Personally, I like to begin my searches for historical asbestos information by using the Hathi Digital Trust. Many documents are available in a complete format while those protected by copyrights typically allow you to undertake more limited searches. Either way, it is worth a shot as you begin to travel down the yellow brick road…
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Welcome to my 38th Blog since we started going down this path during December 2020. I very much appreciate all of your support, and I plan to continue my postings to educate those readers who are interested in the history of asbestos. After all, unless you understand that history, how could you hope to make…
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Let’s start out that I am not an expert on talc. However, in today’s world, talc and asbestos are very much intertwined and, as such, I think that a historical perspective on their relationship would be useful. From my research, we can take this historical association between talc and asbestos at least back over 110…
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On the brink of World War II with asbestos being a critical mineral to the Allies and a problem to obtain for the Axis, one book in particular shows exactly how society viewed asbestos. Asbestos, a Magic Mineral was authored by Lilian Holmes Strack in 1941 as a primer for school age children. She had…
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With my Masters in History second semester starting in a couple of weeks, I am focused on getting my advance class work in shape. I will be focusing this semester on two primary issues: (1) whether an asbestos substitute contributed to the January 28, 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and (2) the international section of…
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Many of you know Mavis Nye, if not personally then by reputation. Mavis is a 12 year Mesothelioma survivor living in the U.K. who takes a leading role internationally in education, cheer leading, and fund raising for all Meso Warriors. In working on my book on asbestos, I have come to know Mavis and her…
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In my library, of course. I have a large collection of historical books discussing the use of asbestos by electricians in electrical components. One of my favorites is an 864 page manual by General Electric Supply Corporation published by in 1941 under the name Wiring Materials Power Apparatus. This manual discusses in detail the General…
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On March 5, 2021, I begged out of delving into the political aspects of Chrysotile Asbestos. Rather, I just laid out the history which, of course, is my forte. https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=2052. I stand by that history today and would like to note that the world seems divided on the extent of the danger from raw, pure…
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For those of you interested in the developmental history for asbestos substitutes, I have chosen to discuss this week the EPA Model Asbestos Worker & Contractor/Supervisory Training Manual, Student’s Manual provided for abatement training in the mid-1990s. To be clear, I have a number of other publications discussing the status of inventing substitutes and the…
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This blog continues my discussion on historical resources available to search asbestos exposures; this time, with a focus on a United Kingdom authored and published book from 1919. The book is entitled Asbestos and the Asbestos Industry: The World’s Most Wonderful Mineral and Other Fireproof Materials authored by A. Leonard Summers as part of the…
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