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Where History Means Knowledge. Be Informed.

Eternit, Asbestos Cement, and what was Known as of 1918: If this Article Doesn’t Get You Upset, Nothing Will. The Power of Toxicdocs.org

I generally love “new to me” asbestos history, especially when it is global. This particular paper addressed and organized issues that you need to read to believe. Let’s start at the beginning. While researching some asbestos issues using Toxicdocs.org, I ran across a 2005 paper focusing on asbestos cement and Eternit which is translated into…
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1893: Asbestos Arising from the Death of Animals

Wow! The 1891-3 Journal of the General Mining Association of the Province of Quebec, published by the Offices of the Association based in Ottawa, Ontario, claims that their variety of serpentine asbestos may have originated from dead animals. In particular: “The origin of those particular serpentine layers, is an unsolved problem yet. But when we…
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Asbestos Issues at the Illinois Beach and State Park: My Summer Visit

I visited the Illinois Beach and State Park that was discussed in my recent Masters Thesis and the blog at https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=11706. My goal was to better understand the history and any current attempts by either Illinois or the United States to understand the asbestos issues and protect the citizens. Unfortunately, little is currently being done…
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1845: Complete Prior History and a Prediction on the Future uses of Asbestos

I love running across books like The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances authored in 1845 by Clinton G. Gilroy. I decided to purchase a hard copy first edition advertised on AbeBooks but electronic versions are readily available in electronic format on the Internet. See https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Silk_Cotton_Linen_Wool_an.html?id=x51BAAAAYAAJ. This book has about 7…
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Summary of Posts

I have been traveling for a while and won’t return to my home office for another week or two. Rather than rush through a blog, I have taken the opportunity to post a summary of my past blogs including title, date and a hot link. Typically, these summaries get a lot of viewers, and so…
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1976: Mass Court Publication Claims that Mesothelioma is caused by Asbestos, Silica, and Polyurethane. Can Someone Help me out?

The full article discussed below is at the following link: https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1976-Mass-Helath-Affects-Asb-Inhalation-Lit-Review.pdf. Please note that the publication claims that it the opinion of the author and not necessarily the Massachusetts General Court, although that it not the way it reads. Of course, the exposure to asbestos giving rise to mesothelioma is a given — unless you…
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1905: Fritz Cirkel Knocks it out of the Park

In 1904, the Superintendent of Mines in Ottawa tasked Fritz Cirkel with the almost impossible given the lack of technology during that era. In summary, Cirkel was to investigate the world-wide issues related to asbestos starting with mining and ending with, well, everything else. The instructions were as follows: In 1905, Cirkel responded with an…
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1926: Asbestos Sources, Trade, and Much More

In 1926, the United States Department of Commerce (Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce), in collaboration with the Bureau of Mines, issued a wonderful little book titled Asbestos Sources and Trade. Although the book has less than 30 pages, it is packed with a lot of historical knowledge. Attached at https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1926-Asbestos-Sources-and-Trade.pdf is a complete electronic…
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1948: What the Government Knew about Libby, Montana Vermiculite and Amphibole Asbestos

I found the 1948 book titled Talc, Graphite, Vermiculite, and Asbestos in Montana on eBay a week or so ago. The book was published by Montana School of Mines/State of Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Interestingly, I see that the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology will still sell the book in an electronic…
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1791: When and Why the 11 Types Asbestos were Pretty much Useless

This blog is pretty much pure history taken from the English translation from Latin in the 1791 publication by Torben Bergman of Essays Physical and Chemical. I have the complete book set up at https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1791-Asbestos.pdf should you want to see how typesetting looks from that era or desire to read the complete story of asbestine…
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