The term “asbestos” originated from Greek, meaning “indestructible”. The term is commonly used to refer to the group of mineral fibers that share properties of thermal and chemical resistance, flexibility and high tensile strength. Because of its many uses, asbestos is also known as “the magic mineral” and is incorporated in more than 3,000 products used in industry or at home.
Although asbestos was used in many products during the industrial revolution (and still used today) modern industry was not the first to use this material as harmful. The use of asbestos beyond the year 2500 BC, when used in the manufacture of pottery Finnish. One of the earliest uses of asbestos was its use in the wick of a lamp of gold to the goddess Athena created between the fourth and fifth centuries BC. During that period Asbestos blankets were used to hold the ashes of the dead during cremation and Pliny describes the use of asbestos cloth as the funeral dress of kings. In an act of exhibitionism, it is said that Charlemagne showed an asbestos tablecloth in the great hall. After the feast, the cloth and its contents are fire and threw it back out intact to the amazement of the guests. Also, during his travels in 1240, Marco Polo was referring to a fabric in the northern provinces of the Great Khan who had the property not be consumed and purified with fire.
Industrial use of asbestos began on a moderate scale, following the discovery of a substantial deposits of asbestos in the Ural mountains in western Russia, around 1720. The discovery led to the founding of the first factory of asbestos products, including textiles, socks, gloves and handbags. Then came more discoveries of different types of asbestos in different continents and therefore their use in many applications.
Chrysotile asbestos was discovered in Quebec, Canada in 1860 and extraction began in 1878 when there were 50 tonnes in the first year of operations. Then crocidolite asbestos was discovered in South Africa in 1815 and substantial exploitation began around 1910 fibers. Amosite asbestos was discovered in the central Transvaal in 1907 and mining operations and began operating in 1916. The institution of these operations, along with the industrial revolution, defined the widespread use of asbestos and the public health crisis that would result.
