Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil that may be found on every continent on the globe, but what is its background?
We do know that our forefathers utilised asbestos for generations and that it is being employed in the production of some items today.
The following is a comprehensive history of asbestos from antiquity to the Middle Ages and beyond.
Around 4000 B.C., asbestos was first utilised.
According to history enthusiasts, the long hair-like strands of asbestos were initially employed to produce wicks in lamps and candles as
early as 4000 B.C.
Asbestos fibres have been discovered in detritus going back to the stone period, around 750,000 years ago.
During the era 2000-3000 B.C., the Egyptians employed asbestos fabric to wrap around the embalmed bodies of pharohs to protect them
from degradation, according to historical data.
Archaeologists in Finland uncovered clay jars with asbestos particles going back to approximately 2500 B.C.
It’s thought that asbestos was added to reinforce the pots and make them fire resistant.
Asbestos fabric wrapped around an Egyptian mummy To preserve their bodies, Egyptians wrapped them with asbestos cloth.
The ancient Greeks and Romans both utilised asbestos.
Asbestos fibres were claimed to have been weaved into fabric by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Around 456 B.C., Herodotus, a Greek ancient historian, mentioned the usage of asbestos shrouds.
Asbestos was reportedly utilised in the shrouds that were wrapped around the victims before they were thrown into the funeral pyre.
This was allegedly done to keep their ashes from mixing with the ashes from the fire.
The term ‘asbestos’ comes from the Greek word ‘asbestos’, which means ‘asbest
Some believe that the term “asbestos” has its origins in the Latin phrase “amiantus,” which means “unsoiled” or “unpolluted.”
This is because asbestos fibres are claimed to have been weaved into cloth used to produce table cloths and napkins by the ancient
Romans.
According to historians, these cloths were put into fire to clean them and came out whiter and undamaged than before.
As a result, the Romans regarded asbestos as a miraculous substance.
A wedding feast in Rome
Asbestos fibres were used to manufacture tablecloths by the ancient Romans.
Asbestos history, from 755 to 1280
According to legend, King Charlemagne of France covered the bodies of his generals in asbestos shrouds, exactly as the Greeks had
done before him.
He is also believed to have had a tablecloth constructed of asbestos fibres to keep it from burning at feasts and banquets due to
unintentional fires.
Asbestos was growing more popular, and by the end of the first millennium, it was being utilised in the manufacture of cremation cloths,
wicks, and table lamp mats.
These items were made with tremolite asbestos from northern Italy and chrysotile asbestos from Cyprus.
During the first crusade in 1095, French, German, and Italian knights employed a trebuchet, a catapult that was used in combat to hurl
burning bundles of pitch and tar wrapped in asbestos bags over city walls.
By 1280, Marco Polo had written about the usage of asbestos in garments.
According to Marco Polo, the Mongolians created this garment out of “a fabric that would not burn.”
He is reported to have gone to a Chinese asbestos mine to debunk the notion that asbestos comes from woolly lizard hair.
Asbestos was employed to insulate body armour for the rest of the Middle Ages.
The tablecloth used by King Charlemagne of France is supposed to have been constructed of asbestos.
Asbestos in the 17th and 18th centuries?
Between 1682 until 1785, Chrysotile asbestos was mined in Russia under Peter the Great’s reign.
In 1725, Benjamin Franklin visited Russia for the first time and returned to England with an asbestos purse.
The identical fireproof asbestos pocketbook is currently on display at the Natural History Museum in London.
In the early 1700s, asbestos-containing paper was found in Italy.
The Asbestos purse was brought to England by Benjamin Franklin.
In 1725, Benjamin Franklin imported an asbestos purse from Russia to England.
Asbestos was widely utilised in the nineteenth century.
Asbestos was becoming increasingly popular by the 1800s.
Asbestos fibres were used to create bank notes in Italy.
During the 1850s, the Paris fire department used asbestos helmets and coats.
The asbestos business and manufacturing continued to thrive as the 1800s came to a conclusion and the industrial revolution gained
root.
Boilers, steam pipelines, and turbines were all insulated with asbestos.
Asbestos manufacturing in the early 1900s
Asbestos manufacturing exploded in the early 1900s as a result of the industrial revolution.
During that time period, more than 30,000 tonnes were produced globally for use in manufacturing items.
Because of the strong demand, both women and children were hired to work in the asbestos industry.
While the guys worked down in the mines, their duty would entail processing, carding, and spinning raw asbestos fibres into products.
Concerns about asbestos’ impact on workers’ health rose over time, but this didn’t stop mass manufacturing, which was set to continue for
many more years.
So much so that by 1910, the global production of asbestos had increased by more than 109,00 tonnes, more than trebling in only ten
years.
Ladies working at an asbestos mattress factory in the early 1900s
In the early 1900s, women worked in asbestos mattress manufacturing.
In the twentieth century, there was a lot of asbestos.
Asbestos mining and manufacture continued throughout the early and mid-twentieth century, especially during World War II, and for the
following 30 years or more.
Asbestos was used for insulation, fireproofing, soundproofing, decoration, and product strengthening.
Asbestos production peaked in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, with dozens of plants on the East coast and in California.
Consumption peaked in the United States in 1973, with 804,00 tonnes produced, while global demand peaked in 1977.
At this time of year, 25 countries were producing nearly 4.8 million tonnes of asbestos, and 85 countries were producing thousands of
asbestos-containing products.
The usage of asbestos didn’t start to diminish until the late 1970s.
In 2002, the King City asbestos mine (KCAC) in west California became the last surviving mine in the United States.
Asbestos manufacturing is declining in the twenty-first century.
Asbestos usage became less popular in the 1980s as more evidence of its negative effects on health became available.
Despite its lengthy history of connection with poor health and illness, it took a long time for asbestos to be prohibited in nations all over the
world.
Environmental legislation and public demand didn’t assist the push for complete or partial bans on asbestos usage in 17 nations until
2003.
Please see our infographic below for a complete list of countries that have banned asbestos.
Asbestos was outlawed in the European Union, including the United Kingdom, in 2005.
Unfortunately, asbestos is still utilised in emerging nations, where it is as popular as it was in wealthy countries for most of the previous
century.
Despite the fact that asbestos usage has progressively dropped in the United States, the country has yet to entirely prohibit the
substance.
In 1991, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) reversed a 1981 judgement that prohibited most asbestos-containing goods.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the EPA’s 1981 judgement due to pressure from the asbestos industry.
As a result, even though the usage of asbestos-containing goods has decreased dramatically over the previous 30 years, it is still lawful in
the United States.
Russia, India, China, Brazil, Thailand, and Kazakhstan are among the countries that continue to produce large amounts of asbestos.
With an annual production of about 0.75 million metric tonnes in 2019, Russia is now the world’s top asbestos producer.
