Tag: history

Where History Means Knowledge. Be Informed.

Asbestos History Blogs: 100 Weekly Blogs and Still Going. A Summary.

I started my weekly asbestos history blogs on December 16, 2020. Just over two years later, the total has reached 100. Hopefully, you find them interesting, informative, and thought provoking. For those of you who have joined me after the beginning or who have specific topics of interest, I am listing the blogs in the…
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Asbestos in 1827: A Deep Historical Dig

This post is aimed at people who are truly interested in the ancient history. For the sake of ease, let’s define ancient history as almost 200 years ago, as we happen to have a book from 1827 (the edition that I have is dated 1827) with a pretty good discussion. In fact, this 550 page…
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When is an Asbestos Blog not about Asbestos?: Let’s Talk about the Good and the Bad in People.

Nazis, death camps, and Priests. For my 98th weekly blog, I am going to detour from directly discussing asbestos, although this story is taken from the stories about Johns-Manville provided by the residents of Manville, N.J. during 1987 in the book published by the Manville Public Library titled Ellis Island, the Coal Mines, to the…
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Manville, N.J., 1912 to 1929: A Trip Back Through Time

My blog this week will change the pace back to pure history, including what was then thought to be a wonderful development of Johns-Manville moving to Manville, New Jersey. This discussion involves the city outside of the factory and, quite honestly, during a time when asbestos had a good reputation. The city leaders were proud…
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1929 New York Public Library Index: Looking for the Real Old Asbestos Articles and Patents.

The discussion book today is not light reading and most people will never need it. However, experts doing a deep dig to search for articles and insomniacs awake at 3 a.m. might find it of value. Specifically, the 1929 Index of asbestos containing material then possessed by the New York Public Library. This includes a…
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Asbestos Lawsuits and Claims: Be Careful in Picking your Attorney

This blog doesn’t really involve history, but I think it important. I seem to get Mesothelioma related ads almost continually, with many focused on the choice of attorneys for those who are potentially interested in pursuing claims. As you may know, I have a web page at https://theasbestosblog.com/?page_id=172 that provides my thoughts as to what…
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Asbestos and Electrical Components, 1930s

As you upgrade old electrical systems or inspect them for destruction, do you ever wonder whether the original material contained asbestos? One of my favorite resources are the older catalogs which are very thick, heavy, and data intensive. These do not replace testing, of course, but they are a good starting point for knowledge. Many…
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Ability of Asbestos Fibers to move from Soil to Groundwater, and then to Inhalation Risk

The article is entitled “Mobility of asbestos fibers below ground is enhanced by dissolved organic matter from soil amendments.” The importance of this 2021 article by Sanjay Mohanty and her co-authors published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters is best stated in the Abstract as follows: “To prevent exposure of millions of people living…
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Asbestos History: A Confusing and Conflict Filled Subject.

I am a Historian and not a scientist. The more I dig into the history, the more this (to me) becomes self-evident. Let’s discuss the 1991 article by scientist Phillip E. Enterline, PhD who claimed that, after reviewing the available literature existing between 1934 and 1965, there was no consensus in the United States that…
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Asbestos: the Connecting Link joining the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms?

I suspect that the title might have a few of you scratching your head. That’s okay as we should all learn at least one new thing every day. This proposition of asbestos combining the three kingdoms was discussed by Oliver Bowles in his 1946 book entitled Asbestos: The Silk of the Mineral Kingdom which he…
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