History

Finland

The earliest known use for Asbestos was in what is now Finland in 2500 B.C.

Greece

The first written discovery a long time after when it was first being used. It was in 300 B.C. when Theophrastus, one of Aristotle's students, wrote about its flame resistant properties

America

In 1828, it was first adopted in America to be used as a lining material in the steam engine. The first use of asbestos as a insulation was in 1868, when Henry Ward John made fireproof roofing with burlap and paper laminated with tar and asbestos fibers

20th Century

By the 1900's, asbestos was being used a lot. It was used to make gaskets, fireproof safes, bearings, electrical wiring insulation, building materials, and even filters to strain fruit juices

While the dangers of Asbestos is well known by now, in the past that wasn't the case. The start of the use of asbestos was in 2500 B.C. in Finland. However, it wasn't until 61 A.D. when an ancient roman scholar found slaves who worked in asbestos mines would be ill. It wouldn't be another 2000 years when scientist would connect asbestos with the illness it caused.

When it was introduced to America by the industrial revolution, the revelation between asbestos and the illness was not yet made. It wasn't until 1918, when the US government would recognize the risk of asbestos shorting lives. Additionally, cancer being relative to asbestos wasn't discovered until 1942 and by 1949, it was widely known that asbestos was harmful. Even though this was accepted, the asbestos industry continued to ignore the warning and even covered up some negative reports.

Eventually, after a personal injury claim about asbestos in 1971, the US would increased regulation. However, there wasn't significant changes until 1989, when the EPA began to phase out asbestos in products. Unfortunately, the ban was lifted due to pressure from asbestos lobbyists and asbestos can still be found today.

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