Asbestos Awareness
Continued from previous page
A
pril 1st to the 7th is Asbestos
Awareness Week.
Most people think the asbestos prob-
lem was resolved years ago, but in
reality only 55 countries have abandoned as-
bestos completely; the US and Canada are the
only 2 industrial western nations not to have
done so. In fact, worldwide, more than 107,000
people die each year from asbestos-related
diseases, with about 10,000 a year in the US
alone. There are only two ways to eliminate
asbestos-related disease - prevention or a cure
- and the best path to prevention is educating
people about how to prevent it.
Rough piece of anthophyllite asbestos, a mineral
causing mesothelioma cancer
Since 1900, 31 million metric tons of asbestos
have been consumed in the US and in 2012
1,060 metric tons were consumed. This does
not include imported construction materials
that are not supposed to contain asbestos but
do. As I look at my own asbestos history, the
first exposure I was aware of was as a kid at
our Boys Club. Our pool had a blown-on as-
bestos fireproofing applied to wire mesh used
as an insulator and for sound retention as well.
We used to bounce on the diving board until
we could get high enough to grab chunks and
pull it down. In the mid 70's I bought asbestos
cement board to use as a firestop for a wood
stove installation. I proceeded to cut the board
46 April 2015
