Asbestos History

Asbestos Disease | Asbestos History

The known human use of asbestos extends back more than two millennia and the name asbestos is derived from the Ancient Greek name meaning "inextinguishable" due to its fire resistant properties. The name of chrysotile, the most common form of asbestos, is derived from the Greek words "chrysos" (gold) and "tilos" (fiber) or "gold fiber".

The Greeks were astute enough to note its harm to human health. The Greek geographer Strabo (63BC-after 21AD) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23AD-79AD) both left written records of the "sickness of the lungs" affecting slaves weaving asbestos into cloth. The ‘magical properties’ of asbestos outweighed the wellbeing of a slave population and the adverse health affects were conveniently ignored.

Ancient Greeks used asbestos for the wicks of the eternal flames of the vestal virgins, as the funeral dress for the cremation of kings, and as napkins.

The Romans wove asbestos fibres into fabrics to make towels, nets and even head coverings for women. It was also used in building materials. Roman restaurants used tablecloths and napkins made of asbestos. These materials were flame retardant and could be thrown into the fire to remove food and other debris, and placed back on the table for the next customer. The asbestos cloth would come out of the fire whiter than it went in, so the Romans named asbestos "amiantus", meaning "unpolluted".

The use of asbestos declined during the Middle Ages but recorded uses include tablecloths and insulation in suits of armour.

The large scale use of asbestos began with the Industrial Revolution during the late 1800s. It then began to be used as insulation for steam pipes, turbines, boilers, kilns, ovens, and other high-temperature products. Commercial mining became profitable with the first mine in Thetford, Quebec, opening in 1879. Other main producers of the time were Russia and South Africa.

Exponentially increasing use of asbestos continued until the Second World War in many different industries, including ship building, the automotive industry and building construction.

The first documented case of asbestos-related ailments occurred in 1897, when a Viennese physician attributed emaciation and pulmonary problems to asbestos dust inhalation. The first documented case of an asbestos-related death was reported in 1906 when the autopsy of an asbestos worker revealed lung fibrosis.

At the turn of the twentieth century, researchers began to notice a large number of deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns. In 1917 and 1918, it was observed by several studies in the United States that asbestos workers were dying unnaturally young.

The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in 1924. A woman had been working with asbestos since she was thirteen. She died when she was thirty-three years old, and an English doctor determined that the cause of death was what he called "asbestosis".

Because of this, a study was done on asbestos workers in England. Twenty-five percent of them showed evidence of asbestos-related lung disease. Laws were passed in 1931 to increase ventilation and to make asbestosis an excusable work-related disease.

In the 1930s major medical journals began to publish articles that linked asbestos to cancer. Despite this increasing evidence, progressive legal restrictions on its use in the UK did not start until the 1970’s with a final ban coming into force in November 1999.