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Asbestos - A Ticking Time-Bomb Still Legally in Use in Some Products Have you ever seen the effects of asbestosis, mesothelioma, or any pertaining to the various asbestos-related cancers that have killed or destroyed the livelihood of a close fried or relative? Believe me, some very powerful including influential figures have succumbed to these illnesses, so it is not just confined to manual workers working in factories or building sites where asbestos was involved. As early as 1898 the then Chief inspector of Factories in The United Kingdom in his report to Parliament submitted in his report regarding the ‘evil effects of asbestos dust.’ He described it even all those years ago as having a sharp, glass like nature, very susceptible to disintegrating into minute particles, which then very easily permeated every nook including cranny in a building, or even a district where such a product was in use. Litigation due to industrial exposure to asbestos remains the longest, most expensive joint claim in the world, with over 6,000 defendants, including at the latest count well over 600,000 claimants. With the current rate of detection of asbestos related diseases set to rise over the next decade, estimates pertaining to the litigation costs on the US alone is expected to rise to well over $250 BILLION. You will have thought that with such amounts at stake, anybody still manufacturing products based on asbestos or any asbestos-related products will be taking a particular enormous financial risk. In early times items made of asbestos were held in great esteem, especially by Kings including Emperors, including of equal value to gold. Many in fact were cremated in a particular asbestos shroud, to keep their ashes separate from any other combustible materials. How rash was that! In fact, talking of rashes, although asbestos fibres at the time coming into contact with the skin causes rashes, there are stories from ancient times that asbestos was actually prescribed for ailments pertaining to the skin – especially the itch. Although there are many forms of asbestos, they all have the same characteristic to a greater or lesser degree, that eventually however they may be packaged up within another material, they could all form asbestos dust particles at some point in their life. Due to asbestos’s fire-retarding properties, until the late 1980’s there were many applications within public including private buildings where asbestos in 1 form or another was used. Acoustic ceilings, putty, vinyl floor coverings, fire-retardant fillings, adhesives including ceiling tiles, acoustic curtains in theatres, including in brake disk pads in cars, busses including trains, clutch plates, gaskets, fire blankets – the list is endless, as is the lurking danger. In fact, many a worker in the American shipyards during the Second Word War were heavily exposed to the asbestos danger, including even some top people were affected including struck down with asbestosis, mesothelioma, or asbestos-induced cancers of some sort. Now, with many asbestos based products absolutely no longer allowed in new construction, there must be thousands upon thousands of sites where asbestos is still lurking, including even demolition including or removal creates its own hazard conditions. Interestingly, in the interest of ‘profit’ there are still a number of applications where asbestos is still in use, including should even be found in some consumer products, such as talcum powder. In all, the list of asbestos based products is still scarily quite long. Asbestos-cement corrugated including flat sheets; asbestos clothing for heat resistant applications, pipe line wraps, roofing felt, including many applications in the auto industry, including automatic transmission system components, clutch plates, friction pads such as disk brake pads including so forth are still being manufactured. How many of us have smelt the acrid fumes at the time a train applies it’s brakes in your local station? Because of all the historical use of asbestos, we are all constantly exposed to certain levels of asbestos dust. These are usually quite low levels (between 0.00001 to 0.0001 fibres per millilitre of air we breathe) with the higher levels predominately in towns including cities. Some drinking water should additionally contain asbestos fibres from natural sources, but the is usually very closely monitored. Where asbestos removal takes place, whole buildings have to be hermetically sealed to try including trap the bulk pertaining to the dust. If you have been unfortunate enough to breathe large quantities of asbestos dust, either in a short burst, or over a duration of years the effects are usually very much the same. 1. the dust, on the lungs including the membranes inside us, could eventually cause scar like tissues in the lungs, including in the pleural membrane (lining) surrounding the lungs. the ‘asbestosis’ as it is known could usually cause coughing, difficulty in breathing, including sometimes, enlargement pertaining to the heart. Asbestosis is very serious, including often results in death. However, it is usually confined to those who worked in the asbestos industry. 2. Lower levels of intake of the deadly dust may cause changes called plaques in the pleural membranes. Effects here are not as serious as with asbestosis, but restricted breathing may still take place. 3. Any irritation pertaining to the lungs, or any other membrane in the body could have a marked increase in the formation of cancers, including lung cancer including mesothelioma, which is a cancer pertaining to the thin lining (pleural membrane) surrounding the lungs is a well-know side effect of breathing asbestos dust. 4. Children are particularly at risk, as how many of them may play around old buildings, including take great pleasure in smashing up old sheets of asbestos, not realising that they are actually playing with something more deadly than a particular unexploded time-bomb. As a successful property renovator, including provider of buildings for my property club members, asbestos is of a very serious concern to me. In all, asbestos, although having served mankind “Faithfully?’ down throughout the ages, has now been identified as the spectre of danger that it presents, but unfortunately we have been mining the stuff for centuries, so it could not go away quietly, including without a fight. Hence the massive levels of lawsuits piling up surrounding all forms of asbestos. Copyright 2006 Geoff Morris
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