Historically, when used by the Greeks, asbestos has been widely used in Persia, where many believed he had the skin of an animal, and China, where there is evidence to suggest that was used for burial shrouds and clothing.
Asbestos was known to have been used for weaving cloth right through the Middle Ages and in the 18th century, but it was not until the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century its use was quickly as it began use in plants growing as an insulator and fire retardant.
Asbestos occurs naturally in many parts of the world, including North America, Eastern Europe and Africa. Ore is extracted by crushing rocks and grinding of the crushed rock to raw asbestos fibers.
The commercial mining began to be developed in the 1800s and the mid 20th century asbestos century, became widespread in the construction industry not only as a fire retardant and insulating material, but also concrete , bricks, pipes, flooring and roofing. It was also widely used in shipbuilding in the parts of the boiler, engines and turbines, and brake discs and clutch for cars and many other vehicles. For a brief period in the mid-fifties, asbestos was even used in the filter tip of certain brands of cigarettes.
But even if asbestos was still widely used until the 1970s, warnings of danger to health, especially in asbestos mining towns that have already been published in the 1930s. Medical research at that time had begun to reveal a correlation between exposure to asbestos fibers and lung disease, although the early death among adolescents in asbestos mining towns was noted many years ago.
Large amounts of asbestos was used during World War II U.S. Navy in shipbuilding, despite the health risks had already been made public and it was not until several years after the beginning of the 21st century and that all forms of asbestos were banned in the UK eventually, USA, Australia and many others. Unfortunately, not all countries have not banned the mining, export or import of the form of chrysotile asbestos. Canada continues to mine and export chrysotile in developing countries in Asia, including India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Thus, when more than 107 000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma, the World Health Organization (WHO), some countries still leaves a very big danger that asbestos exposure causes human health. From the time of the ancient Greeks warnings about health hazards of asbestos, have been ignored, and still ignored today in some parts of the world.
The properties of asbestos that has historically valuable material (its strength and its thermal, electrical and chemical erosion) means that there is still demand for it in some countries. Even in countries where its use is now prohibited, even commercial and residential buildings constructed in 1980, may yet include a full range of asbestos products, such as industrial roofs, walls and roofs in asbestos cement asbestos outbuildings.
