5 things you should know about asbestos
Posted on 02. Nov, 2009 by admin in General
Even though the health concerns regarding asbestos-related illness are well known by the public, there are still many things that people are unaware of regarding asbestos. Here are just five things you didn’t know about asbestos. 1) Asbestos is a naturally occurring material. It is a soft, fibrous silicate mineral discovered by the ancient Greeks to have heat resistant properties. 2) The dangers of asbestos were known early in the history of its usage. The ancient Greeks and Romans were aware that slaves worked with asbestos cloth were prone to lung sickness 3) Asbestos is still used in developing countries. Although most developed nations have banned the use of asbestos in new construction projects, it is still widely used in a number of developing nations such as China and India. 4) Symptoms of mesothelioma, the most common asbestos-related disease typically do not appear until between 20 and 50 years after asbestos exposure. In many cases, victims may not even know they were ever exposed to asbestos until after they develop symptoms. 5) Asbestos litigation has involved over 8,400 defendants and 730,000 claimants since the 1960s.The total costs of asbestos compensation litigation in the United States alone is over $250 billion.