What Is Asbestos and Can It Come Back?
Asbestos, a fire-resistant, fibrous mineral , was once found in all types of products: building insulation and tiles, cladding anything that could be exposed to heat, and even artificial snow used as Christmas decorations. Too bad it’s a carcinogen.
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a mineral extracted from the earth, but fine fibrous fibers are formed from its crystals. You can use these fibers to weave fabrics or use them as padding. In ancient times, a fun trick at parties was to prepare asbestos tablecloths and throw them into a fire to cleanse them. (Crumbs and stains will fade; fabric is intact.) When the world was lit and warmed by fire, it seemed like a great material for anything that had to withstand heat, such as insulation in a stove or building materials in a home. …
Asbestos was never banned in the US, but it is now rarely used thanks to EPA regulations and Occupational Safety and Health Administration workplace regulations . For example, construction sites cannot have more than a certain amount of asbestos particles in the air, and teams working on asbestos-containing buildings must take special precautions.
Why is asbestos harmful?
Tiny fibers of the mineral can be suspended in the air in dust. When you inhale them, they can get stuck in your lungs.
The fibers are fine and sharp, like needles. Once they get stuck in the lungs, they can migrate into the space between the lungs and the chest. The cells that line this part of the body (mesothelium) can scar and become inflamed. Sometimes the cells can become cancerous as a result. This type of cancer is known as mesothelioma and is the cancer most closely associated with asbestos. (Less commonly, asbestos causes other types of cancer.)
Short-term exposure to asbestos can lead to cancer, as one editor describes after 10 hours of exposure to asbestos dust , but more often cancer develops in people who have worked for decades in construction, shipbuilding, or other asbestos-related industries.
Is it really coming back?
This is technically possible. A recent policy change means the EPA will begin reviewing applications for new asbestos-containing products, including building materials. Fast Company says the EPA is also no longer required to consider the health or environmental risks associated with the release of these products into the air, land or water. So yes, new products containing asbestos can be approved.
But it is unclear if asbestos has anywhere to make a return from. Currently, asbestos is really only used in the US for the industrial chlorine production process (which, in turn, is mainly used to make plastics such as PVC). The mineral is banned in more than 50 countries around the world . The largest mines are in Russia and Brazil, but Brazil decided to ban them last year .
So, in theory, he can return, but there is no reason to believe that anyone really wants to. Workers still need to be protected from hazardous exposure, and lawsuits against former employers in mesothelioma cases are a major source of income for lawyers. Thus, the refractory mineral will probably not be used in new insulation or shingles anytime soon. (Probably.)