Did you think you had heard everything there is to know about asbestos? Here are 4 weird facts to think about.
#1 Asbestos Was Used As Fake Snow
Amosite asbestos looks harmless. In fact, it looks very much like fluffy white snow, which is exactly why it was sold as a Christmas decoration from the 1930s through the 1950s. It was even used in the production industry, including as snow in the Wizard of Oz. It was also seen in the film White Christmas with Bing Crosby and in the classic film, It's A Wonderful Life.
Why asbestos for movies? While there were other fake snows to use on set, those snows made a crunching sound.
#2 Asbestos Causes More Deaths Than Cars
In the United Kingdom, asbestos is the cause of more deaths than cars. Some 2017 statistics out of the UK attribute about 1,770 deaths to collisions whereas an astonishing 2,523 people died from mesothelioma alone.
When you add in lung conditions and cancers like Asbestosis, along with the more widespread effects of asbestos exposure the exact numbers are far greater but hard to pin down.
#3 The UK Imported 5.3 Million Tonnes
Many people imagine that problems associated with asbestos will just go away. After all, no one uses it anymore, right? The fact is, asbestos was a widespread product up through the last century, and that means it's still very much present in our homes and in our lives.
The UK alone imported over 5.3 million tonnes of asbestos over the 60 years when production was peaking. Almost all of that asbestos still exists somewhere, and if not logged properly, it's far from a dormant threat.
#4 Over 3,000 Products Used Asbestos
These days, we often think of asbestos as an insulating material, but more than 3,000 products in the UK alone used asbestos, including brake pads and even wall and ceiling textures.
What you may know about it probably barely scratches the surface when it comes to the myriad of products that contained asbestos -- like aprons, tablecloths, rugs, tape, and even mattresses and cigarette filters.
Albany Asbestos is a local asbestos testing/inspection company.
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