A Short History of Asbestos
While the history of Asbestos dates back thousands of years, the popular use of the material, has really only evolved over the last 200 years and effectively has only taken off in Australia, during the early part of the 20th century, when it became a cheap and popular choice in the building and construction industry.
The first recorded uses of Asbestos, date as far back as 2500BC during the stone age. Archaeological findings in many locations around the world, have found that Asbestos was used as a temper (strengthener) for ceramics. Rock was mined and crushed by hand and then added to the mix to add strength.
It was during the Roman Empire reign, that the first potential health effects were noted. Roman historians noted that the death rate associated with citizens who wore “the cloth made from stone”, was notably higher than the death rate of citizens who wore “the cloth made from the plant”.
Arriving in the UK around 1700, the use of Asbestos slowly increased and became widely used by the mid to late 1800’s. The first major industry to make wide use of the material was the Railway industry where it was used for the insulation of pipes, boilers and fire boxes. Obviously at that time the railways were on a huge growth pathway and so too, did Asbestos. As a result, the UK saw many Asbestos factories open up and the mass production of the material ensued.
In the early 20’s, the first signs of the materials dark side began to surface when it was noted that Asbestos workers were dying at unnaturally young ages.
By 1924, studies indicated that around 25% of all Asbestos Workers, displayed evidence of Asbestos related lung disease, but despite this, the hunger for and use of the, now suspect, material, continued at an unprecedented rate. By the 1930s, unprocessed asbestos was regularly being imported into Australia to supply the rapidly growing demand, from not only the construction industry but a number of allied industries attracted to the material by its modest price and flexibility of use. Around this time, we had also discovered significant deposits of our own around the country and entrepreneurs had set about building our own supply base.
In Australia, Asbestos has been linked to thousands of deaths across the country. First introduced into Australia in the early 1900’s, our use of and reliance on, the material, soon made us one of the leading consumers of the product in the world. The growing bank of evidence hi-lighting the risks associated with the product, slowly increased between the 1940’s - 80’s when the use of Asbestos reached it’s peak in most countries and by the year 2000, most countries were either in the process of banning it’s use completely or had already done so.
The ancient Greeks and Egyptians are also known to have used Asbestos in many applications including wicks for candles, the cloth used in their mummification practices, shrouds, napkins and some special purpose clothing. As mining in those times was very time consuming, it was regarded as a rare and valuable “natural wonder”. The term Asbestos, which means “Inextinguishable” was actually coined by the Greeks.
During the middle ages, the popularity of Asbestos increased with the material being woven into the cloth linings worn under suits of armour and it was also used extensively to make writing paper. Marco Polo recorded seeing Asbestos mines and many materials made from Asbestos, during his travels throughout Asia.
Fast forward to the early 1890’s and we find that the use of Asbestos had reached the building and construction industries. Mass production techniques initiated during the previous 50 years had seen the price of asbestos fall dramatically and research had seen the potential uses of the product increase exponentially. During the first World. War, Asbestos was used extensively in the construction of ships and a wide range of military vehicles.
Following the major wars, governments were faced with huge demands on such things as employment, housing and transport created by the returning soldiers. Not only was Asbestos; durable, heat resistant, fireproof and easily accessible, it had become cheap, which enabled the government and industry to satisfy demand in a solid, quick and efficient manner that was still profitable for everyone involved. (The very nature of asbestos, meant it could be easily woven and folded into the very fabric of a wide range of materials, to strengthen and enhance their quality). Regardless of the issues, Asbestos was seen as a miracle material due to its strength, low thermal conductivity and ability to fireproof buildings and other materials.
Here in Australia, despite Government restrictions initiated during the 1980’s, the manufacture and use of Asbestos products continued through into 2003, where finally on the 31st of December 2003, all importation, manufacture, sale and use of any raw material or products containing Asbestos (ACM’s), was finally and totally BANNED!
For anyone interested, the following links provide further detail
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/publications/asbestos-wittenoom-tragedy-video
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/wittenoom_transcript.pdf
https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/workplace-cancer/asbestos
https://www.asbestosassociation.com.au/about-asbestos/asbestos-history/