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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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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Last week, my Blog addressed a 148 page dynamo book originally written in German by Hans Berger and then translated in 1966 to English by Professor Ralph Oesper of the University of Cincinnati on the historical use of asbestos in plastics and rubbers. Today, we move back three years to 1963 and we broaden the…
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I remember a meeting with a friend sometime during 2010ish in which he stated “What do you mean using asbestos in plastics? That never happened.” My response was “I have a book from 1966 entitled Asbestos with Plastics and Rubber which begs to differ with you.” After he read the book, opinions gave way to…
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As I previously mentioned, my research into the Challenger Disaster has been aided by a Clark-Yudkin Research Fellowship from the US Air Force Academy Library, Special Collections. As I used their resources this week, let me tell you about a kid in a candy shop. First, you may ask, is why would this Library have…
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