I am often surprised learn of lingering issues which I thought had long been resolved. I didn't see much racism when I was in elementary school, and I thought all men had learned that women are not lesser, just different (to be discussed, coming soon!). I also thought that we were in the process of putting asbestos behind us.
[Photo: Asbestos fibers, magnified]
I read an article in Thursday's Winnipeg Free Press and I was alarmed to read that Canada manufactures and exports asbestos to third world countries. I suppose I was under the assumption that all the asbestos removal that was going on was initiated by some sort of legislation aimed at preventing more people from developing asbestos diseases. Perhaps people in third world countries have different lung tissue, so inhalation of the barbed slivers doesn't affect them in the same way.
There is a NDP MP calling on the government to immediately abandon this practise, and he has also put forth a motion to designate April 1 as "Asbestos Disease Awareness Day" (I concocted that title). I got curious, so I fired up Wikipedia in my browser and started doing some reading.
Before I go further, I am going to support my daily decision to turn to Wikipedia for information.
a) Yes, "anyone" can edit it, but there is an intricate network of members/officers who review changes made to articles and take necessary action to ensure that Wikipedia remains a reliable source.
b) Wikipedia articles must adhere to a set of standards. Information on Wikipedia must be "noteworthy" and the author must include references. The article must be unbiased and be organized in an easy-to-read format. Those are just some of the guidelines for posting information on Wikipedia, and when an article isn't kosher, the violation is flagged at the top of the article or section.
c) In an experiment comparing several Wikipedia articles with their Encyclopaedia Britannica counterparts, it was found that Wikipedia was actually accurate more often!
There is a NDP MP calling on the government to immediately abandon this practise, and he has also put forth a motion to designate April 1 as "Asbestos Disease Awareness Day" (I concocted that title). I got curious, so I fired up Wikipedia in my browser and started doing some reading.
Before I go further, I am going to support my daily decision to turn to Wikipedia for information.
a) Yes, "anyone" can edit it, but there is an intricate network of members/officers who review changes made to articles and take necessary action to ensure that Wikipedia remains a reliable source.
b) Wikipedia articles must adhere to a set of standards. Information on Wikipedia must be "noteworthy" and the author must include references. The article must be unbiased and be organized in an easy-to-read format. Those are just some of the guidelines for posting information on Wikipedia, and when an article isn't kosher, the violation is flagged at the top of the article or section.
c) In an experiment comparing several Wikipedia articles with their Encyclopaedia Britannica counterparts, it was found that Wikipedia was actually accurate more often!
Here are some fun facts:
- Asbestos fibers that are able to be breathed in are 3-20 microns in length (a micron is one-millionth of a metre). A human hair is 17-181 microns in length, meaning most of the time the naked eye cannot see airborne fibres.
- There are two types: Serpentine (to which the white subtype, chrysotile belongs) and amphibole (to which 5 subtypes, either blue or brown, belong). 95% of all asbestos found in US buildings is chrysotile.
- Canada produces 10% of the world's asbestos.
[Photo: Chrysotile]
- Asbestos is composed of long, thin crystals which appear as fibres. It is a mineral that is too good to be true: It is non-combustible, heat- and chemical-resistant, soft, strong, insulating, and able to be woven into fabric. Translation: it has excellent properties for use in automobile brake pads, electrical wiring insulation, building insulation, vinyl floor tiles, shingles, firefighter clothing...essentially, any good which is subjected to high heat or friction.
When I was taking first year chemistry at U of M, I was indeed told that there are different types of asbestos, but that most of the asbestos in buildings is the "harmless" kind and that the majority of removal efforts were unnecessary. "It is generally accepted that chrysotile asbestos is less potent and does less damage to the lungs than the amphiboles" (Health Canada).[Photo: Asbestos fibers]
However, all forms are dangerous: "Chrysotile, as well as other forms of asbestos, is considered to be a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" (Wikipedia). In fact, people had a hunch that the stuff was the reason why asbestos-weaving slaves were keeling over, even before the 1900's! Doctors in the 1920's were already citing asbestos dust as the cause of lung disease and subsequent death in their autopsies of asbestos factory workers. The industrial revolution no 
doubt elicited greed from the corporate world: "In 1942, an internal Owens-Corning corporate memo referred to "medical literature on asbestosis . . . . scores of publications in which the lung and skin
[Photo: Chrysotile] hazards of asbestos are discussed."
Either in 1942 or 1943, the president of Johns-Manville, Lewis H. Brown, said that the managers of another asbestos company were "a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis." When one of the managers asked, "do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?" the response is reported to have been, "Yes. We save a lot of money that way"" (Wikipedia).
doubt elicited greed from the corporate world: "In 1942, an internal Owens-Corning corporate memo referred to "medical literature on asbestosis . . . . scores of publications in which the lung and skin [Photo: Chrysotile] hazards of asbestos are discussed."
Either in 1942 or 1943, the president of Johns-Manville, Lewis H. Brown, said that the managers of another asbestos company were "a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis." When one of the managers asked, "do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?" the response is reported to have been, "Yes. We save a lot of money that way"" (Wikipedia).
- Brown asbestos can stay airborne for up to 72 hours.
- Most uses of amphibole asbestos are banned in Canada.
[Brown asbestos (amphibole)]
- Amphibole asbestos stays in the lungs longer than chrysotile (serpentine asbestos) and accordingly, is much more detrimental to the health of the lungs.
- Tests in 2000 found more than "trace amounts" of tremolite, an amphibole asbestos, in Crayola crayons.
Wow. Now you know.
