ASBESTOS PRODUCTS

Manufactures used asbestos because it is cheap, abundant, extremely versatile, chemically inert, and highly impervious to heat. Asbestos is broken down into its composition fibers once it is retrieved from the earth and then added to products to give them strength, durability, and heat resistance. Asbestos is an ideal additive for many products because it has what is referred to as tensile strength; that is, it is flexible but strong without adding a significant amount of weight. Asbestos is also one of the few minerals that can be woven. It was often woven into insulators that were too brittle to be used alone. Today, asbestos is tightly regulated and only used in a few products in an extremely controlled manner. During its peak, however, asbestos was used in some very common products including:

• Adhesives

• Brake Pads

• Cement

• Chalkboards

• Duct Installation

• Electrical Cloth

• Electrical Ducts

• Felt

• Fireproofing Materials

• Floor Title

• Gaskets

• Heating Ducts

• Installation

• Ironing Board Covers

• Paint

• Paper

• Pipe Covering

• Plaster

• Putty

• Rope

• Tape

• Wires

• Yarn

In its natural, solid form, asbestos is relatively harmless. When cut, crushed, drilled or disturbed in any other way, asbestos fibers become airborne and are extremely toxic. The sharp, microscopic fibers are inhaled through the lungs and eventually pass on to the edges of the lung where they are absorbed into the pleura, the vital membrane that surrounds, protects, and lubricates the lungs. The jagged fibers cause lesions and scarring in the lungs in the form of a non-cancerous, but often fatal disease called asbestosis. If asbestos fibers move into the pleural mesothelium surrounding the lungs, irritation from the fibers can result in the onset of malignant mesothelioma. The cancer eventually metastasizes, spreading to distant organs through the bloodstream.