Tag: history

Where History Means Knowledge. Be Informed.

Pre-Industrial Revolution of Asbestos

For a presentation that I have coming up, I decided to undertake a deep dig into the use of asbestos prior to the industrial revolution. Many journal articles contain partial lists, but I decided to be more comprehensive. My list is as follows: •Many different names including asbestus, asbestinon, and amiantus •Stone Age – Used…
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1840: A Literature Reference to “Asbestos Young Ladies” Showing that Asbestos was well known by that Date. Keeping Ladies’ Reputations Secure

Typically, when someone asks about the year in which asbestos became useful, the answer given is “the late 1800s.” That answer is somewhat accurate, but I have found a number of historical asbestos related documents to believe that asbestos was widely known in society much earlier. I have already blogged on such early use as…
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My Weekly Blog is a Summary of Prior Blogs

Every few weeks, I provide a summary of the prior 200 plus blogs including the the topic, date, and cite. My hope is that such a summary is useful to my readers as they get involved in historical asbestos research. Also, let me know if you want a particular asbestos history topic covered. Blog Title…
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2025, A New Hope: Bangladesh Revolution Provides Hope to Shipbreaking Laborers

I like dealing with smart people who make a different. The below is from one of such person about changes in the law that are geared towards helping Bangladesh Shipbreaking Laborers. For the old rules and conduct in which beach shipbreaking activities are called the most dangerous job in the world, see my prior blogs…
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February 1970: Selikoff to Ford Motor Company, You Need to do More Testing on Brake Friction Material.

I apologize for the terrible condition of the February 26, 1970 letter from Irving Selikoff at Mount Sinai School of Medicine to William Pierson of the Ford Motor Company Chemistry Department, Scientific Research Staff, but the attached is the best that I have. I can read my copy with some effort, but the scanned document…
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Remembering the Involvement of Asbestos in the Challenger Tragedy: January 28, 1986

My research thesis on the involvement of asbestos and potential asbestos substitutes in the Challenger tragedy is discussed at https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=10618. I first posted my full research project discussing this Internet myth during January 2022 in the blog located at https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=9723. The full blown 75 page research paper with footnotes and bibliography can be read at https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Space-Shuttle-Challenger-Thesis-1282022.pdf. If…
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Researching Asbestos History: Some Words of Wisdom

Researching asbestos history is difficult — lots of mistakes (especially about the science), experts and attorneys with private data/document silos, significant paywalls to get articles, inconsistent claims trying to reconcile studies that have been undertaken in the Global South to those using the countries of the Global North, and on and on and on. This…
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Chrysolite and Cryolite: Not just Spelling Errors

I learn new things every day. As I was searching for some asbestos-related information, I accidentally spelled “chrysotile” as “chrysolite” and got some weird search hits completely unrelated as asbestos. I figured that if it happened to me, then others of you out there may make the same mistake. Please note the following: Chrysolite, unlike…
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2022 From Russian Academic: Give Asbestos Another Chance

While researching some of the asbestos science aspects this past week, I ran across an asbestos use and safety analysis by Russian pathologist and author Sergei V. Jargin who has a biography at https://novapublishers.com/writer/sergei-v-jargin/. Although much of his scholarly discourses involve the overestimation of medical consequences of low-dose exposure to ionizing radiation (think: Chernobyl Nuclear…
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My Weekly Blog is a Summary of Prior Blogs

Below is a table listing all of my asbestos-related blogs from December 2020 to the present including the titles, dates, and hot links. Interestingly, my summary blogs are among my most popular. Happy Holidays to all. Thank you. Marty Blog Title Date Blog Location 1 Asbestos, a Magic Mineral Dec 16, 2020 https://theasbestosblog.com/?p=619 2 A…
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