Domestic Asbestos Exposure: A Review of Epidemiologic and Exposure Data

Review of:

Domestic Asbestos Exposure: A Review of Epidemiologic and Exposure Data

I am going to be reviewing a scholarly journal written by many authors who have lengthy backgrounds on the topic of asbestos. This journal, when condensed, allows the reader to understand uses for asbestos, problems with asbestos and people, finally allows the reader to fully understand why it is a harmful product.

Asbestos in it’s chemical form is Mg3 Si2 O5(OH)4, it is used as an insulator and also a filler, here is a quote from one of my sources. “Asbestos had many properties, including flame resistance and tensile strength that made it very attractive to these manufacturers; however, the predominant consideration was cost. Asbestos, particularly domestically-mined chrysotile fiber was extremely cheap – yet the finished product could be sold at a substantial markup.”(the) It was such a hit when it came to construction that almost every company was using it, unknowing of the future risks at stake.

The year 1960 was the turning point for people exposed to asbestos. There was a court case that exposed the side effects to long term asbestos exposure, and how thirty-three people who were exposed to asbestos, contracted mesothelioma.(Goswami) The reason asbestos is so harmful is because the mixing of fibers that make asbestos what it is, when these fibers are released into the air, the air not safe to breathe in. After what I call the turning point there were hundreds of court cases involving people trying to ban the production and use of asbestos.

Mesothelioma and lung cancer are the two main illnesses that people were exposed to. Studies and surveys show very true proof that asbestos is killing those who were exposed to it for long quantities of time, the journal that I chose goes into deep detail over the topic and studies over