ABOUT ASBESTOS

Definition of Asbestos

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals mined for their useful properties such as thermal insulation, chemical and thermal stability, and high tensile strength. Asbestos is commonly used as an acoustic insulator, and in thermal insulation, fire proofing and other building materials. Many products in use today contain asbestos.”

Asbestos is made up of microscopic bundles of fibers that may become airborne when asbestos- containing materials are damaged or disturbed.  Asbestos exposure by inhaling loose asbestos fibers is associated with various forms of lung disease.  The extremely fine fibers of asbestos are easily inhaled, and exposure to them over a period of years has been linked to mesothelioma and lung cancers.

History of Asbestos

Asbestos is a mineral that was crushed and milled into a fine particulate for use as building and insulation materials. There are six types of asbestos - three of which have been used commercially.  These are white (chrysotile), blue (crocidolite) and brown (amosite) asbestos. White asbestos accounted for more than 90 percent of all the asbestos that was used.

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. Asbestos continued to be 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.

New uses for asbestos containing products were banned in 1989 by the EPA.  Uses established before this date are still allowed.

Risks Associated with Asbestos-Containing Products

Asbestos fibers may be released into the air by the disturbance of asbestos-containing material during product use, demolition work, building or home maintenance, repair and remodeling.  Exposure occurs when the asbestos-containing material becomes airborne.

During the installation, repair, maintenance, renovation and removal of asbestos materials, products are often cut, scraped or sanded, sending fibers into the air.  In the past, materials such as cements were mixed at job sites using raw asbestos fibers. The dust generated by these processes traveled throughout buildings, factories and ships, and remained airborne for weeks at a time. The airborne fibers were breathed in by the laborers working with and around these materials.  The fibers were often re-suspended in the air through sweeping, where again the asbestos fibers were breathed in 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, auto 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.

Continued exposure can increase the amount of fibers that remain in the lung. Asbestos fibers lodged in lung tissue over time may cause serious lung diseases including asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.