For many, the mention of asbestos brings to mind thoughts of dangerous stuff that has caused a lot of health problems in the past. Like, a long time ago, right? Wrong.
A commonly held misconception is that asbestos is a man-made substance, produced in factories around the world for commercial use. Asbestos is actually a naturally occurring mineral that is still mined in several countries, including Canada and Russia.
Asbestos is a fibrous mineral with long, thin fibers. The fibers can be spun and woven together, and possess properties such as heat resistance, low electrical conductivity, flexibility, and strength that make asbestos so uniquely suitable for insulation and other such products.
Studies estimate that approximately 3,000 different types of commercial products include asbestos, which is not harmful as long as it remains intact. It is when the asbestos in these products is damaged and the fibers become airborne that it becomes dangerous.
When asbestos is dry and can be easily crumbled with the hand, it is friable and more likely to release fibers into the air. Asbestos fireproofing, which was used in millions of buildings throughout the world, is of the friable variety. Non-friable asbestos can also release airborne fibers when sanded, chopped, hammered, cut, or otherwise manipulated. That’s why, when demolishing a building that contains asbestos, proper removal is compulsory before the building is torn down.
Inhaled asbestos fibers remain in the body and cannot be expelled. They penetrate body tissues and deposit themselves in airways and in the lung tissue and later develop into an asbestos-related disease.
Once the fibers are lodged in the body, they will cause inflammation which may eventually result in the formation of cancerous tumors, particularly on the mesothelium (the lining of the lungs). Other affected areas may include the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen) and the pericardium (the lining around the heart).
Asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma can take decades to surface. Current cases of asbestos-related diseases involve many individuals who were employed in shipyards during World War II, performing jobs that exposed them to friable asbestos on a daily basis. Shipyard workers are among those most affected by aggressive mesothelioma.
Contrary to what many people believe, asbestos was never banned in the United States. In 1976, Congress passed a law to regulate toxic substances (known as the Toxic Substances Control Act) but a total ban was not suggested. In 1989, the EPA finalized regulations to ban asbestos under the aforementioned act, but two years later, a New Orleans circuit court of appeal overturned the regulation. The result was that new uses of the dangerous mineral were banned but old ones remained.
A few current U.S. senators, with the assistance of asbestos watchdog groups, hope to encourage the government to reconsider a ban on all asbestos products. A new bill, called the “Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007″ (S.742), was introduced by Senator Patty Murray on March 1, 2007.
As of May 2008, the Bill passed the Senate and must now be voted by the House.
It is very sad that asbestos is still in use by number of industries, taking into consideration that it is one of the major causes of mesothelioma and other kinds of lung cancer. It also makes me sad that US federal legislation has been enacted to provide compensation to victims of asbestos-related diseases or to protect people from future asbestos exposure, even thou a bill called the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act has been introduced in Congress multiple times. This bill supposed to create a national trust fund to compensate victims suffering from asbestos-related diseases. This fund supposed to be administered by the DOL through a claims process in which all individuals with particular medical symptoms and who prove asbestos-related diseases would be compensated. Funding for this trust would come from insurance companies and companies that mined, manufactured, and sold asbestos. But… As we know, nothing seemed to happen. Sad.