed in, thereby entering the lungs. They can then become lodged in the tissue of the lungs due to the long needle-like structure of most asbestos fibers. The fibers then become an irritant which can lead to lung cancer or other serious disease.
Because of these findings, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and similar state agencies added asbestos to their lists of hazardous substances and restricted its use as a building material in the 1970's.
