Asbestos is naturally occurring substance that present in six different forms. They are
- Trimolite
- Crocidolite
- Anthophyllite
- Actinolite
- Chrysolite
Out these six the most commonly used is chrysolite but the most dangerous one is crocidolite.
Reasons why asbestos was considered as miracle material:
This naturally occurring material that is in the form of thin and tightly packed fibers has many uses and benefits. First of all this the material that construction companies could get in cheap price with multiple benefits. The reason they could get in cheap price was that it is available in every single continent of the world. So, there is an abundance of this naturally occurring material. This means that each continent can have its own asbestos. This reduces the need to buy it from other places. In construction it was used in ceiling, roofing, insulation, tiling and few places as well. This was also used to protect place from catching fire. If there are so many useful benefits of asbestos then why is it banned in many countries today?
Reasons why asbestos is banned in many countries:
The reason why this miracle material is banned in many countries is that this material is disease causing. The exposure to this material is quit alarming as the disease caused by this material leads the patient to death. These diseases are:
- Asbestosis
- Lung cancer
- Mesothelioma
Asbestos is a non-cancerous disease but still lethal. It is a disease of lungs. Then the name itself is telling that lung cancer is a type of cancer and last and extremely deadly is mesothelioma. It is also a type of cancer but, people who suffer from this type of cancer doesn’t have enough time to live as the maximum time they will have is 4 months to six months. The big problem with asbestos is that once you inhaled the fiber particles they will remain their till death as up to this date there is no procedure or way has been discovered to remove it from your lungs. So, treating the patient continuously will do no good.
Precautions against asbestos:
When we talk about the precaution that we must take while working with asbestos they are very strict. This is because asbestos is hazardous. First even for getting involved in removal of the asbestos you have to be licensed asbestos assessor. Then there is GHS compliance and training. People who are working with asbestos have to wear a special suit so that they are not directly exposed to asbestos. Many of the countries have simply banned use of asbestos as they don’t want to paly with life of their people. Then any kind of mineral or substance containing more than 1% of asbestos is not suitable for working hence, that substance is not used anywhere.
There are organizations who are working only to clean the asbestos from the environment and for this purpose they do the asbestos sampling to know how much they have to work and how careful they have to be in a particular area.