Asbestus 1882

As I sort out my plans for a book on the international use of asbestos with a focus on safety and environmental issues related to shipbuilding, sailors, and shipbreaking, I will start my due diligence research with some United States historical documents called the “Mineral Yearbooks.” In summary this is a good place to start as the information was very accurate and included the international aspects for almost every year starting in 1882 and continuing through today. The first year was 1882 and it called what we now call “asbestos” as “asbestus.”

The 1882 edition was only two pages but, still, it had a lot of information. Page 2 says that countries then supplying asbestos were the United States, Canada, Italy, and Australia; so, I now know where to begin my research. Page 1 specifically focuses on asbestos deposits in all along the east coast, plus California and Nevada, with a little in Colorado.

If you are interested in the history of asbestus, read the below and follow along each week as we work our way toward the Spanish America War into World War I and eventually to the modern times.

If you have information about shipbuilding, sailors, or shipbreaking, please leave a comment or send me an email at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com and let’s talk about it. Thanks. Marty