Have you ever seen the effects of asbestosis, mesothelioma, or any of the various asbestos-related cancers that have killed or destroyed the livelihood of a close fried or relative? Believe me, some very powerful and 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 and 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, and 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 of the litigation costs on the US alone is expected to rise to well over $250 BILLION. You would have thought that with such amounts at stake, anybody still manufacturing products based on asbestos or any asbestos-related products would be taking an enormous financial risk.

In early times items made of asbestos were held in great esteem, especially by Kings and Emperors, and of equal value to gold. Many in fact were cremated in an asbestos shroud, to keep their ashes separate from any other combustible materials. How rash was that! In fact, talking of rashes, although asbestos fibres when coming into contact with the skin causes rashes, there are stories from ancient times that asbestos was actually prescribed for ailments of 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 will all form asbestos dust particles at some point in their life.

Due to asbestoss fire-retarding properties, until the late 1980s there were many applications within public and private buildings where asbestos in one form or another was used. Acoustic ceilings, putty, vinyl floor coverings, fire-retardant fillings, adhesives and ceiling tiles, acoustic curtains in theatres, and in brake disk pads in cars, busses and 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 this asbestos danger, and even some top people were affected and struck down with asbestosis, mesothelioma, or asbestos-induced cancers of some sort.

Now, with many asbestos based products no longer allowed in new construction, there must be thousands upon thousands of sites where asbestos is still lurking, and even demolition and 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, and can 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 and flat sheets; asbestos clothing for heat resistant applications, pipe line wraps, roofing felt, and many applications in the auto industry, including automatic transmission system components, clutch plates, friction pads such as disk brake pads and so forth are still being manufactured.

How many of us have smelt the acrid fumes when a train applies its brakes in your local station?

Because of all this 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 and cities. Some drinking water can also contain asbestos fibres from natural sources, but this is usually very closely monitored.

Where asbestos removal takes place, whole buildings have to be hermetically sealed to try and trap the bulk of the dust.

If you have been unfortunate enough to breathe large quantities of asbestos dust, either in a short burst, or over a period of years the effects are usually very much the same.

1. This dust, on the lungs and the membranes inside us, will eventually cause scar like tissues in the lungs, and in the pleural membrane (lining) surrounding the lungs. This asbestosis as it is known will usually cause coughing, difficulty in breathing, and sometimes, enlargement of the heart. Asbestosis is very serious, and often results in death. However, it is usually confined to those who worked in the asbestos industry.

2. Lower levels of intake of this 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 of the lungs, or any other membrane in the body will have a marked increase in the formation of cancers, and lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is a cancer of 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, and take great pleasure in smashing up old sheets of asbestos, not realising that they are really playing with something more deadly than an unexploded time-bomb.

As a successful property renovator, and 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 will not go away quietly, and without a fight.

Hence the massive levels of lawsuits piling up surrounding all forms of asbestos.

Copyright 2006 Geoff Morris