Types of Asbestos

Types of Asbestos:

Asbestos is a soft, flaky mineral that is as flexible as cotton. However, it is fireproof. As far back as ancient Greece, asbestos was used. Even then, they called is asbestos, which means inextinguishable, in Greek. They also observed the harmful health effects. Even then the slaves developed a sickness to the lungs after working with asbestos being woven into cloth. However, the Greeks were in such awe of this amazing material that they chose to ignore the obvious ill effects it caused to their slave population.

In the early 20^th century, doctors here in the modern world began to piece together the negative health impacts of asbestos on the working man. They found an alarming rate of lung disease and death among occupations who came in regular contact with the material.

In 1927, the first workmen’s compensation disability claim for asbestos was filed. It was a man that had formerly been a foreman in an asbestos textile plant in Massachusetts. However, it wasn’t until 1930 that the US confirmed the existence of asbestos lung disease in America.

Exposure to asbestos can cause shortness of breath, as well as mesothelioma and lung cancer.

There are three types of asbestos- chrysotile asbestos, amosite asbestos and crocidolite asbestos.